How To Slow Cook In Dutch Oven

The ultimate guide – Slow cooker vs Dutch oven

I ofttimes become asked this question. Ordinarily one of my readers is looking to brand a new purchase…invest in a new Dutch oven or give a slow cooker a chance. Lets consider the boring cooker vs Dutch oven question.

Of course, they are not mutually exclusive…you are immune to have both! I practice and they serve a purpose depending on different scenarios….more on this subsequently.

Let me just encompass a few points first before I go into more particular. These are very general statements that I believe to be true based on my experience.

All things being equal…same ingredients and recipes, the Dutch oven version will taste amend…more than on conversion later
It is cheaper to apply a Slow cooker…more on this subsequently
You can suit the recipes to arrange either the slow cooker and Dutch oven
People continually get dislocated with 'Crock pots' and Dull cookers. They are the same…Crock pot is a brand…much like Dyson and vacuum cleaner
They both suit unlike scenarios, so one option may be better on that day…but non always
I use both…but as you tin guess, I adopt my Dutch oven.

Boring cooker vs Dutch oven…

Earlier I go farther, let me analyze what they are and how they might be used. If you already know, experience gratuitous to skip this department.

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What is a Slow cooker?

They are counter top electrical pots that cook at depression temperatures…hence the slow cooker name. It takes a long fourth dimension to melt which is actually an reward. You can actually melt a wide diverseness of dishes in a slow cooker.

Advantages of a Slow Cooker

Y'all can melt tougher cuts of meat which are great when slow cooked.
Plow your ho-hum cooker on before you leave for work and render to a hot meal
Very cheap to run
Massive assortment of recipes and a massive customs of Slow cooker aficionados always willing to engage
Difficult to get recipes wrong to the skill level needs to exist relatively basic
Clean up is very easy

Disadvantages of Slow cooker

If it is your only cooking pick…patience is a necessity
Sauces tin exist very runny equally sauce is not thickened through reduction
There tin be a loss of nutrients through heat degradation
Sauteing food prior to the slow cooking is needed to preserve some nutrients
Power outages or unreliable supply can cause major issues.
The final taste is not equally good as a Dutch ovens results

Related article

Slow Cooker Advantages Disadvantages

What is a Dutch oven (…or a Braiser)

Dutch ovens have been around for hundreds of years and they were essentially designed for one pot cooking. The Pennsylvanian Dutch folk used them while travelling as information technology meant that they didn't need to carry lots of equipment. The tradition of one pot cooking is still going strong and is a staple in lots of households.

Essentially, they are lidded pots cast from fe. They have tight fitting lids and are very flexible. You tin can utilise them on the stove or in the oven. Household versions are essentially enameled, a process designed by the leaders in enamel Dutch ovens, Le Creuset. Outdoor dutch ovens are popular with campers and those pans are seasoned instead of enameled.

Advantages of Dutch ovens

They are very versatile when it comes to cooking styles…baking, frying, braising, stewing…they do it all
Robustness…they can concluding decades if cared for properly
The cooking results are superior in comparison to other methods
Less make clean up because of the i pot way
Move them from stove pinnacle to oven, use less free energy every bit you can cook at a lower temperature

Disadvantages of Dutch ovens

If the enamel breaks or fries, they are essentially finished
Relatively expensive for the premium brands
Size limitations of ovens means they are restricted to that oven's capacity

What are the advantages of using a slow cooker over a Dutch oven

Buying costs
Running costs
Convenience
Rubber

In some means they do similar things simply essentially, they are quite different. There are a number of reasons why you would cull a slow cooker over a Dutch oven.

Ane of the major reasons is price. A basic wearisome cooker is relatively cheap to buy whereas a decent Dutch oven can be relatively expensive depending on the size. The other aspect to consider is the cooking toll. I will look at this in more detail further downwardly simply substantially, the cooking price is a fraction of the cost of cooking in a conventional oven.

Another reason why it suits so many people is the convenience factor. Simply placing all the recipes into the slow cooker in the morning and arriving home later to a hot repast is fantastic…especially for decorated households.

Added to this, people a mostly more comfy letting a dull cooker cook at home while the dwelling is empty. The worst that tin can happen is that information technology blows a fuse. By and large, people are not comfortable leaving an oven on while they are out for most the solar day.

