Meat dry and tasteless when cooked in slow cooker.

Rachel021967 · 22 October 2006 at 2:19AM

I have a large Morphy Richards slow cooker and I find that when I cook stews or curries in the slow cooker the meat ends up very dry and tasteless despite there been plenty of stock/sauce. I've tried cooking the meat dishes on low for half a day but it makes no difference. Where am I going wrong and what can I do about it? I'd like to have a go at cooking a 1kg gammon joint in there later on. Does anybody have any tips on cooking a tasty gammon joint in the slow cooker?

alikat_3 · 22 October 2006 at 3:20AM

I havent got a slow cooker myself, but I've had some very tasty meals cooked by friends & family in a slow cooker. 2 things that add flavour to a meal are salt & fat, so I can only suggest you season after you have sealed the meat & buy from a butcher rather than supermarket as the meat from a butcher will have been hung & as so the fat will add flavour.

Queenie · 22 October 2006 at 5:59AM

Do you "seal" your meat before putting it into the SC Rachel?

Also, for flavour, as alikat says, the source of your meat will make quite a difference. Supermarkets sell fast and cheap and often at the expense of flavour.

Rachel021967 · 22 October 2006 at 9:48AM

Thanks Alikat and Queenie. I sealed the meat last time I cooked a beef stew and I have used butchers meat before. I'll buy some butchers meat on Tuesday and seal it before cooking in the slow cooker, and I'll get back to you with the results.

Queenie · 22 October 2006 at 9:53AM

Best of British Rachel - yes, do let us know how you get on.

As for cooking a gammon joint in your SC, a quick look around the SC Collection highlighted these threads. ....

- Gammon in SC?
- Gammon - Cooking a joint in SC?
- Gammon - is gammon good in slow cooker
- Gammon Joint - What to do?
- Gammon Joint in SC?

Lunar_Eclipse · 7 October 2008 at 12:58PM

As the title suggests, I am yet to make a meal in the slow cooker that contains tender meat. It is always dry in an obviously over cooked way. How do you get round this?

I currently have a sweet and sour chicken in the slow cooker, as per a recipe I found on this board, with the typical 'bung it in and leave all day till teatime'. It's been in for 2 hours on medium setting (purely because low does nothing) and the chicken is already cooked (& dry!) whilst the peppers, carrots etc will only improve over the next 6 hours or so. Should I remove the chicken? Or should it miraculously tenderise over the remainder of the day? Last time I did pork and left it; but it did not improve over time.:o

Please help! I didn't brown the chicken beforehand. But is this the secret? Any ideas welcome.

CravingSaving · 7 October 2008 at 1:37PM

Unless cooking a whole lump of meat (eg whole chicken, lamb shanks etc) you need to have a lot of liquid. Certainly enough to cover the vegetables or they will end up like cardboard. If you have used a tin or packet of sweet n sour sauce, I would just add the same amount again of water, or chopped tomatoes, or pineapple juice (or combo of all three to keep the sweet n sour thing going).

Good luck!

Lunar_Eclipse · 7 October 2008 at 1:54PM

CravingSaving wrote: »

Unless cooking a whole lump of meat (eg whole chicken, lamb shanks etc) you need to have a lot of liquid. Certainly enough to cover the vegetables or they will end up like cardboard. If you have used a tin or packet of sweet n sour sauce, I would just add the same amount again of water, or chopped tomatoes, or pineapple juice (or combo of all three to keep the sweet n sour thing going).

Good luck!

Thanks for your reply.

Sadly I have done that. The chicken is in chunks, but covered in sufficient liquid - I'm trialling the value sweet & sour sauce with tinned tomatoes and some pineapple juice from the tinned fruit. The veg are fine - cooking nicely, it's just that the chicken is done and quite dry since I suspect it is being 'over-cooked'. Oh well, I've turned it down to the lowest setting and will see how it turns out at dinner time.

If this doesn't work, I'm going to start adding any meat in recipes hours after everything else, say 2 hours from dinner time. The slow cooker will master our household yet!

phizzimum · 7 October 2008 at 3:48PM

what sort of chicken is it? when I've tried to use chicken breast or fillet it always ends up very dry - the meat just doesn't have enough fat in it. your better off with thigh or leg meat.

same with beef - if it's a more pricey cut then it dries out, but cheaper beef will cook beautifully.

The_shuffs · 7 October 2008 at 3:48PM

Hi when i use my slow cooker which i do a lot i get a lot of condensation build up under the lid and that drips into the pot which makes the sauce/gravy runny is that meant to happen or maybe i need a new one ????? Rachael

Rikki · 7 October 2008 at 3:51PM

You will get condensation.

Just thicken the sauce before serving if its too thin or add a little less liquid when making it.

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Meat dry and tasteless when cooked in slow cooker.

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