NuWave as a Slow Cooker
The Nuwave induction cooktop can be set to very precise temperatures, and some have advanced the idea that it can replace a dedicated “Slow Cooker/Crock Pot” and save storage space.
I decided to give that a try, and since I don’t own a slow cooker, I did some research on slow cookers on the internet. I was surprised to learn that there is so much difference in the way that dedicated slow cookers maintain the temperature while cooking. It seems that different brands use different methods for their high and low settings. It seems that most do it by wattage and some do it by temperature. I don’t know the merits of either approach, but have read that many are not happy because the new slow cookers seem to cook at too high temperature. Well, this isn’t about dedicated slow cookers so I’ll leave those judgments to others who use dedicated slow cookers.
As I understand it, slow cooking is a concept that cooks the food at a simmer – not a boil. It intends to get the final temperature of the food to about 165 degrees F in a long time (4 to 8 hours). I have read that it takes slow cookers several hours to reach a temperature of the cooking medium to obtain the 165 degree F temperature of the food.
I decided to do some initial test of the performance of the NuWave in a cooking situation before I actually committed food to the issue. I decided that a temperature of 195 F would satisfy the slow cooking requirement. I put two quarts of water in a covered pot, set the temperature to 195 F and started the process. The first attempt at the test failed because I forgot that the default time on the NuWave is one hour. You can set it up to 99 hours. I recovered from that error and proceeded with the test with a cooking time of 3 hours.
The initial temperature of the water was 62 F, and the NuWave temp setting was 195 F. A Kill-A-Watt meter indicated that the initial wattage at this setting was 600 watts. It took about 45 minutes to get the two quarts of water to 195 F. As the temperature of the water approached 195 F, the NuWave started reducing the watt draw. When the temperature finally reached 195 F, the Nuwave would cycle between 0.6 watts and 56.0 watts. It then maintained the temperature of the water at 195 F +/- 2 degrees as long as I continued the test.
The test proved to me that the NuWave can be used for the slow cooking method, but at least two things should be considered.
1. The NuWave seems to reach the set temperature faster than conventional slow cookers. This could shorten cooking time.
2. The NuWave maintains the set temperature to very close tolerances. This could have an effect on the cooking time – shorter or longer, I don’t know.
Well, tomorrow, with the initial tests over, I’ll really try to cook “Slow Cooker Chicken Soup.” I’ll let you know how it worked.
Good Luck!
Wil
I decided to give that a try, and since I don’t own a slow cooker, I did some research on slow cookers on the internet. I was surprised to learn that there is so much difference in the way that dedicated slow cookers maintain the temperature while cooking. It seems that different brands use different methods for their high and low settings. It seems that most do it by wattage and some do it by temperature. I don’t know the merits of either approach, but have read that many are not happy because the new slow cookers seem to cook at too high temperature. Well, this isn’t about dedicated slow cookers so I’ll leave those judgments to others who use dedicated slow cookers.
As I understand it, slow cooking is a concept that cooks the food at a simmer – not a boil. It intends to get the final temperature of the food to about 165 degrees F in a long time (4 to 8 hours). I have read that it takes slow cookers several hours to reach a temperature of the cooking medium to obtain the 165 degree F temperature of the food.
I decided to do some initial test of the performance of the NuWave in a cooking situation before I actually committed food to the issue. I decided that a temperature of 195 F would satisfy the slow cooking requirement. I put two quarts of water in a covered pot, set the temperature to 195 F and started the process. The first attempt at the test failed because I forgot that the default time on the NuWave is one hour. You can set it up to 99 hours. I recovered from that error and proceeded with the test with a cooking time of 3 hours.
The initial temperature of the water was 62 F, and the NuWave temp setting was 195 F. A Kill-A-Watt meter indicated that the initial wattage at this setting was 600 watts. It took about 45 minutes to get the two quarts of water to 195 F. As the temperature of the water approached 195 F, the NuWave started reducing the watt draw. When the temperature finally reached 195 F, the Nuwave would cycle between 0.6 watts and 56.0 watts. It then maintained the temperature of the water at 195 F +/- 2 degrees as long as I continued the test.
The test proved to me that the NuWave can be used for the slow cooking method, but at least two things should be considered.
1. The NuWave seems to reach the set temperature faster than conventional slow cookers. This could shorten cooking time.
2. The NuWave maintains the set temperature to very close tolerances. This could have an effect on the cooking time – shorter or longer, I don’t know.
Well, tomorrow, with the initial tests over, I’ll really try to cook “Slow Cooker Chicken Soup.” I’ll let you know how it worked.
Good Luck!
Wil
