Make It Slow and Easy
For do-ahead dinners at their best, busy cooks depend on their slow cookers for time-saving convenience. Simply fill it in the morning, forget it for the entire day and come home to the welcoming aroma of a hot meal all ready to serve!

There are hundreds of slow cooker recipes available in the Recipe Finder. Or, you can adapt most traditional recipes for the slow cooker by following these guidelines:

~ Use your manufacturer’s instruction booklet to find a recipe similar to the one you want to convert. Use it as a guide, noting the quantity and size of meat and vegetable pieces, the heat setting, cooking time and amount of liquid used.
~ Use the chart below as a general guideline for cooking times.
~ Reduce the liquid when using a traditional recipe in your slow cooker. Because there’s no evaporation in slow cookers, foods tend to water down. So if your traditional recipe calls for 6 to 8 cups of water, you might want to start with 5 cups.
~ Conversely, if your traditional recipe does not include any liquid, you’ll want to add a half cup of water or broth.
~ For stews and soups, put the veggies on the bottom and sides of your slow cooker, placing the meat on top.
Cooking Time for Conventional Recipe
Cooking Time in the Slow Cooker

15 to 30 minutesLow: 4 to 6 hours
High: 1/2 to 2 hours
35 to 45 minutesLow: 6 to 8 hours
High: 3 to 4 hours
50 minutes or moreLow: 8 to 10 hours
High: 4 to 6 hours