How To Melt Caramel In A Slow Cooker

There's no need to go through the process of making your own caramel candies to make caramel sauce when you can grab a pack of caramels from the store and throw them in the slow cooker instead. Don't make the mistake of putting the unwrapped candies straight into the slow cooker though, that's one sure way to end up with a hard, burnt blob of caramel messiness.

Keep in mind, there needs to be an extra ingredient added such as water to keep the caramel from overcooking while being exposed to the heat. Heavy whipping cream also works in the same way, preventing any texture issues while melting. For a standard bag of caramels (usually somewhere around 11 ounces), you can add a splash of water or cream to the slow cooker once the caramels have started melting. One Tik Tok user went with 2 tablespoons of water for one whole bag of caramels. This isn't one of those dump-and-go kind of moments, though. You will need to watch the caramels melt on low heat and stir them often to keep them from hardening. When melting caramel in any form, you have to pay attention to it the whole time to avoid overcooking.

Melting caramels in the slow cooker doesn't have to include unwrapping what feels like 100 individual candies, either. Kraft is one of many brands that offer bags of caramel bits that are smaller than the candies and already unwrapped. These smaller, softer versions of caramels tend to require less intense stirring to achieve that perfect drippy texture. Making a batch of caramel apples just got a whole lot easier by using the slow cooker. 

Don't want to dedicate to a full bag of melted caramels but still feel like using the slow cooker? Well, you can prepare individual servings by bringing a jar into the mix. Just add a cup or two of the caramel candies or bits to a jar and let that sit in the slow cooker half-filled with water. You will still have to pay attention to the jar to make sure the caramel doesn't start boiling, stirring regularly, but the process won't take as long as the full batch. There are plenty of recipes for homemade caramel, but who really needs the headache? Slow cookers are useful for a surprising number of recipes and caramel melting is yet another one you'll grow to love.