i am new to using a crock pot.....?

Question

when i am looking at recipes it tells me what to put in it and then to cook it for x amount of hours. Someone told me that i need to add water untill all ingredients are covered. Is this true? and is this for all recipes?

Answer 1

G’Mama’s Crockpot Roast

Your choice of Roast, Seared in a hot skillet with oil, salt and pepper
Red potatoes, about 6-8 halved
Celery, 3 stalks course cut
Onion, 1 Lrg, cut into 4’s
Tomato’s, 4, cut into 4’s
Mushroom’s, if you have’um toss um in
Carrots 4, cut into 4’s
Bay Leaves 2
1/2 tsp Thyme
1/2 tsp Rosemary
1/4 C Worcestershire sauce
1 C Water

Put in the Roast and all the goodness on Medium and go shopping for 5 hours.
You did wash your hands when you started didn’t you?

Answer 2

No, you do not need to cover the foods in water. The foods need to be the kind that have moisture within them since the crock pot cooks by liquid and steam. With a bit of experience you will learn the usual proportions of liquid for what you are making. Follow the instruction guide for your pot.

A note from experience: if you are cooking something like a stewing chicken from a frozen state there can be a lot of liquid given off -almost to overflowing, so make certain not to fill the crock pot right up to the top when you start. It can lead to messy results. And, be certain to place the pot on a surface that is easy to clean up.

For safety sake, I always feel better about placing the crock pot on a metal surface, and away from all flammables such as pot holders. The top of a stove works well, so that with the extended heat period, there is not a fire hazard concern.

Answer 3

Crock pots are pretty forgiving, as far as inaccuracies are concerned. When I use mine to make soup for instance, I will put my ingredients in and add enough water to cover them, perhaps stir them a bit, then turn the crock pot on low and let it simmer until dinner time.

It is a good idea to add some water or other liquid to whatever you're cooking, but you don't absolutely *have* to cover your solid ingredients. For instance, if I'm making a pot roast, I will coat it with spices and steak sauce, maybe add a glub of cooking wine and no more than a cup of water, then let it go. Again, use the low setting. I seldom use the high one unless I'm in a relative hurry to heat something and couldn't get started at the usual time.

I hope this helps!

Answer 4

I add very little water 2 inches at the most when cooking in the crock pot,I do alot of roast with a large mixture of vegetables and mine always turns out great! I think covering all your ingredients is to much!

Answer 5

Use whatever amount of liquid the recipe calls for. The nice thing about a crock pot is that you can use less liquid because you are cooking things slowly. I cook some cuts of beef with NO liquid at all and they come out really tender.

Answer 6

If you're boiling ANYTHING you should always completely cover it with water, you can drain away any excess\unwanted water afterwards, if you're food isn't covered with water it can easily boil dry and destroy your food, If you're preparing casseroles though use a slotted spoon if you don't want a lot of gravy

Answer 7

It should say how much water to add, but if not, then just add some like you suggested, I would imagine.

Answer 8

Only if the recipe calls for it and it's specifically for your crockpot.