Converting Oven Recipes to Crockpot Recipes

I love the convenience of my crockpots. And yes, that was plural, I have 3 sizes. Some of the recipes I post here are crock pot recipes and I usually try to include directions for cooking in a traditional oven. I thought I would give a little primer on converting from one to the other.

You can convert from an oven recipe to a crockpot recipe or visa versa. Recipes that convert well are items that are traditionally cooked in moisture for a long time in the over such as a pot roast or simmered for a long time on top of the stove such as a soup or stew.

For the sake of simplicity I am going to be talking about cooking on the low setting of the crock pot, 275-300 degrees F in the oven, or a slow simmer on top of the stove. My rule of thumb is an item that would be cooked slowly in or on the stove for 3 hours needs at least 8 hours in the crockpot. You can reverse that to go the other way. Items such as tougher cuts of meat or dried beans that need 4 hours using the stove need 10-12 hours in the crock pot.

Another important point when converting recipes is the amount of liquid. A crockpot holds in most of the moisture. When cooking on top of the stove or in the oven a lot of liquid cooks away. I usually put 1/2 as much moisture in the crockpot as I would if cooking otherwise.

Switching cooking methods isn't hard. Don't be afraid to experiment. Crock pot cooking is very forgiving.