An Unexpected Cooking Method Is Saving Home Cooks In The Heatwave

2 days ago 1

Last Sunday, just before the heatwave began, I batch-cooked a record six dishes and three desserts.

I simply could not face another week of cooking 1) in the heat and 2) after work.

It turns out I’m not alone. Writing to Reddit’s r/Maine (Maine, in the United States, has recently gone through a brutal heatwave), u/Drunkensteine asked: “What are you cooking today so you don’t have to cook during the heat?”

As it turns out, many of the responses mentioned a “Crockpot” (what we would call a slow cooker here in the UK).

Site user u/gettingcrunkontea said they eat “Crockpot meals all week” when it’s hot out. Others said they put their slow cookers in their garage to work during heatwaves.

A BBC article suggests there’s pretty good logic behind that choice.

“Slow cookers are well-insulated, so they won’t heat up your kitchen in the summer,” the site shared.

They emit far less heat at once than an oven, and don’t produce a load of hot steam, like when you’re cooking on the hob.

And while you might associate the cooking tools with heavy, stodgy winter staples, it doesn’t have to be that way.

Greek and Mexican-style recipes are perfectly suited for the season, as are soups and shawarma. (I love this NYT Cooking lentil and coconut recipe, which creates a golden yellow glow from your slow cooker thanks to its high turmeric content).

My slow cooker lentil coconut soup

Another benefit? Slow cookers usually take hours to work their magic, meaning you’ll get most of the (minimal) prep done before the hottest part of the day starts.

And if “natsubate”, a Japanese term used to describe heatwave exhaustion, is hitting hard, it’ll be an enormous relief to know that cooking is off the mental checklist after work.

After all, the machine does almost all of the heavy lifting here: usually, slow cooker recipes involve leaving ingredients to simmer, with little to no intervention.

If you like, you can use the technique to cook salad staples like chickpeas and beans while you go about your day, too. I find this is perfect for batch-cooking ahead of a busy week.

Cooking chickpeas in a slow cooker

Redditors aren’t the only ones who swear by the technique in summer.

Speaking to Tasting Table, Clare Andrews, author of The Ultimate Slow Cooker Cookbook, said: “Summer is actually one of the best times to use a slow cooker, just not in the way most people think...

“In the hot weather, it can keep your kitchen relatively cool! It’s all about low, contained heat. An oven pumps heat into your whole kitchen, while a slow cooker keeps it contained in one pot.”

You don’t need to tell me twice...