15 Slow Cooker Dinner Recipes | Gimme Some Oven (2024)

FAQs

What is the oven temperature equivalent to a slow cooker? ›

Conversion to Oven

The low setting of a slow cooker ranges from 190°F to 200°F. To mimic this in an oven, set your temperature to approximately 325°F. The high setting of a slow cooker ranges from 290°F to 300°F; in oven terms, this is roughly equivalent to 375°F.

If you have a model that runs “hot", 15 hours may be too much and will result in an overcooked taste. If this is new model to you, try it out on other dishes to get a feel for it. If you are using a lean cut of meat, long cooking time is not the way to go. The meat will get tougher the longer it cooks.

But you can also use your slow cooker like an auxiliary oven and stick your baking dish, cake pan or pie plate into the standard insert that came with it. It helps to use a short wire rack to raise your pan off the bottom so the heat can circulate all around it as it does in a conventional oven.

The temperature range on the Slow Cooking setting ranges between 80°C - 150°C. After 10 minutes the oven automatically lowers to 80°C. If you are using the Food Sensor on the Slowing Cooking setting the maximum internal temperature you should set is 65°C. Always cook without a lid when using the Slow Cooking function.

With this low-and-slow method you simply set your oven to the temperature you want your joint to reach and let the meat do the work. The good thing is once the temperature is reached, the meat won't cook any further, so you can't overcook it! It's actual science.

The slow cooker cooks foods slowly at a low temperature, generally between 170 and 280 degrees F, over several hours. The combination of direct heat from the pot, lengthy cooking and steam, destroys bacteria making the slow cooker a safe process for cooking foods.

So, if there is more mass in an oven with the same amount of heat, it will take longer to raise the temperature of all that mass at once. Also, unless the oven is a convection oven, lots of things crowding the interior of the oven will tend to block the flow of the heat, creating cooler spots throughout.

Yes, you can add raw steak to a slow cooker to cook it to your desired doneness level. Slow cooking steak is a convenient way to cook steak over several hours, tenderizing it and adding exceptional flavor along the way.

It is best to thaw meat or poultry before putting it into a slow cooker. Frozen pieces will take longer to reach a safe internal temperature and could possibly result in foodborne illness. Frozen or partially frozen foods can also cool everything else in the slow cooker.

What happens if you don't brown meat before a slow cooker? ›

Yes, you should brown your meat (beef) before. The meat will cook without browning in the slow cooker but it will have a boiled flavor to it. It will also look kind of grey.

Is it safe to leave a slow cooker on for 12 hours? Yes, you can use your slow cooker for longer than eight hours, as long as you keep an eye on it. Many slow cookers do have an automatic shutoff after 24 hours.

The “I” setting is low, the “II” is high and the one with the wavy lines/ cooking pot is the keep warm function.