Slow Cooker Converter

"Can I just throw this in the Crock-Pot?" Sometimes yes, sometimes you get curdled milk soup and chalk pasta. This converter rewrites a normal recipe for the slow cooker or pressure cooker with real rules: time mappings across 7 modes, capacity checks, and — the part that actually saves dinner — an ingredient triage that moves dairy, pasta, herbs and thickeners to late-add windows.

Overview

1. convert — recipe text in → same recipe rewritten for the target appliance, with per-step time conversions and an INSERT-AT timeline for late additions.
2. time — standalone time table: stovetop braise 2 h → LOW 8 h / HIGH 4 h / pressure 25 min; plus the 1h-HIGH ≈ 2h-LOW rule.
3. capacity — recipe servings × typical volume vs your cooker size: verdicts half-to-two-thirds fill rule, scaling advice.
4. ingredients — triage of problem ingredients per direction of conversion: what to add late, omit, or swap (dairy → evap/cream at end; pasta → cook separately or last 30 min; wine → reduce first, never raw in a sealed pot).

Stdlib Python, offline. The knowledge base covers the 7 modes: stovetop, oven, slow-cook-LOW, slow-cook-HIGH, pressure, rice program, sauté.

When to Use

• Converting a favorite stovetop soup/braise/chili recipe for the morning-before-work dump-and-go
• Oven recipe → Instant Pot on a hot day (or the oven's broken)
• Scaling a recipe up for a bigger cooker / party batch
• "Why did my slow-cooker Alfredo break?" — the ingredients triage answers retroactively what went wrong

Don't use for: baking (bread/cakes are a different physics — no direct mapping; pressure-baking is its own genre), candy-making, or deep-frying conversions. Those have no safe mapping.

How It Works — Numbered Steps

1. Convert the whole recipe (paste or reference the text):

   python3 scripts/slow_converter.py convert --from oven --to slow-low \
       --recipe "Beef stew: brown beef 10 min; oven 325F 2.5h; add potatoes carrots; 1 cup red wine, 2 tbsp flour"
   

   → rewritten steps + INSERT-AT timeline + warnings.
2. Just need the time mapping?

   python3 scripts/slow_converter.py time --from stovetop --minutes 45 --to slow-low
   python3 scripts/slow_converter.py time --from oven --minutes 150 --to pressure
   

3. Check capacity before you scale:

   python3 scripts/slow_converter.py capacity --servings 6 --cooker 6
   

4. Triage problem ingredients for your direction:

   python3 scripts/slow_converter.py ingredients --to slow-low
   python3 scripts/slow_converter.py ingredients --to pressure
   

Core Conversion Table (excerpt)

Rules of thumb encoded: 1 h HIGH ≈ 2 h LOW; pressure ~1 min ≈ 15-20 min simmer for most liquids; always natural-release 10+ min for braises (fast release toughens muscle fibers).

The Ingredient Triage (the part that saves dinner)

Into slow cooker (either setting):

• Dairy (milk, cream, sour cream, yogurt): curdles 2 h+ at simmer → add LAST 30-60 min; swap to evaporated milk or coconut cream for longer windows.
• Pasta: blooms to mush → cook separately, or add last 20-30 min LOW equivalent; never the full cook.
• Fresh herbs (basil, parsley, cilantro, dill): stir in at serve; woody herbs (rosemary, thyme, bay) go in early.
• Flour/cornstarch thickeners: dump-and-go dust sinks and lumps → mix with cold water first, or thicken at the end on sauté, or use a roux base.
• Wine/liquor: never raw into a sealed/slow pot (stays sharp) → reduce by half in a pan (or sauté mode) first.
• Rice: long-cycle grains turn to paste; if the dish needs rice, convert to pressure rice program or cook apart.
• Quick-cook veg (zucchini, peas, spinach, bell pepper): last 30 min, or they vanish.
• Frozen veg: last 1 h — earlier turns them army-green and soft.

Into pressure cooker:

• Anything milk-based: pressure curdles guaranteed → finish on sauté after release, never under pressure.
• Alcohol > 2 tbsp in a sealed pot: flavor trap + foaming → reduce first, and reduce the amount by ~1/3.
• Thickeners: flour grits under pressure → thicken AFTER release.
• Delicate fish/shellfish: 0 min HP (add at release, sauté 2-3 min).

From slow cooker BACK to stovetop/oven: divide LOW hours by ~4 for stovetop simmer, keep liquid as-is (slow cookers lose almost no liquid — cut added stock by ~25% going the other way).

Common Pitfalls

1. Lifting the lid "to check." Each peek = 20-30 min added on LOW (thermal recovery). The recipe timeline assumes a closed pot.
2. No reduction possible in a slow cooker. Water doesn't evaporate — sauces stay thin. Plan a sauté-mode or stovetop reduce/thicken at the end, or start with less liquid (see pitfall 4's inverse).
3. Same liquid volume across appliances. Oven/stovetop lose 20-40% to evaporation; slow cookers lose ~none; pressure cookers lose zero. The converter adjusts: → slow: −25% stock; → pressure: −50%.
4. Dairy dumped at 8 AM for a 6 PM dinner. 10 h at simmer temperature = grainy broken sauce. Late-add window, always.
5. Overfilling the pressure pot. Max 2/3 fill (1/2 for foaming foods — beans, pasta, oatmeal). Capacity check exists for this.
6. Underfilling the slow cooker. Below half full, a slow cooker cycles hot and scorches. Scale the recipe or use a smaller pot.
7. Quick-releasing a braise. The fibers seize. Natural release 10-15 min for anything with big muscle chunks.

Example

$ slow_converter.py convert --from oven --to slow-low --recipe "chicken thighs 325F 90min, 1 cup rice, 2 cups broth, 1 cup milk, mushrooms"
CONVERTED (oven -> slow LOW):
  1. Sear chicken (skillet, 3-4 min/side) — flavor base, don't skip.
  2. Combine chicken, mushrooms, broth (CUT to 1.5 cups — slow pot
     loses ~nothing), seasoning. Cook LOW 5-6 h.
  INSERT-AT TIMELINE:
    T-60 min (5 h mark): rice IN only if converted to par-cooked or
      using converted-rice trick — otherwise cook rice separately.
    T-30 min: milk STIRRED IN now (never at start).
  SERVE: adjust thickness (sauté reduce or cornstarch slurry).
WARN: milk at hour 0 = broken sauce by dinner.

Verification Checklist

• Target appliance + mode chosen; time mapped via table
• Liquid adjusted for evaporation class of the target
• Problem ingredients triaged: dairy/pasta/herbs/thickeners moved to late-add or swapped
• Fill level between half and two-thirds (capacity check)
• Pressure: NR 10+ min for braises; ≤2/3 fill; no milk under pressure
• Lid discipline: no peeks (or +25 min each on LOW)