Slow Cooker Timing

[123LuckyMom]

I'm about to use my Instant Pot as a slow cooker for the first time. I have never owned a slow cooker before, so I am a serious newbie! I'm using a recipe that's basically a sweet potato and pork stew, but because we don't eat pork, I'm going to substitute cubed chicken thighs for the cubed pork. The recipe calls for 7-9 hours of cooking on low. Two hours seems like a pretty wide spread! Since I'm using chicken, should I adjust the timing or just cook on low for 7 hours? Do you have any (other) tips for me? I'm nervous. I've literally never made a successful slow cooker meal, but it would be sooooo useful to get good at it! Help!

[zukeypur]

Two hours isn't a huge difference in time when you're slow cooking. I think 7 hours would be fine. Also, the chicken will end up being super tender, so I would skip cubing it and just throw the chicken thighs in.

[123LuckyMom]

Two hours isn't a huge difference in time when you're slow cooking. I think 7 hours would be fine. Also, the chicken will end up being super tender, so I would skip cubing it and just throw the chicken thighs in.

Thanks! That saves me work! I'll let you know how it turns out.

[pastrygirl]

Yeah, 7-9 is not much different when slow cooking. If a recipe says that, I usually choose the amount that I have time for. And I agree that they'll be so tender, no need to cube!

[123LuckyMom]

Well, I probably already shot myself in the foot, because I chose to double the recipe due to what I had (3 huge sweet potatoes instead of 2 small, over 3 lbs of chicken vs. 1.25lbs of pork, 16 oz bags of frozen veggies, etc.) the pot is FULL! I know you can't do that with pressure cooking, but I hope it will be okay for slow cooking. If we don't like this dish, we're going to unhappy for several meals!

[zukeypur]

I bet it will be fine. You can put quite a bit in a slow cooker

[123LuckyMom]

It was fine! It needed more salt but was tasty! I kept some with all the remaining chicken for leftovers and froze the rest of the veggies and sauce as soup portions. DH said he would eat it again, so hurrah!!! I've made my first successful crock pot recipe! It ended up staying on warm for nearly an hour beyond the seven hours of cooking, but the chicken was not dry. I think using the thighs instead of breasts really helped. I'm encouraged to try more crock pot recipes!


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[zukeypur]

That's great! We almost never buy breasts. I'm sure there are several great slow cooker recipe threads on here.