Do you know this feeling, walking into your home after a long day and smelling dinner slowly simmering away in your slow cooker? Oh, I just love it. I was fresh out of college when I got my first slow cooker experience, living in a tiny apartment. I thought I was a domestic genius with my mom’s old Crock-Pot. Throw in some ingredients, turn it on low, and voila, that’s all. Dinner would be ready when I got home, that’s what I call technology. But, as I quickly learned, slow cookers can be sneaky little tricksters. Some ingredients that seem harmless will betray you, leaving your meal looking sad, gray, or just plain… weird. Over the years, I’ve learned the hard way which ingredients belong in a slow cooker—and which ones should never even get close.
Here’s my guide to foods you should never put in a slow cooker, told the way I wish someone had told me before I ruined my first seafood stew.
