Welcome back to Home Economics for Men, the series that teaches you – the single man of the 21^st century – the ins-and-outs of culinary self-sufficiency.

Convenience food burning a hole in your pocket? Are you looking less like Dwayne Johnston and more like Peter Griffin thanks to take-out indulgences? This is the series for you.

Last time, we talked about the importance of knowing the meat market, and how cheaper, tougher cuts are often the most flavorful when prepared properly. But how do you go about preparing them properly? Does it mean slaving over a hot stove for hours on end to get the best flavors out of them?

Thanks to the help of a very handy kitchen device, it doesn’t have to be! The slow cooker has been a fixture in American households since women joined the workforce en masse in the 1970s, and with good reason. It’s an amazingly useful tool for hassle free cooking that really gets the most out of cheap ingredients. In short, it’s the dream tool for a budding home economist!

In this edition, we’re looking at the history of the slow cooker, talking about how it works and telling you how to get the most out of one in your cooking.

Slow Cooker vs Crock Pot:

Before we start, it’s worth clearing up the distinction between slow cookers and crock pots, as these two terms are often used interchangeably and can cause some confusion.

Both slow cookers and crock pots are made up of the same base elements – a glass lid, a pot and a heating element. What typically distinguishes the two is that the crock pot’s pot is made of ceramic or porcelain, while the slow cooker’s pot is made of metal. For today’s purposes though, we’re using the two interchangeably, as the cooking procedures are generally the same.

The history of the slow cooker

Invented in 1940, the crock pot was the brainchild of an inventor named Irving Nachumsohn (who went by the surname Naxon). Nachumsohn created the crock-pot as an aide for Jewish housewives who were forbidden from cooking on the Sabbath. The device allowed for dishes such as cholent (a traditional Jewish stew from eastern Europe) to be prepared the night before, cook slowly overnight and be ready and warm to eat on the Saturday.

A hit with its intended audience, the slow cooker “saved the Jewish housewife” according to “Jewish Slow Cooker Recipes” author Laura Frankel. However, it would be 30 years before crock-pots and slow cookers found their way into the majority of the American homes.

In no small part, this boom was a result of the large numbers of women entering the work force in the 1970s.

Traditionally, cooking appliances were marketed towards homemakers. But, the manufacturers of slow cookers realized the potential benefits that their product could offer working women. Namely, that – with some simple preparation in the morning – the slow cooker would provide a hot, nutritious meal by the time the family got home. In 1975, the Mabel Hoffman’s “Crockery Cookery” – a recipe book geared towards the burgeoning crock-pot market sold half a million copies in four months, cementing the slow cooker’s status as a must-have appliance.

In the past two decades, the slow cooker has seen a massive resurgence in popularity. As the Washington Post noted in 2015, sales of slow-cookers doubled between 2001 and 2014. This time though, observers related the boom to an expanding interest in cooking among men, as well as a shift in the division of labor between the sexes.

How it works, and how to use it

Though it might seem like a marvel, the slow cooker is actually a pretty straightforward device. Typically, it comprises of three units; a base, with a heating element, a vessel where food is placed – most often a heavy stoneware receptacle, and a glass lid.

If you’ve ever used a Dutch oven, you’re probably familiar with the mechanics of the slow cooker. Heat emanates from its base, working up the sides of the cooker and then into the food. The steam generated from the heat then creates a vacuum seal with the lid. As a result, temperatures in the slow cooker remain consistently low. This helps to keep moisture during cooking, and also means that the liquid in the stock pot does not become concentrated or evaporate during cooking.

As a result, slow cookers are ideal for two kinds of cooking; poaching , which works well for fish and lean cuts like chicken breast, and braising, which is ideal for tougher, inexpensive cuts of meat like shoulder of pork, brisket of beef or lamb shank (more on this in a minute).

Slow cookers typically have a low and high, and warm setting. What you use will depend on the dish you’re making. Tougher cuts typically benefit from a longer cooking time, so are best on low. Soups and stews might use low or high depending on the ingredients you’re using. Generally though, the low setting is your go-to. A slow, gently cooked dish will really bring out the flavors and a longer cooking time means you can head out for the day and not worry about needing to come back and switch off the cooker.

