Total time is about four and a half hours, with a cook time of 4 hours and prep of about 20-30 minutes. Unlike oven cooking, there is no way to exactly predict the time needed to cook in a crockpot because they vary based on size and model. Small slow cookers cook more slowly than larger ones, and if you change the quantities in a recipe the cooking time will change. This recipe was tested in a 6 quart Rival CrockPot (affiliate link); you will need to adjust the cooking time based on your individual appliance.