Roasting meat in slow cooker

Jenny2008

I've (oddly) won a boneless turkey joint in a raffle :T

Whenever I've roasted turkey in the oven it comes out really dry. I was wondering about cooking it in my slow cooker. I don't usually cook whole joints of meat because they always turn out really dry - lamb, beef, everything.

I figure I'm losing out on saving money though and want to give it another shot. I've never done any kind of joint of meat in the slow cooker before. Does anyone have any tips? (And for any other kind of meats too would be great).

It's a crock pot style slow cooker - pretty big, with a stone pot that can be transferred to the hob or oven.

Thanks, and sorry if this has been discussed before - I did do a search but couldn't find anything.

Hawthorn

I did a big joint of brisket a few weeks ago. It was to DIE for in the slow cooker - literally falling apart. I can't see why you would have a problem with Turkey.
I do them with liquid and onions.

If you roast meat in future,in the oven, try wrapping securely in foil, and taking this off for the last half hour or so. I never mastered the art of cooking meat so it was tender but not dry, so I cheat and do it like this LOL.

Edited to add, congrats on your win. all I ever win is huge teddies that I don't have the space for

Jenny2008

Hawthorn wrote: »

I did a big joint of brisket a few weeks ago. It was to DIE for in the slow cooker - literally falling apart. I can't see why you would have a problem with Turkey.
I do them with liquid and onions.

If you roast meat in future,in the oven, try wrapping securely in foil, and taking this off for the last half hour or so. I never mastered the art of cooking meat so it was tender but not dry, so I cheat and do it like this LOL.

Edited to add, congrats on your win. all I ever win is huge teddies that I don't have the space for

Thanks Hawthorn! How long did you slow cook the brisket for? Did you do it on high or low setting? And did you brown it or anything first? And finally - liquid - water or stock?

I guess teddies aren't as useful as a turkey - you can't roast them or anything ... although you could ebay them I suppose!

MrsMW

I do most roasts in the SC and they always turn out well, I only put a small amount of stock in, or if it's beef, water and a slug of vinegar.
I cook it on low.

Jenny2008

MrsMW wrote: »

I do most roasts in the SC and they always turn out well, I only put a small amount of stock in, or if it's beef, water and a slug of vinegar.
I cook it on low.

Thanks Mrs MW. How long should I cook them for?

I take it I should allow different times for on the bone and boneless?

Hawthorn

I left it for a day and a half. I got an anthony worrall thompson one, and it's rubbish. It didn't get up to bubbling temperature until 9pm or so, so I turned it on low, made sure it had enough liquid and left it until the next nights tea. As for stock, I just put water in, with onions. When I removed the joint (or rather pieces of the joint LOL), I seasoned and added cornflour. It was delicious - full of flavour.

toffifee

Not sure if turkey is the same as chicken for salmonella etc. but...

If you use a slow cooker for a chicken you need to use High to make sure that the temperature gets high enough to kill the nasty bugs.

I tried this for the first time last weekend with a small chicken, sitting in about an inch of water on some carrots and onions (my slow cooker manual says you can't cook without liquid). It was really nice. I checked the temperature of the thickest part with a meat thermometer and it had reached the 'chicken' mark so we ate with confidence! :j

Jenny2008

Hawthorn wrote: »

I left it for a day and a half. I got an anthony worrall thompson one, and it's rubbish. It didn't get up to bubbling temperature until 9pm or so, so I turned it on low, made sure it had enough liquid and left it until the next nights tea. As for stock, I just put water in, with onions. When I removed the joint (or rather pieces of the joint LOL), I seasoned and added cornflour. It was delicious - full of flavour.

Thanks very much - I'm dying to try it now! I think Morrisons will be seeing a lot of my cash this week :rolleyes:

jeanieall

My advice to you would be to roast the turkey joint in the oven but do a little preparation of the joint beforehand. Pinch the skin of the turkey up and gently slide your fingers inside (i.e. between the skin and the meat). Gently work your way round the top of the breast so that you've effectively separated the skin from the flesh of the bird. Do it gently so as not to break the skin so if you've got long nails, wear rubber gloves. Then mix some soft butter with the zest of a lemon and a couple of cloves of crushed garlic (I use garlic paste from a tube, so much easier) and when you've got a nice lemony, garlicky buttery mix place it between the flesh and the skin of the bird and spread it out and evenly as poss. Season the joint well and place it in a medium oven for half an hour covered in foil. Take it out, take the foil off and cook the turkey upside down for almost the rest of the cooking time. Then half an hour before it's finished, turn it over to brown the top. I guarantee you'll have a tasty succulent turkey.

Jenny2008

jeanieall wrote: »

My advice to you would be to roast the turkey joint in the oven but do a little preparation of the joint beforehand. Pinch the skin of the turkey up and gently slide your fingers inside (i.e. between the skin and the meat). Gently work your way round the top of the breast so that you've effectively separated the skin from the flesh of the bird. Do it gently so as not to break the skin so if you've got long nails, wear rubber gloves. Then mix some soft butter with the zest of a lemon and a couple of cloves of crushed garlic (I use garlic paste from a tube, so much easier) and when you've got a nice lemony, garlicky buttery mix place it between the flesh and the skin of the bird and spread it out and evenly as poss. Season the joint well and place it in a medium oven for half an hour covered in foil. Take it out, take the foil off and cook the turkey upside down for almost the rest of the cooking time. Then half an hour before it's finished, turn it over to brown the top. I guarantee you'll have a tasty succulent turkey.

Thanks for the tips Jeanie. Shame I didn't win two turkeys so I can try both ways Maybe I'll buy a second one so I can experiment.

Hawthorn

Jeanieall, that sounds scrumptious