The benefits of using a slow cooker

As I’ve already mentioned, slow cookers took off in the 1970s because they offered convenience to working women who suddenly found they had less time on their hands to prepare nutritious meals. Unsurprisingly then, the most obvious benefit to a slow cooker is that it provides a low-effort way to prepare a full meal.

Typically, slow cooker recipes call for only one step preparation. You simply need to chop your ingredients, place them in the pot, add your liquid and then let the slow cooker do the rest. Some recipes might require you to brown meat or sauté onions before adding them to the dish, but even with this additional step, you’re looking at maybe a 20 minute prep time max for a good lunch or dinner (some slow cookers even come with a browning function to streamline this process).

I’ve talked before about the benefits of batch cooking in this series, and this is somewhere the slow cooker really comes into its own. Slow cookers come in different shapes and sizes, with volumes ranging from 1 ½ to 7 quarts. While a smaller pot might seem like a no-brainer for bachelor or couple living, I’d recommend going large – 6 quarts and upwards. A meal from a 6-quart pot typically serves six, which means you can build up your freezer reserves really quickly.

Using a slow cooker already cuts down on your meal prepping process, but having a stockpile of home-made ready meals is seriously handy, especially when things come up that prevent you from cooking, or you’re getting fatigued as the week draws to a close.

Oh, and as far as time saving goes, the other advantage to a slow cooker is that it cuts down on washing up. At the end of meal prep, you’re usually only faced with a single pot, and the slow, gentle cooking means you don’t have to worry about burnt on dirt and grime.

Finally, slow cookers are also incredibly useful when it comes to getting the most out of cheap cuts of meat. As I mentioned in the previous article in this series (LINK BACK HERE) cheap cuts like shoulder, shank and brisket are pound-for-pound more flavorful than their premium cousins. The key to unlocking these flavors, though, is cooking these meats for longer. Fortunately, this is pretty much exactly what the slow cooker is designed for, getting you close-to-restaurant quality flavors without a huge amount of effort.  

Things to remember when using a slow cooker:

Trim fat from your meat: You don’t need to add oil to a slow cooker recipe. Things cook so slowly in there and with enough moisture that the contents won’t catch. This means you don’t need a lot of fat on your meat either, as it won’t drain away. If you leave it on, you might end up with pools of oil in your stew.

Don’t add too much liquid: Because the slow cooker creates a vacuum, any liquid you put in the pot isn’t going anywhere. As a rule, reduce a given recipe’s liquid content by roughly a third when using a slow cooker. The pot should never be more than three quarters full, and you ideally want the liquid to just cover the meat and vegetables.

On the subject of liquid, just as it doesn’t evaporate in the slow cooker, it also doesn’t thicken. To combat this, you can either roll your meat in a small amount of flour before adding it to the slow cooker, or use a little bit of cornflour at the end of cooking.

Leave the pot alone: When slow cooking there’s always the temptation to lift the lid and check/taste the contents. But, slow cookers are at their best when left alone to do their thing. Each time you take the lid off, you break the vacuum, reduce the heat and increase the cooking time, so leave it alone as much as possible.

Slow Cooker times:

Want to know how to adjust normal recipes for a slow cooker? Fortunately, BBC Good Food has put together this handy guide.

If a dish usually takes:

• 15-30 mins, cook it for 1-2 hours on High or 4-6 hours on Low
• 30 mins – 1 hour, cook it for 2-3 hours on High or 5-7 hours on Low
• 1-2 hours, cook it for 3-4 hours on High or 6-8 hours on Low
• 2-4 hours, cook it for 4-6 hours on High or 8-12 hours on Low

And that wraps up this Home Economics for men series. Over the past five lessons, you’ve learned the basics of cooking healthy, tasty food on a budget, and how to maximize your time doing it. We hope you’ve enjoyed it, and that your wallet and waistline have as well!

