I was totally against dumping raw chicken in the slow cooker until I tried it on a Tuesday

For years I always seared my chicken first, thought that was the only safe way. Then I got home late from work in Denver, threw in frozen thighs with a can of salsa and some taco seasoning, and let it go on low for 8 hours. It came out so tender and shredded perfectly, no dry spots at all. Now I'm wondering if browning is actually worth the extra cleanup or if I've been wasting time all along. Has anyone else switched and never looked back, or do you still swear by searing first?

2 comments

2 Comments

michaela1623d ago

Oh man the carrot thing hits home, I used to peel them too until my buddy Dave was like "dude just scrub em, you're missing all the good stuff." Same with potatoes actually, I haven't peeled a potato in like five years. But back to the chicken, I switched to dumping it in raw after my slow cooker lid cracked and I had to borrow my neighbor's old one that didn't even have a sear function anyway.

ruby56123d ago

My aunt over in Greeley swore by searing for thirty years until her slow cooker died and she had to use a friend's recipe for a potluck. She said the same thing, that it came out so tender she never went back. I feel like that's a bigger pattern in life where we do extra work because we think it's necessary, but really the simple way works just fine. It reminds me of how I used to peel carrots until I realized the skin is totally edible and I was just wasting time. Makes me wonder what other kitchen rules I've been following without questioning them.