Skip The Crockpot Liner – Frugal Slow Cooker Tip

Have you seen the crockpot liners on sale? It’s tempting to grab a bag, isn’t it?  One of the worst things about crockpot cooking can be the cleanup afterwards, especially when you end up with a caked on, burnt-in mess.

Instead of spending money on liners, use the following tips:

Pretreat Your Slow Cooker

Before you start adding all ingredients for your crockpot meal, take a rag or paper towel and a little cooking oil and rub it all over the inside of your crockpot. It will prevent much of the sticking that can occur in as dinner starts to cook. If you have a non-stick spray, you can use that instead.

Clean It Out Right Away

It’s tempting to take the crockpot insert and stick it and leftovers in the fridge when you’re done with dinner. Instead, transfer everything to a new container and clean the crockpot right away. This will give the food less chance to continue to stick to the side of the pot.

Soak It If You Have To

If despite the two steps above it looks like cleaning your pot will take some serious elbow grease, run some hot water and dish soap in the pot and let it soak overnight (or at least for an hour or so). Make sure the water covers any caked on spots. Once it had a chance to soak, it will be that much easier to clean.