I’m so excited about this new tip that I kind of found out by accident.
**Use a slow cooker liner to keep your chicken moist in the slow cooker.
This is how…
1. Place a slow cooker liner inside your slow cooker.
2. Pile all the ingredients into the liner.
3. Gather up the edges of the liner and use some kitchen string or a piece of yarn to tie it up.
4. Cover your slow cooker and cook as recommended on the recipe.
5. Carefully remove the string and open up the bag. Serve!
It seems like this trick really helped keep the chicken extra moist and kept it from getting dried out (similar to how the oven bags keep a turkey moist). I used my favorite chicken, the boneless skinless thighs. They hold up fairly well, anyhow, in the slow cooker (unlike chicken breasts) but this just helped it even more. So if you’re convinced that you want to use chicken breasts in the slow cooker I would use this trick (along with LOW heat and cooking for only about 4 hours).
The slow cooker liners is a great idea for protein foods especially. The Instant Pot people also do the “pot-in-pot” method and I was thinking that instead of the liners I could place a smaller pot with lid inside. I’m not sure if – as with the Instant Pot – I would have to set the smaller pot in some water too…. from Karalee’s test kitchen.
Yes I bet you could do that. And I might put a cup of water in the main pot.
I’ve been using the liners for quite some time now, I love the easy clean up. Will have to try tying the bag shut.
it works well!
My slow cooker developed a crack and I couldn't afford to buy a new one right away and that's how I discovered the liners. they work for just about any length of time and sure make the clean up easier. I have a new cooker now but continue to use the liners.
Lisa, this is what I read off of Reynold's website: The liners are made of a special material suitable for cooking foods in slow cookers on high, low, or keep warm settings. Reynolds has safely used this blend of nylon resins for over 30 years.
Just wondering… are the liners made of plastic? I have never bought them because I worry about cooking hot food in plastic that might "bleed" chemicals into the food. It just hit me that maybe they are not plastic.
Can you use them for longer than 4 hours? I make chicken cacciatore and it cooks for 6 to 8 hours.
I just bought the slow cooker liners the other day and was so excited to try them out! I spent a good portion of this evening putting together a stew to cook while I'm at work tomorrow, and completely forgot about having purchased the liners until I just now read your post. It's been that kind of a day…
Thanks for the chicken tip though, I will have to try that next time I prep a crock-pot meal, if I remember that I have them.