Joints of beef in the slow cooker

I wouldn't have thought you need to wrap it in foil as whenever I cook meat in the slow cooker it's always more moist and juicy than anything I cook in the oven.

Roasting times in my "Slow cooking properly explained" book quote for a beef, lamb or veal joint:
0.9kg to 1.6kg = low 4-10 hours or high 3-6 hours
1.6kg to 2.25kg = low 7-12 hours or high 5-8 hours.

Of course it is fine to cook in slow cooker. My personal foolproof method is to put slow cooker on to heat (having taken meat out of fridge to kind of get to room temperature). Boil kettle, pour small amount of water in SC, put in meat and then blanch with hot water from kettle. Cook for about 8 hours. Remove and drain and then wrap in foil and put in fridge after a while to cool and slice. Make gravy from liquid in SC and Bob's your uncle! We cut and slice the roast, freeze excess as we do with the gravy in small tubs for future use.

Hope this helps.

GB x

i noticed one thread said they had wrapped beef in tin foil, do you have to?

Hi there,

I have recently acquired a Morphy Richards slow cooker (a very large one) and so far have made a nice casserole, bolognese etc. I had however heard that you can cook joints of beef, chicken etc in them. As I acquired mine for free and without any instructions I wondered a) are they as nice when cooked this way? b) is it cheaper and c)how best do I cook these?

I have a 800g beef joint that I would like to cook - how best to do this in the slow cooker? Also how would I cook a chicken in it aswell?

I would really appreciate your advice and would like to thank in advance those who can respond :-)

Catherine

a) yes, lovely! Slow cooking them really brings out the flavour and makes even cheap cuts of beef very tender - I just shred them with a couple of forks; no need to cut with a knife.

b) I believe so. I think a slow cooker on for 6 hours is the equivalent of 20 minutes using an oven; something like that. Also cheaper because you can use cheap cuts of meat.

c) With beef joints I add rough-chopped onions and carrots to the bottom of the SC, enough beef stock to cover the veg and some pepper. Then I sit the the beef on top and cook on low for about 6-7 hours. Wrap the beef in foil and let it rest for 20 mins or so before shredding. I also strain the juice from the SC and use it as a stock.

With chicken, I put an inch of water at the bottom, then cook the chicken on low for 6-7 hours. Very simple. I discard the skin and again shred with a fork. It's hard getting a whole chicken out of the SC as it falls apart it's so tender. I also use the bones afterwards to make stock (still experimenting with this, but cover the bones with water, chuck in some onions, carrots, celery, seasoning, and slow cook for 5 hours ish).