Slow Cooker Question

[Tilly2]

My slow cooker has been on all day cooking steak, kidney, parsnips, carrots, leeks, onions, sweet potato and turnips.
I have just taken the pot out of the metal case, put some cornflour in to thicken it and put it in the oven on 180 degrees to finish off.

Two questions
Is it o.k. to put the pot in the oven? I'm sitting here in trepidation waiting for a loud crack.

We are having steamed new potatoes and broccoli with it. So the only green thing is the broccoli. Are there vitamins in the root vegetables that I've used? I know the carrots are full of vitamins. What about the rest? Is it too much carbohydrate with all those roots?

[tamborine]

why not mash the potato to thicken ot add smash

[Tilly2]

Pardon, tambo?

[murraymints]

should be ok in oven...mine is metal...of sorts....sounds tasty....

[ummmm]

I wouldn't risk putting the pot in the oven.

All veg is good for you.

[Tilly2]

It's been in the oven for twenty minutes now. So far, so good.
I hope it will be tasty. It was hard work cutting up all that veg, especially the turnip. I had to get the rolling pin out and bash the knife.

[tamborine]

Surely all is cooked after 'all day' cooking ? Mash some spuds for thickening

[Tilly2]

Do you mean put mashed potatoes in the pot, tambo? Won't it look like slurry?

[shaneystar2]

I don't understand why you need to finish it off in the oven .
I just thicken it in the slow cooker with some slaked cornflour and let it cook on .
That's defeating the object of using a slow cooker .
If you keep putting the pot in the oven it will crack and the glaze will craze eventually .

[woofgang]

I agree, I wouldn't risk the pot in the oven as a replacement would be expensive. I chuck the thickening on when i start the stew off.

[marje]

Hi tambo, I find that cutting up a turnip is easy if you first cut into quarters or eighths, depending on how big it is, and then peel each bit. It takes no time at all.

[Tilly2]

I don't put the cornflour in at the beginning because I'm afraid of it sticking to the bottom. Obviously this doesn't happen. I'll try it net time.
I have just taken it out of the oven and all seems to be fine.
Does anyone know what temperature the pot gets to when it's in the metal case for eight hours?

[jamesnan]

Very hot!!!!

[woofgang]

I start the meat frying, sling the gravy mix or seasoning and thickening into the cold slow cooker, then top up with boiling water and turn the cooker on. give the cooker a quick wind and then start tossing in the veg. Another quick wind and toss the meat and pan juices in. The slow cooking means that even if the stew look horrible and lumpy to begin with,by the time its done the gravy is beautifully thick and smooth.

[Mooria]

I'm planning a tourist day trip to Oxford and we plan to go to Christchurch can someone please tell me the best place to park. TIAx

[woofgang]

wrong thread mooria

[humbersloop]

tilly, that sounds lovely: as ummm says all veg are good veg. You can sit things like green or runner beans or shredded cabbage on top as a layer for the last 20 mins and "steam" them without bothering with another pot.

It's a slow cooker pot not a casserole dish. It's made to sit in its casing at the temperature of a low light bulb, certainly not in the oven. If you don't get a loud crack this time, it might well oblige you next time you turn it on in situ.

If you usually thicken stews - I don't, that's personal taste, -just take the lid off for the last 20 mins/ half an hour, and gently reduce the liquid that way.

[Tilly2]

Thank you all for your help. The stew was lovely and the pot didn't crack. However, I will not put it in the oven again.

[woofgang]

well done Tilly, you will find that slow cooker cooking is addictive!

[Tilly2]

I bought myself a little hamlyn 200 slow cooker recipes book at the weekend.

I had no idea you could do things like Jamaican ginger cake, sticky toffee pudding and lemon and poppy seed drizzle cake in them.

I had my previous slow cooker for years and only ever used it for stews. It's time to start experimenting a bit. (Not that I eat Jamaican ginger cake, sticky toffee.............etc.)

[magsmay]

hi Tilly -I've been experimenting with my new slow cooker recipe book -like you I've had one for years but just done stews. Last week I made some gorgeous potatoes layered with leeks ,bacon and cream - apparently they were to die for -i couldn't have any because I'm on a diet but they smelled fab. I have always thickened my stews in the slow cooker - you can either coat your meat in flour beforehand -no need to pre fry -or add bisto or cornflour at the end -or try using tomato paste in a tube for a different taste. At the weekend I did a chorizo and mixed bean casserole and used the tomato paste to thicken -it was fab. As for your other question - all those veg are a good source of vitamins and fibre -yes its high in carbs but unless you are restricting your carbs I would not worry