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I know that this may be a silly question but I came across a crockpot recipe that asks for the crockpot to be greased before adding the ingredients into the pot. Do you just grease the pot normally? In my case with a bit of olive oil and paper towel. Are you required to grease a crockpot or is it just simpler. I don't want the food to extra greasy.

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2 Answers

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Personally, I've never made a dish that required greasing of the crockpot - even if it called for it, I've ignored that step and had no problems. I can only imagine the step is added to ensure nothing sticks - but my crockpot (and all others I've seen) are glazed porcelain or ceramic, and the recipes always include a liquid of some kind, so I don't think that's going to be a problem.

If I were going to grease it, however, I'd do it in the method you described, and use a very light touch.

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Depends on what I'm making. When I'm doing a whole chicken, I rub the chicken with olive oil so it doesn't stick to the sides and bottom (and to help the spices adhere to the skin). For a bunch chicken pieces, I might oil the pot instead. Never bothered for chili or soup.

Oiling/greasing the pan should never be enough to make the food greasy. It is a thin layer of oil, rubbed on to help prevent sticking. There shouldn't be enough for puddles to form, or frying to happen.

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When you cook chicken in the crock pot, are you just cooking the chicken by itself (the equivalent of spicing and then baking)? Or are you cooking it in some kind of liquid? I've never tried treating the crockpot as a mini oven, but I'm very curious as to whether this works or not. If your answer is "yes" I might have to open a question about it! – stephennmcdonald Aug 4 '10 at 17:08
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@stephennmcdonald I cook a whole chicken in mine. Just stuff with a bit of butter and sliced apples and season with some seasoning salt (Mrs. Dash). It is so good and falls off the bone it is so tender. – Kyra Aug 4 '10 at 17:16
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@stephennmcdonald - I like to add a small amount of flavorful liquid, poured inside the chicken after it is in position. What dribbles out is only enough to just barely cover the bottom of the crock pot, so it definitely is more moist steaming than boiling. As the chicken fat starts to melt, it will add to liquid to the bottom of the pot and prevent any from burning there. Takes about 3-4 hours to cook, and the result is incredibly tender, moist chicken. If you like crispy skin, you can take it out a little earlier and finish in the oven in high heat. – Tim Gilbert Aug 4 '10 at 17:17
@Kyra & @Tim: I can't wait to try this method, I'm going to buy a whole chicken this weekend just for this purpose - I love my slow cooker and never even considered that I could make a whole chicken in it. Thanks for the info! – stephennmcdonald Aug 4 '10 at 17:21
@stephennmcdonald Just remembered. I add a little bit of water to the crockpot at the beginning so I end up having more liquid at the end. This makes AMAZING gravy so whenever I make this I have to make mashed potatoes to go with it. :D – Kyra Aug 4 '10 at 17:32

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