Hi Lakitu, the charred food sounds odd? It may be they did'nt put enough liquid in, or may be had it on the high setting instead of the low or medium. Slow cookers don't need a lot of liquid, especially when you use frozen veg that of course retains a lot of frozen liquid. It's all trial and error at first, the books suplied will give you a guideline then you can tailor them to your own preferance. For instance, with 6 frozen pork steaks I chuck in a chopped onion and a handful of carrots & half a pint of thickish stock (granules ) It will look too thick and not enough, but what happens over cooking time is the stock will mix with the juices of the veg and meat and dilute.