by Tiffany King 11 Comments
One trick I use in the kitchen is to match my cooking appliance to the kind of day I’m having schedule-wise.
I’m talking about fitting the dinner cooking schedule with all the other daily activities. If I have more time to prep a meal in the morning, I’ll choose the slow cooker.
If I find myself at 5 o’clock having done no dinner prep, then it’s too late for crock-potting. But some of my favorite recipes are slow cooker recipes.
No worries. Almost all slow cooker recipes can be converted for making in the oven or on the stove. Most of them started out with these traditional cooking methods anyway.
I’ve already talked about how to convert recipes into slow cooker recipes. Here are a few tips for going the other way and using the oven and stove top.
1. Soups
If it’s a soup, it can be made on top of the stove. It will take a fraction of the time that the slow cooker calls for. You’ll still want to follow the order given in a slow cooker recipe. Meats go in first. Creams, milks and cheeses are often added at the end of cooking time because you don’t want those to boil.
2. Try using a Dutch oven.
A Dutch oven is a cooking pot with a tight fitting lid. Many pots and pans sets come with a dutch oven. Cast iron Dutch ovens are popular, especially those with enamel interiors.
Assemble the slow cooker recipe just as it calls for, but put the ingredients in a Dutch oven. Bake at 350 degrees for for an hour or 1 1/2 hours. Add time if it’s a large piece of meat.
3. Casserole type recipes
Most crockpot casserole recipes started out as oven recipes. Generally, baking in a casserole dish at 350 degrees for about 1 hour will work.
4. Determine what the cooking time is accomplishing.
Is the time in the crockpot meant to cook meat from raw? Or is it just for bringing something to a near boil, such as a sauce? Answers to these questions will help you determine how much time the recipe will need on the stove or in the oven.
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Allison saysThank you for this, I’ve always wondered. I’ll definitely be pinning for future reference!
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- Robert Pait says
Chicken crack on the stove. I’m guessing a medium low option and stirring often. Crock-Pot is currently busy with tomorrow’s dinner.
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- Elizabeth Medina says
I prefer to use the stovetop method for cooking. Thanks. This article was great!
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- Rick says
I’ve got a slow cooker running right now for a vegetarian minestrone. It’s got 2:30 left and I would like to move it to the stove top so dinner is ready sooner. Based on what I read here I’m guessing I can do this and decrease cooking time by maybe half?
- Dawn Young says
Crock pot was too small for the chicken stew ingredients.So put in largest pot with a lid I had.Crock pot recipe states 7 1/2hours.How long on stove top?
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- MaryEllen Fonseca says
My recipe for Italian pot roast says to put in crockpot or slow cooker fir 8-9 hours. I do not like to use crock pots or slow cookers . Please help me to convert to oven or top of stove . Thank you
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- Cheryl says
I loved my crockpot…till it died. (This is my reason for not using a crockpot. Lol) It’s the holidays so finances are a little tight but I’ll be getting a new crockpot after the new year. Mine was pretty old so I’ll be checking out all the new-fangled gadgets available. Wish me luck and thanks for the tips! 🙂
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- Sarita Y Harjo says
main tip: get one that has a keep warm setting
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- Mark Schreiner says
Too bad this article does not actually tell how to do it.
If the crock pot recipe say to cook on High/Medium/Low for x hours, how many hours to cook on a stove top and at what level/heat?
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- Rheta says
I have never used a slow cooker, but I have been cooking for a very long time. How long to cook on the stove top depends on the recipe, its volume, the size of the pieces or what and how much is hot when the timing is started. If timing is critical for your meal prep, a suitable recipe should be easy to find on the web if you don’t have one already. For me, searching the web takes less time than searching my hard copies. The terminology may be different, for instance “pot roast” or “braised beef” may be helpful.
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