Welcome back to Home Economics for Men, the series that teaches you – the single man of the 21^st century – the ins-and-outs of culinary self-sufficiency.

Convenience food burning a hole in your pocket? Are you looking less like Dwayne Johnston and more like Peter Griffin thanks to take-out indulgences? This is the series for you.

As we established last week, there are three main components to a healthy meal; protein, carbohydrates and vegetables. And, plenty of your protein will probably be coming from meat.

But meat buying can be a minefield for the intrepid home economist. It’s expensive, and if you’re not savvy about your purchases, it’s a surefire way to blow your food budget.

So how do you make the most of your money when it comes to buying meat? That’s what today’s lesson is all about. Today, I’ll show you how to master the meat market, shop smart, and buy the tastiest cuts in the process.

Where possible, buy whole animals

When you buy meat that’s been pre-butchered, a lot of what you’re paying is the overhead costs of that butchery. But, when buying a whole animal, you cut out the middleman.

Smaller animals  – poultry, rabbits, game etc. – can be bought whole and butchered at home.

Larger animals – pigs, sheep, cattle etc. – can be purchased as half or quarter carcasses. You can then butcher these into recognizable cuts at home to be frozen for future use.

If you’re at a loss for how to do this, then don’t worry. YouTube is a goldmine for easy-to-follow butchery tutorials that will bring you up to speed in minutes – that’s how I learned how to do it.

This process takes more time than buying pre-processed cuts from the supermarket, but there are definite advantages. First and foremost, you get more meat for your money.

But it’s not just the meat that you’re saving on. Whole animals contain bones and fat, which can be turned into foundational cooking ingredients that tend to be very expensive when bought from a store.

Bones, for example, can be used to make bone broth, a process which is as simple as stockpiling bones, cartilage and any cuts you don’t want to eat in your freezer, and slow cooking a batch of them in water for a day or so. Bone broth comes with its own noted health benefits, and homemade is definitely better than store bought.

You can also render the fat to make your own lard or dripping. While this process is time consuming, it’s passive time that doesn’t require much input from you once the process is started. And, once again, the health and budget benefits speak have been noted.

Avoid the premium cuts (or middle meats)

We’ve been conditioned to believe that so-called middle meats – ribs, centre-cuts, tenderloins, ribeyes, saddle-chops, etc. – are the most flavorful.

But, as award winning butcher, author and livestock expert Adam Danforth notes, this isn’t really the case:

“…there is an irony in how meat is priced in this country. You pay more for tenderness, but the more affordable cuts are, more often than not, the more flavorful options. Thus, if you know what to do with a cut, you’ll get more for your dollar while also producing more flavorful meals.”

Tenderloin, according to Danforth, is pound-for-pound the least flavorful cut on the market, despite being them most expensive.

Cheap cuts will take longer to cook, yes. But, when prepared right, the flavor is phenomenal. Plus, as the name suggests, they will save you lots of money. 

What are cheap cuts worth looking out for? Here’s a handy guide (via Skint Dad), broken down by animal:

Beef

• Brisket
• Skirt
• Flank
• Shin
• Oxtail

Pork

• Shank
• Shoulder
• Knuckle
• Belly
• Trotters
• Cheek – for stews
• Neck – good in sausages and pies
• Ham hock – great for sandwiches

Chicken

• Thighs
• Legs

Lamb

• Shank
• Scrag End – use in soups and stews

Make friends with your butcher

Picking up meat from the supermarket is easy, sure. But, making friends with your butcher pays off in dividends when it comes to buying quality food on a budget.

Here’s the thing about a good butcher. They’re an expert on meat. They offer the kind of knowledge and experience that a supermarket usually doesn’t.

Butchers can recommend cheap alternative cuts for your meals, they can provide you with specific guidance on cooking meat to maximize its flavor. And, they’re much more likely to reward your repeat, loyal custom than a supermarket is.

Take some time to research butchers in your area. Find a reputable one and start using it. This extra effort will transform the way you think about eating meat.

Eat less meat

This might seem like a strange inclusion in this lesson. But, it’s an important statement that needs making.