Slow cookers are as well considered lower maintenance. You tin put the ceramic dish into the dishwasher whereas you cannot do the same with a Dutch oven.

What are the advantages of using a Dutch oven over a dull cooker

Flexibility
Better tasting dishes
Faster cooking
Retain nutrients
Value long term

The biggest advantage is the sheer flexibility of a Dutch oven. Y'all tin can pretty much do most kitchen tasks in one pot. Moving freely from the stove to the oven, you tin bake, fry, sauté, braise…you name information technology, it can be washed. This is what makes Dutch ovens marvelous and so invaluable in a kitchen. The tiresome cooker is limited in comparison to specific recipes and tasks.

Having cooked for many years…including professionally, I take to say that if you cooked the same recipes using both these mediums, the Dutch oven recipe will taste better. This applies to near all recipes…however, that is not to say the Tedious cooker cooks badly, information technology doesn't. Its just that the Dutch oven does a better job.

This may be a benefit to some…not to others. Y'all can cook in half the time with a Dutch oven. This is great if you don't want to cook all day long…not and so great if information technology means you take to return abode or 'babysit' your dish.

Some other advantage is the retentiveness of nutrients. Slow cookers can remove so many of the nutrients in foods through their cooking process. This means that information technology may still sense of taste good, but the health qualities are removed. Dutch ovens do non endure from this as much. At that place are means around this, mainly through sauteing nutrient before you cook them. Fifty-fifty still, the Dutch oven fares improve.

Over the long term, a Dutch oven can prove to be cracking value. Firstly, the sheer number of tasks you tin consummate in them. Secondly, they tin can last decades is cared for properly. In comparing, a Slow cooker will accept a limited shelf life in most cases.

Can I Substitute a Dutch Oven for a Crock Pot or Slow Cooker?

Yes, yous can. Essentially, the slow cooker was invented on the ground of the Dutch oven. The thought existence that information technology saved cooks having to heat the oven. They both braise food slowly with a low heat.

Therefore, you will find that many of the recipes can be adapted very easily to fit the Slow cooker…and vice versa.

The biggest issue people accept is the temperature. Tiresome cookers generally merely have a high and depression setting. They vary by brand but in the primary, they are between 170 – 190 Fahrenheit.

The conversion, I volition discuss in more particular beneath but essentially, a dutch oven takes roughly 25% of the time of a tiresome cooker.

Near meat dishes should be slow cooked in a Dutch oven for the best result. At a heat of 225F, most dishes take between iii.v – 4 hours.

Ideally, you lot should consider getting both. Yous can practice so without having to spend a fortune. You will innovate a lot more flexibility and options to your kitchen.

Slow cooker to Dutch oven conversion – Converting Dutch oven recipes to a slow cooker

Converting recipes is not the headache you might imagine. As I stated above, they operate with a similar process…depression and slow oestrus over a period of fourth dimension.

There are steps you lot can take to adapt recipes from Dutch ovens to Slow cookers….and vice versa;

Use less liquid
Employ larger pieces of everything
Select the right setting on the slow cooker
Use the stove first
Add together some ingredients later

Using less liquid is recommended when converting Dutch oven recipes for the slow cooker. This is because the moisture is sealed in a slow cooker which means no evaporation. Recipes for Dutch ovens account for some wet loss.

You lot also demand to account for the fact that food could be cooking all day in a tedious cooker. This means that if y'all chop your nutrient into small pieces, there is a existent danger that it will overcook and degenerate. You lot tin bet against this happening past using larger chunks of food that take longer to cook.

Selecting the right temperature on a tedious cooker is besides important. Ofttimes you have a selection of low or loftier. The general dominion is based on 300F. If the Dutch oven recipe calls for a recipe over 300F, go for the loftier setting. Obviously, if lower than 300F, use the low setting on your slow cooker.

Another tip that helps when converting Dutch oven recipes involves using the stove. Often y'all will find that slow cooked food lacks a petty flavor. You tin remedy this by searing the meat to capture the season. Do the same with your vegetables too and you will get a better consequence guaranteed.

Finally, consider calculation some ingredients at a later stage in the slow cooking process. This might not accommodate everybody since they may non exist dwelling house to practise and so. If you practise have the chance to exercise so, it can make a existent deviation. Some vegetables can stop up a mess when they are overcooked, if the Dutch oven recipe tells you to add together them later, effort to do then too when converting the recipe.

