Time is a precious resource in my world. From the moment I wake up (or more often from the moment a set of small lungs down the hallway wake me up!) to the moment I gratefully rest my head on the pillow at night, my day screams past faster than a formula 1 race car. Every opportunity to simplify a necessary daily task is welcomed with open arms – thus my complete infatuation with slow cooking.
The easiest way to prepare a delicious and healthy meal
Slow cooking is incredible in its simplicity. In the morning before leaving for work you simply need to allow 5 minutes to throw something together. Turn on the slow cooker. Add the meat of your choice (you don’t even need to chop it up as the slow cooking process will make the meat fall apart naturally, and browning the meat before hand is in my experience totally unnecessary). Add chopped veggies. Add some olive oil, spices, herbs, and any other liquid your recipe calls for (stock, tomato puree, wine, vinegar etc.). Then simply put on the lid and leave it until you get home. If you put the cooker on low, around 8 hours is the perfect amount of time for most recipes. Many slow cookers have a built in timer to automatically turn the heat down and keep your food warm once the designated time has elapsed. And what’s more, after a hard day at work you can actually relax instead of having to prepare the evening meal.
Slow cooking is the natural flavour booster
The process of slow cooking allows the flavour profile of food to develop more fully, and it’s pretty hard to make anything taste bad when you cook this way. It’s a godsend to anybody who is challenged in the culinary department, and can make the ‘I can’t even cook an egg’ bachelor look like a serious contender for the next round of Masterchef. The aroma of herbs, the natural oils from spices, the mineral tang of meat, and the nutty starches from vegetables are all accentuated in the slow cooking process.
Save time and money
Slow cookers use very little power – only the equivalent wattage of a single electric light bulb. This is in stark contrast to most ovens which use energy up at a rapid rate. And because a slow cooker does not put out radiant heat, you can leave the little fella running all day on a summer scorcher and not raise the internal temperature of your home one degree. In addition, slow cooking lends itself to the use of tougher and cheaper cuts of meat, as these cuts tend to have a much richer and tastier flavour than their more expensive fast cooked counterparts.
A healthier way to cook
As if the ease of preparation, flavour enhancement, cost savings and increased levels of sanity weren’t enough to convince you to become a slow cooking convert, there is one more very important reason to use this method. Slow cooking your meals (those containing meat in particular) create the least amount of carcinogenic end products of any cooking method. When you barbecue or fry meat, you form complexes of proteins and sugars called advanced glycated end products (or AGEs for short) which have been linked to the formation of many cancers, particularly of the bowel. Slow cooking forms very few AGEs if any. Additionally, if you cook meat on the bone in your slow cooker you receive health promoting collagen, gelatin, and minerals that are not as readily available in the muscle meat we tend to consume in isolation much of the time. And finally, the relatively low cooking temperature means that the vitamins which are often destroyed in the higher temperatures related to other cooking methods are instead preserved.
It’s not only for stews
Slow cooking is incredibly versatile. Although stews are a common slow cooking fixture in our house, we have also slow cooked amazing roast chicken, lamb and beef. Soups done in the slow cooker are delicious (tip: use the bones from previous recipes to create a yummy stock base). Vegetarian options abound, especially considering the slow cooker’s ability to hydrate and soften dried pulses. It’s hard to beat a slow cooked curry, and deserts done in the slow cooker can be some of the best you’ve ever had.
If you don’t already own a slow cooker, trust me – buy one now! It will pay for itself in the energy and grocery savings over a few months, and the time it can save you is priceless. If you have a kids or a demanding work schedule it can be your saving grace, and the fact that you can provide a healthy and delicious meal for you and your loved ones with so little effort is something truly precious.
In wellness,
James
