What ELSE you should know about slow cookers

I recently spotted an article on Chowhound titled "What You Should Know About Slow Cookers." Having spent the last year getting to know my way around a slow cooker, I couldn't help but notice that they overlooked a few things.

1. Wet food

When I'm shopping for chicken, I generally buy thigh meat. It's cheaper, and I think it is more tasty and flavorful. However, I have learned that it is also more juicy - which means a wetter result in the slow cooker. In fact, chicken thigh meat is so juicy that you may check your food after five or six hours and wonder who added all the water.

If this happens, you can simmer it off. Set the lid of the cooker slightly ajar and turn the heat up to High. Check it in about an hour, and it should be looking better.

And as a rule, stick to breast meat instead.

2. Gristle

Speaking of chicken, ALWAYS use meat that is boneless and skinless. Otherwise you end up with a gloppy disgusting mess with random blobs of gristle and oogy skin fat.

3. It's not great for vegetables

When my vegetarian friend asked if she should get a slow cooker, I said "No." A slow cooker's strong point is meat, particularly taking a cheap cut of meat (like pork roast) and turning it into something delicious (like carnitas).

The same process that breaks down and softens a tough cheap pork shoulder into delicious tender meat does terrible things to vegetables. It's great for making soup or stew, but how much stew does one person really make in the course of a year?

For better or worse, any vegetables that go into the slow cooker tend to dissolve.

4. Traveling? Saran wrap it!

I learned this lesson the hard way. If you're transporting a crock full of food, put a layer of plastic wrap over the top of the crock (under the lid). It will help keep scalding hot liquids from slopping onto your shirt as you carry the crock to its destination.

Image courtesy of Flickr/SaucyGlo