Hopefully, adding these tips to your recipe will assist yous transition the recipe successfully.

Let'south run through some numbers…

The general rule is that a Dutch oven at 325F takes 25% of the time that a slow cooker would. So, to make it clear, if a recipe takes twelve hours in a slow cooker, it will accept 3 in a Dutch oven. This conversion is based on the low setting of your slow cooker.

If your slow cooker is on the high setting, information technology volition accept 100% longer than a Dutch oven would. So, going back to the example, if the Dutch oven recipe takes 3 hours, it will have 6 hours in your slow cooker on a high setting.

Then, to clarify, this conversion is based on a Dutch oven recipe cooked at 325F;

Dutch oven 325F	Slow cooker (Depression)	Boring cooker (High)
10 hours	40 hours	20 hours
nine hours	36 hours	xviii hours
8 hours	32 hours	16 hours
seven hours	28 hours	14 hours
half-dozen hours	24 hours	12 hours
five hours	20 hours	10 hours
4 hours	sixteen hours	eight hours
three hours	12 hours	6 hours
2 hours	8 hours	iv hours
ane hours	4 hours	ii hours

Dutch oven vs Dull cooker – Which should I buy?

What y'all buy should depend on a number of factors. I will preface the following past saying that they are both worthy of your money. Substantially, they go to the same effect just in dissimilar ways.

I would suggest that both accept a place in your kitchen…in fact, I would recommend that you find a place in your kitchen for both.

If y'all really must choose between a Dutch oven vs Tedious cooker, then you lot should consider the following;

Fourth dimension available
Depth of flavor
Versatility
Price
Storage

Time available

How practise yous want to cook your meals? If you prefer to return from work and cook your meal there and and then, so a Dutch oven is your only feasible option. Irksome cookers are exactly that…irksome. If y'all want to return home to a hot meal, and then a slow cooker on the go while yous are at work may be the best option for y'all.

It is worth scrolling support this page to revisit the advantages and disadvantages of Dutch ovens and slow cookers.

Depth of season

In my feel, if you made the same recipe in a Dutch oven and a slow cooker, the Dutch ovens results taste better. They tend to be thicker and they have a greater depth and layers of flavor. This is because the cooking process of a Dutch oven often means that flavors are sealed in on the stove before being moved to the oven.

You tin can of course braise and sauté food before you place them in a boring cooker just that kind off defeats the purpose. One thing is for sure, doing this makes the food gustatory modality and so much amend.

Versatility

I make no surreptitious of the fact that the Dutch oven is my favorite dish…you lot can pretty much do everything in them. They are admittedly the near versatile dish in my kitchen.

The question is whether you need that versatility…you may well have plenty of other options in your kitchen.

I do take to say that on some more premium slow cooker versions, you can utilize them on the stove merely generally, they are pretty limited.

Price

Slow cookers are relatively inexpensive to buy and information technology appears you are getting much more than bang for your bucks. Nonetheless, they do have a range of price options and some of the premium ones are quite advanced.

A premium Dutch oven effectually 6 quarts, such equally Le Creuset Signature will price y'all over $250. Nonetheless, yous can cheaper ones at effectually $60 such equally the Society enameled bandage atomic number 26 Dutch oven. The key signal is that if yous expect after them and treat them well, they can last a long time…even decades. In fact, some used Le Creuset dutch ovens are collectors' items and seen equally an investment.

Storage

This is subjective every bit almost people I know go on their Dutch ovens on evidence. They are proud of them. They actually bring a design flavour to the kitchen and are often sold with very colorful colors. They are a statement piece.

If you are planning to put them away, do so in a dry out identify as you don't want the cast atomic number 26 to starting time rusting in a boiling environment.

The same cannot be said for Slow cookers. Generally, they are quite unattractive pieces of equipment. Mine stays in my closet near of the fourth dimension. It's amend at that place.

The question you should ask is whether you accept the storage space or are you prepared to leave it on show.

Slow cooker vs oven energy consumption

In summary, the tiresome cooker is the about efficient of the two. This nosotros already know. The question is how much more cost efficient is it?

Co-ordinate to enquiry, the dull cooker uses slightly more free energy than a light seedling. It is approximated that a ho-hum cooker uses 0.7kWh over an 8-hour period.