When it comes to overeating, over portioning meat is where the majority of people fall down. A common dietary problem in American society, overconsumption of meat makes people 20% more likely to develop cancer as well increasing the risk of heart disease.

Not only that, meat is expensive! Even when you’re savvy about the meat market, it’ll still be the biggest dent in your food budget at the week’s end.

So what’s the solution? First and foremost, you need to be aware of portion sizes (see last week’s lesson for more on that). 4 to 6 ounces of meat per plate is plenty for one meal, so avoid cuts that encourage eating more than this.

You also shouldn’t be afraid to factor in some non-meat meals every once in a while. There are plenty of non-meat proteins out there that are still nutritious and will keep your energy levels up throughout the day.

Beans, lentils, tofu and seitan are all worth exploring, and none of them will break the bank (if you want to know more about meat-free alternatives, check out this guide).

That’s it for this week’s edition. By now, you’re a master of meat-buying, know your brisket from your tenderloin and have a solid grasp of other protein sources out there.

But now that you’ve bought those slow-to-cook, but oh-so-tasty cheap joints, what’re you going to do with them? Does this mean hours of your weekend spent by the stove all in the name of saving a few bucks on the weekly shopping bill?

Of course not! In next week’s edition, I’ll introduce you to the single-man’s secret weapon when it comes to hassle-free cuisine; the slow cooker!

See you then. 

Welcome back to Home Economics for Men, the series that teaches you – the single man of the 21^st century – the ins-and-outs of culinary self-sufficiency.

If convenience food is burning a hole in your pocket and giving you that Homer Simpson physique you never dreamed of, then this is the series for you. In last two lessons, we laid out and explored the concept of the meal plan, which is probably the fundamental practice for mastering home economics.

But, key to effective meal planning is making sure that the meals we’re eating is nutritionally balanced. Because all that effort you put into planning your meals isn’t worth squat if you’re not providing yourself the right fuel for living a healthy life.

So how do you make sure that your meals are giving you the things you need? What sorts of things should you be shopping for and how should you envisage a healthy and nutritionally balanced meal?

Fear not, because today’s lesson has the answers. It’s time for you to get to know your nutrition.

What makes a balanced meal?

One of the most important factors in creating a nutritional meal is finding balance.

But, what exactly does a “balanced” meal look like?

It’s a surprisingly difficult question to answer. There is a lot of contradictory nutritional advice out there on the World Wide Web, which much of it informed by questionable science or passing fad diet trends.

Which is a shame, because the secret to a balanced diet isn’t rocket science.

Dig a littler deeper, and you’ll find that the majority of nutritionists still recommend a tried and tested healthy-eating model that is basic, easy to follow, and still comes out trumps in the health department.

The three core food groups and the ¼ + ¼ + ½ principle:

Every meal that you eat should be made up of three core food groups. These are carbohydrates, protein and vegetables. Why? Because each one of these food groups performs one of three functions that keep your body working at its optimum rate: providing, energy, aiding with growth and repair, and maintaining healthy metabolic function. I’ve omitted “fats” as I typically do not consume food high in fats. 

This method has worked for me during my weight loss (read my weight loss journey here) and has helped to maintain a healthy diet. 

The trick to a balanced diet is making sure that you have the correct ratio of these three foods in your meal. For easy reference, that ratio looks something like this:

Carbohydrates: Energy

Ratio on plate: one quarter

Foods: rice, pasta, quinoa, couscous, bread, potatoes

Function: provide energy to the brain, muscles and other organs

(Wholegrain carbs also provide fiber and vitamin B)

Protein: Growth and Repair

Ratio on plate: one quarter

Foods: eggs, seafood, poultry, red meat, dairy products (milk, yoghurt, cheese), tofu, nuts, pulses, beans

Function: maintain muscle tissue, red blood cells, produce hormones and enzymes

Vegetables: Healthy Metabolism

Ratio on plate: one half

Foods: Carrots, peas, peppers, leafy greens, spinach, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, etc.

