When Freezers and Slow Cookers Collide

When Freezers and Slow Cookers Collide

I love when I find other food nerds out there.  It is a title I use – and embrace – lovingly.  It’s very different than food snobs who want to tell you that you are using the wrong knife or look down their nose at you if your cheese isn’t aged properly.  Food snobs can get away with cooking once a week and call themselves a gourmet, but a food nerd is always looking for new ways to make food better and easier – we are the ones who trade recipes at MOPS meetings and steal (with permission) each other’s freezer tips for getting dinner on the table.

Let me introduce you to fellow food nerd Kelly Rankin. Kelly and I met at an event I was speaking at, and we became friends through my blog. Kelly has taken the concept of freezer meals and slow cooking and done a mash up – freezer/slow cooking.

I am also a freezer/slow cooker, but Kelly’s ingenuity of stretching her meals and leaving no leftover left behind is admirable. I asked Kelley to share her plan for using her freezer and slow cooker for maximum savings of time, energy and stress:

Some of her favorite slow cooker to freezer recipes are things like soups, stews, and chili. You can double or – in a 6-quart slow cooker – triple a soup-like recipe and, after it cools, bag it up into gallon bags to be re-heated another time.

Here is a great recipe to make in the slow cooker and the store in the freezer for a busy night of running kids around. It makes a great dish for a potluck or to have for a family picnic while enjoying the great weather.

“Slow cooker Smoked Pulled Pork BBQ”

By Kelly Rakin

4 Simple ingredients and a day of slow cooking lead to an amazingly simple, economical, and delicious pork BBQ. No smoker needed, and the leftovers freeze beautifully for a later meal. The liquid smoke and beef bouillon are the essential keys to this simple recipe, giving the pork a great flavor with minimal BBQ sauce. Perfect for a large gathering!

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 7-9 hours

Yields: 10 servings

INGREDIENTS:

5 lb Pork Sirloin Tip Roast

2 Ts Liquid Smoke (Typically found with condiments)

2 Ts Beef Bouillon (NOT Broth)

1/3 C. Water

Serve with your favorite BBQ Sauce, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Place pork roast in a large slow cooker. Pour water, liquid smoke, and bouillon on top of pork roast. Cook on High for 7-9 hours, flipping roasts once during cooking, if possible, to allow the juices to simmer all sides of the meat. Meat is finished cooking when it easily pulls apart with a fork. Remove roasts from slow cooker and pull pork apart. Return pork to slow cooker and add BBQ sauce to taste, or serve BBQ sauce on the side. Great on sandwiches or by itself.

To freeze: Place cooked BBQ in 1 quart freezer bags, removing air. Thaw, re-warm, and serve. Keeps in freezer up to 6 months.