An average conventional oven uses approximately 2kWh per hour.

The cost of electricity is approximately 12 cents per kWh. Since an boilerplate stew takes iii hours, we tin can say that the cost of the oven is 72 cents in total.

Since the slow cooker will take well-nigh 8 hours, the toll will exist approximately six cents. You can therefore see the significant saving in electricity.

How many amps does a slow cooker apply?

Wearisome cookers range from 0.v amps to 2 using 120 volts AC. Depending on the setting that y'all use, the low setting uses seventy watts and the loftier temperature uses 250 watts.

Slow cooker vs oven cooking times

As nosotros discussed above, the full general rule is that the Dutch oven takes 25% of the fourth dimension of a slow cooker. See higher up for more details but essentially, if you are converting recipes or fifty-fifty just planning your meal, keep that in listen.

Slow cooker temperature – What are they?

In many cases, slow cookers have two heat setting…low and high. The Low setting is approximately 200F whereas the high temperature is approximately 300F.

If you want another way of looking at it, an hour on the high temperature is approximately 2 and a half hours on the low temperature.

Can wearisome cooker be used instead of dutch oven?

Aye, a boring cooker tin be used instead of a Dutch oven. There are a couple of things you need to consider.

Firstly, the cooking fourth dimension volition greatly increase from the Dutch oven recipe. The Dutch oven recipe is a quarter of the time information technology will take in a tiresome cooker.

Scroll up the page to look at recipe conversion, only you also need to make certain that you don't overcook sure foods. When considering the recipe, expect at each ingredient and ask yourself whether it is appropriate to have that cooking for eight hours.

Ho-hum cooking without a slow cooker

Information technology is completely possible to slow cook without actually having a slow cooker. The primal here is having an oven where you tin regulate the temperature.

The all-time kitchenware to employ is a Dutch oven as it retains and delivers oestrus consistently. However, you lot can pretty much utilise annihilation as long as information technology can go in the oven.

The key question is whether you lot are prepared to leave the oven on for that long. At these low temperatures, information technology tin can take up to viii hours to melt. Therefore, it actually does depend on whether y'all are prepared to leave the oven on.

Verdict

Equally you lot have read, there is a time and a place for both wearisome cookers and Dutch ovens. In most cases, information technology is not a slow cooker vs Dutch oven debate…in an platonic earth, you should consider owning both.

If you are opting for the wearisome cooker, y'all can adapt many Dutch oven recipes only do so with intendance. Utilize your mutual sense when it comes to ingredients. Make sure you have taken in and understood the information above, it will prove invaluable.

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What have you decided to do? Leave a comment below!

Frequently asked questions

What is the oven temperature equivalent of a irksome cooker?

In near circumstances, slow cookers accept a high and low setting. Although the temperature varies by brand, information technology is approximately betwixt 170 – 190 Fahrenheit. It is always worth checking the manufacturers guide for a clearer figure.

Tin can I utilize my oven as a slow cooker?

Yes, you tin as almost ovens allow you to control the temperature. You lot can cook at a very low heat in about vessels. Dutch ovens are best as they distribute the heat very evenly.

Is it safe to get out a boring cooker on all twenty-four hours?

Information technology is safe to leave your slow cooker on all day equally that is what they are designed to do. That is bold that it has non been damaged in whatsoever way.

How many watts does a dull cooker employ?

On average, a slow cooker uses 0.7kWh over an 8-hour period.

Are deadening cookers cheaper to run than ovens?

Yes, they are much cheaper to run. Oftentimes information technology is a 10th of the cost if you lot compare information technology to an oven running for 3 hours.

Is it safe to leave a Crock Pot on loftier unattended?

That is what they are designed for and so I wouldn't worry. If it has not been damaged in anyway and you follow all the manufacturers instructions, there should be no issues.

Can slow cookers catch fire?

Every electric item has the potential to take hold of fire. However, Crock pots and slow cookers are designed to run for long periods of time then it is not something that should crusade you concern. As long as the detail is not damaged, you should exist fine.

What temp is warm on a slow cooker?

If your slow cooker has a warm setting, it ordinarily operates at between 145 – 165 F. In Celsius, 62 – 74 degrees.

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Source: https://www.dutchovenscookware.com/slow-cooker-dutch-oven/

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