Function: rich in vitamins and minerals that are essential to a healthy metabolism and maintaining healthy organ functions

(On the subject of vegetables, Healthline provides a great list of nutrition rich options.)

This ¼ + ¼ + ½ principle is easy to remember and simple to implement. And, provided that your various meals comprise of a variety of the foods listed, it’s a sure-fire way to maintain a nutritionally balanced diet.

Oh, and coming back to a point from article 2, this principle applies to all three main meals, not just dinner. Breakfast and lunch matter just as much.

Of course, there is one thing you need to remember when it comes to the ¼ + ¼ + ½ principle, and that’s portion size…

Why portion sizes matter

Fun fact: since the early 1900s, the size of a normal American dinner plate has grown by 25%. Back in the 1960s, a typical dinner plate was 9 inches in diameter. By the 1980s, they’d grown to 10 inches. At the turn of the millennium, they were 11 inches.

Today, your average dinner plate is 12 inches in size. To put that in perspective, that’s the same size as a vinyl record. You might as well be eating your food off your dad’s copy of “Dark Side of the Moon.”

“Great,” I hear you say, “but why does this matter?”

Because, it’s seriously skewed our sense of what a healthy portion size is, and allowed our daily calorie intake to creep up in the process. The average American adult consumes 300 more calories per day than they did in 1985.

So what can you do about it?

Well, the simple solution is to stop filling your plate, and start portioning your food based on your nutritional needs. Before you get overwhelmed trying to calculate carb, fat and protein requirements down to the gram, here’s a handy way to gauge portion sizes when it comes to plating up your food, courtesy of the BBC.

A serving of carbohydrates for a given meal should be roughly the size of your clenched fist.

A serving of protein should be roughly the size of the palm of your hand.

Once you’ve got those two served, you can gauge the vegetable portion accordingly.

Sure, this is a pretty rough way of measuring out your food, and the mathematicians amongst you might be raging at my decidedly non-scientific approach. But it’s straightforward, it works, and it’ll do you more favors than simply filling your plate to the brim.

That’s it for this week’s edition. By now, you’re not just well versed in meal planning; you now know how to make those meals healthy and nutritionally balanced.

Next class is titled “Master the Meat Market.” In it, we’ll learn about cheap meat, fish options that are nutritionally sound, but friendly on the wallet, as well as exploring other low-cost protein options that are full of health benefits.

See you then.

This week, I want to branch out and share something that has become a passion of mine besides whisky. The concept of health, healthy eating and thus healthy cooking. This is why I’m starting a new series called Home Economics for the Modern Day Man, a series teaching you about how to get healthy without breaking the bank and a guide to better yourself.

Why should you think about home economics in the first place?

Home Economics according to dictionary.com is “the art and science of home management.” I specifically chose the title of this series because I believe all men (and women) should, at some point in their lives, learn how to take care of themselves and their home environment. Its an art form and one trait that defines a modern day gentlemen. Let’s dive in.

When you’re fending for yourself, cooking food from scratch is rarely a top priority.

Cooking takes valuable time, raw ingredients cost money, and there are plenty of convenient ready meal and take-away alternatives out there for those that don’t want the hassle.

Plenty of us fall into the “don’t want the hassle” category, it seems, as convenience food is quickly becoming the norm over the home-cooked alternative. Convenience foods are the largest growing food market sector in the US, for example, and 85% of countries consume more packaged food than fresh.  It’s also men that are driving sales of convenience food over women, particularly those in the 18-24 age-range.

Ready meals, take-aways and grab-and-go food options are ubiquitous in today’s society. But, for all of their promise of low-cost, hassle-free living, they’re actually doing serious damage to our wallets, and our waistlines, as well as increasing our chances of contracting serious health problems later in life.

Let’s dispel some of the myths surrounding convenience cuisine, and reveal the home truths about the benefits of home-cooking.

So, if you’re a devotee to microwave lasagnes, take-out pizzas or store-bought sandwiches, then take note. This article is food for thought for the fast-food devotee.

Photo by Nick Fewings

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