this may be a stupid question - What A Crock!

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this may be a stupid question

Apr. 30th, 2009 at 1:10 PM

what_a_crock

My mom told me that it's good to pre-cook meat (sausage/shrimp/chicken) before you put it in the crock pot. But, my question is, can't you just throw it in there with everything else and just let it cook for 8 hours? I mean, I'm just thinking that it would be easier to do it that way then to have to cook it ahead of time and then throw it in there you know?

I'm planning on making a sausage/rice/beans type dish next week for dinner sometime and would like to know if I have to cook the sausage ahead of time before I put it in the pot.

Thank you

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( 35 comments — Leave a comment )

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chickenfried_jo

Apr. 30th, 2009 07:28 pm (UTC)

you can totally just throw it all in. It's gonna cook for eight hours. That's plenty of time to cook it thoroughly and kill any bugs that might be in residence.

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Apr. 30th, 2009 07:54 pm (UTC)

yeah, that's what I thought too

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Apr. 30th, 2009 07:29 pm (UTC)

Meat actually comes out better if you don't precook it. I learned that lesson the hard way.

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faceless_bride

Apr. 30th, 2009 11:11 pm (UTC)

Absolutely it comes out better. It's much more moist and tender if you toss it in raw and let it cook just in the crock.

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fickle_female

Apr. 30th, 2009 07:29 pm (UTC)

Yep, I agree. I chuck it all in and let it get on with it.

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mellybrelly

Apr. 30th, 2009 07:30 pm (UTC)

I used to cook a whole chicken in a few hours in my crockpot, and I started from raw.. the meat was falling off the bone by the end. It's fine to put it in raw.

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Apr. 30th, 2009 07:30 pm (UTC)

I've done both, and as long as the cooking time is long enough and you don't have to drain extra fat off the meat, it doesn't matter that much.

I actually prefer to put the meat in raw when making stews and chili, the flavors permeates the dish more.

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ginalin - Apr. 30th, 2009 09:18 pm (UTC) - Expand

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arrien - Apr. 30th, 2009 09:34 pm (UTC) - Expand

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ginalin - Apr. 30th, 2009 09:47 pm (UTC) - Expand

Apr. 30th, 2009 07:32 pm (UTC)

Some stuff-- like delicate seafood-- might even be better left till the last minute or two; dunno. I mean, if I'm making garlic shrimp soup, I just chuck the shrimp in for the last 3 minutes of simmering because they cook so quickly and they turn into little rubber erasers if you overcook.

But in general if we're talking red meat, pork, or whatnot-- I never precook. I might *brown* it briefly to give color and add flavor, but that's the most I'd do.

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Apr. 30th, 2009 07:34 pm (UTC)

I like browning off meat too - but shrimp I'd absolutely not throw in until shortly before the rest is ready. Overcooked shrimp is just not yummy.

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shypoet - Apr. 30th, 2009 07:56 pm (UTC) - Expand

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sweetest_asylum - Apr. 30th, 2009 07:40 pm (UTC) - Expand

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hazakaza - Apr. 30th, 2009 07:43 pm (UTC) - Expand

Apr. 30th, 2009 07:34 pm (UTC)

One caveat

Mostly, putting things in raw is okay. The BIG exception to this is a big roast that's all in one piece, especially if you're taking it straight from the fridge. You want to brown something like that well all over before you put it in the crockpot, first of all because it looks nicer and secondly because otherwise it will take a dangerous amount of time for it to come up to a safe internal temperature.

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fallconsmate

Apr. 30th, 2009 08:42 pm (UTC)

Re: One caveat

On the looking nicer, okay. But I've put large chunks of frozen cow in the crockpot plenty of times and never had issue with it. YMMV.

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Re: One caveat -

fickle_female - Apr. 30th, 2009 09:14 pm (UTC) - Expand

brokenheather

Apr. 30th, 2009 07:35 pm (UTC)

Browning, yes. Cooking, no.

And the browning, I'd really only apply to beef, pork, or sausage.

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mizbhaven13

Apr. 30th, 2009 07:55 pm (UTC)

My advice is to precook the rice but throw the meat in there as is. I have problems putting raw rice in because it either soaks up all the juice and everything burns or I put in too much liquid and it's soupy.

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Apr. 30th, 2009 08:03 pm (UTC)

I thought about just buying like 3 cans or so of red beans and rice, and then just throwing it in there with the sausage, and adding some creole seasoning to it. Or maybe instead of the canned red beans and rice, I'll add a box of uncle ben's jambalaya box mix in with the sausage.

We'll see. I have yet to figure it out.

I'm mostly just afraid that it'll turn out ok, but just be bland because I won't know what kind of spices to use. But, I think our creole seasoning will do it good.

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shm_hisforever

Apr. 30th, 2009 07:57 pm (UTC)

i rarely do anything other than chuck it all in and i have never had a problem - it has plenty of time to cook through

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biochemcrazy

Apr. 30th, 2009 07:59 pm (UTC)

I like to brown meat before putting in the crockpot, but that's mostly for flavor. As far as I know it's perfectly safe to put raw meat straight into the crockpot.

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Apr. 30th, 2009 07:59 pm (UTC)

It depends on what you're cooking. Precook bacon, brown meat, cook ground turkey or beef, and cook chicken if you're making a soup or a stew where you're just getting the flavors to meld.

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Apr. 30th, 2009 08:03 pm (UTC)

It's not a safety issue; it just tastes better if you sear it first.

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lyssas_song

Apr. 30th, 2009 08:06 pm (UTC)

Chicken is awesome in slow cookers! It becomes so tender... Much moreso than cooking it on the stove or in the oven. I just throw mine in raw. I've even thrown it in frozen before.

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anthylorrel

Apr. 30th, 2009 08:08 pm (UTC)

I won't cook my meat all the way through before putting it in the crock pot, but I will give beef a good sear before putting it in to get better flavor in the finished dish.

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( 35 comments — Leave a comment )