Slow cooker novice

[liverboys]

OK. 15 years ago, we were given a slow cooker as a wedding gift, and I am ashamed to say I have never used it! It is still in the box, in immaculate condition, but having read some recent posts and seen how enthusiastic a lot of you are regarding the benefits of slow cooking, I am finally ready to open the box! Trouble is I haven't the first clue where to start! I am generally a good cook, we are a family of 7 and I cook every day. We have a varied diet so reall anything goes. Any recipe suggestions would be really appreciated but the easier the better to start of. Thanks in advance!

[whiffey]

Hardly gourmet cooking, but try this:

Gammon joint or beef in the cooker. Pack around the edges quite finely chopped carrot, swede, turnip. Add a whole bottle of red wine, top up with boiling water until immersed. Cook on medium for a long while (maybe 12-14 hours), the vegetables in particular carrot take ages to cook.

The result is not too pretty, a fairly homogenous purple colour, but the taste and tenderness are incredible.

[whiffey]

I forgot to mention, if you are doing gammon, you may wish to briefly boil and rinse it first.

Tesco do perfect sized gammon joints (500g I think). Two of those fit perfectly into my slow cooker.

[ethandron]

if you google up 'crock pot recipes' you'll find trillions and squillions of them. i too have a slow cooker which i 've had for about 10 years and only used once, unsuccessfully, and it put me off. think it's one of those things i think you have to get used to using, hope you're pleased with anything you do in it.

[ethandron]

oh dear, got a bit mixed up then with my grammar. could it have anything to do with this glass of red wine i have sitting beside me?

[winebuyer]

Hard to go wrong. The ideal recipe is:

(1) Whatever you have kicking around, chuck it all in.
(2) Go out for the day.

That's it. Just whack in some half decent lumps of stewing steak, carrots, potatoes, celery (yes), any pulses you fancy, wine, stock, seasoning, just whatever you like really. The meat will be nicely tenderised by the long cooking but (miraculously) the veggies don't become overcooked.

Serve it in dishes, rather that a flat plates, for that rustic, one handed eating sort of experience.

Uncork (or unscrew) the wine of your choice, and get stuck in. You can't go wrong.

[sandrajo]

You've never used it, how have you survived? lol

Seriously it's one of life's greatest inventions... I use mine loads. You just bung in all the things you want for your tea (meat, veg) add some gravy and bob's your uncle a few hours later it's cooked to perfection for you.

You'll wish you'd used it sooner. : )

[shaneystar2]

Best thing sInce sliced bread .I am my third slow cooker in thirty odd years .Google for millions of recipes or look through the posts on here .You can cook anything and everything in a slow cooker . Be brave ..treat yourself to a good slow cooker cookbook and you will wonder how you managed to ignore it for all those years .This book is the bees knees of slow cooking
http://www.lakeland.co.uk/product.aspx/!10667

[winebuyer]

Spot on sandrajo.

Bunging in whatever you fancy is the joy of having a slow cooker.

[liverboys]

Thanks for all the great ideas! I'm off to Asda in the morning to see whats on offer so heres hoping!

[Im a BusyBee]

i too am on my third one! I just chuck anything in, its brilliant and so handy when out at work all day. When you buy meat tomorrow get the cheap rough cuts cos they will be fine i know you'll be surprised. Brisket is the best flavour of beef cooked in there too (according to my family and friends). Let us know how you get on wont you.

[vivandorron]

Just get stuck-in with your slow cooker; as I have done from the day that shaneystar2 persuaded me to buy one. You'll not regret it.

I feel sure that ethandron and winebuyer will agree with me... A few glasses of wine need to be consumed whilst the pot is performing its task.

Please allow me to say a few words personally to ethandron, who had a drink which resulted in a 'think'......twice in the same sentence.( That's the only grammatical error which I can spot.) Perhaps,therfore, I am permitted in this thread to quote a bit of nonsense which I compiled about 25yrs ago.

"I think I thought that I had thought that I would think and then thought that I had nought to think. So I bought myself a drink.

Then having bought the drink I had sought, I sort of thought about the thought I had thought and then thought that really there was ought but nought about the thought I had thought, or so I thought; I think.!

Well whatevever: I bought another drink, which led me on to think that I could no longer think, because I was getting drunk; or so I thunk. I think".


Apologies for my thoughts..........Ron (A Crazy Crafty Cook.)

[Jillius]

Cook mince and onions in it overnight. It will be gorgeous.

[ethandron]

thank you for your think thoughts ron. made me smile. i should read my posts better before i press 'submit'.
a question about slow cookers - how long, on average, do people leave them cooking? i notice jillious says overnight, is that the usual length of time? i had assumed that you bung the ingredients in in the morning, switch on and leave it till 6-ish, so that's maybe 8 hours.
the disaster i had which put me off was trying to make soup with a chicken carcass. after it being on all day, when i lifted the lid there was the carcas sitting in a lukewarm bath, exactly as it was when i switched it on but slightly warmer.

[Im a BusyBee]

i cant see the point in leaving cooking overnight as it would then be ready at breakfast time? i just leave mine on all day if a work day that'll be about 8am to 6pm. The food is obviously cooked before then but it doesnt spoil by remaining on. I alway cook my sunday joint in it and that is often only on for 5 hours (but on high setting). Also from reading posts on here i have recently started to put frozen meat in and that also comes out perfectly.

[ethandron]

thanks busy bee. does the pot need to be warmed up first, and does any liquid need to be hot when it's put into the pot, or doesn't it make any difference?

[hammerman]

I only use mine for caseroles and stews now....i find joints of meat just fall apart and you don't get crispy skin....although lamb can be pretty damn nice if done with a mint, rosemary and garlic gravy.

If you do a stew...as mentioned above, chuck in any old tough meat....brisket or mutton for example. A mutton curry done in the slow cooker is devine !!!

[vivandorron]

ethandron....I would say that an average time factor is 6hrs. For example, Duck Legs are great after 4, but a kilo of gammon will be 6-to-7, or, depending on heat settings,could be 8hrs. I always cook on High for the first hr. before reducing to low and finishing-off with an hr. on medium; or even high if serving straight from the pot.

Please note that any skills which I have developed are as a result of advice from AB'ers who are experienced in the art of slow cooking. So my suggestion is that you and liverboys have a go with the slow cookers and, as I have done in the past, ask the questions that you want answered.

Thanks liverboys for your original question which has allowed me to chat, once again, with ethandron. I hope the replies from other AB'ers have been a help to you both.

Best wishes to you all.......Ron.

P.S. Try clicking below for more AB info on slow cookers.

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Search/default. asp?SearchText=slow+cookers&searchType=site&x= 31&y=6

[ethandron]

ooh err, ron, i didn't know you cared! next best thing to eating and drinking good food and wine is talking about it with like-minded people don't you think?

[liverboys]

Well folks, Success! Came home from Asda yesterday and decided to do a basic beef stew. I chucked in stewing steak, carrots onions, spuds and a few other bits, cooked it for about 8 hours and it was flippin' lovely! Mind you the kids were starving following after-schools stuff, Hubby came in drenched after getting caught in a downpour on the way home from work so I think they would have eaten the slowcooker itself! I'm going to try a lamb stew or a curry next. There's no stopping me! Once again, thank you all SO much!

[ethandron]

have taken a leaf out of your book liverboys (is that a reference to where you live?), dug out my slow cooker and followed a recipe for some sort of pork thing in the book that came with it. used up all the veg i had leftover from last week too, and topped the lot with some sweet potato slices. i hope it's as successful as yours was.
my husband is wondering if it is actually more fuel efficient than using the conventional oven though, he's not convinced it is.