Morphy Richards Intellichef Multi Cooker

System

Glad you're finding something useful in the blog. I really must get round to updating it!

As far as the lamb casserole goes, that is certainly all the liquid that I put in, and it seemed fine to us. It might depend on the choice of vegetables, I suppose (celery and mushrooms seem to release a lot of water, for example). I always find that slow-cooked casseroles make much more liquid than I expect, and the Intellichef retains more of the cooking steam than my old slow cooker did so the contents remain fairly wet on the Slow Cook setting. If you're worried about it, you could always check on progress after the first few hours, see how it looks and top up with some boiling water or stock (or more wine!) if you think it needs it.

Ah, the cook time button... In the beginning, I had the same problem. As far as I remember, the instructions tell you to do it as you describe, and it is very hard trying to hold down two buttons at once without pushing the gadget backwards across the kitchen counter. But then I discovered that if you press the Cook Time button once then let go, the time flashes, and you can just set the required time with the Hour and Minute buttons. You don't have to keep holding down the Cook Time button! (At least, I don't, on my machine.) Hopefully that will work for you, too. :-)

hazelk

Avocet, thanks so much for your quick reply. I am going to use a bag of the Waitrose frozen casserole veg so there will probably be some juice from that. As you say, I can monitor it and add some stock later if necessary. Haven't you ever wished for a glass window in the lid so you can see what is going on!
Thanks for the tip about the cook time button, I will try that, otherwise will have to find an extra hand from somewhere!:rotfl:

ruki_2

Apologies if this has been mentioned but it´s not clear to me whether it can be used to fry. We´re mulling over the idea of buying this but frying chips will be a deciding factor.

System

ruki wrote: »

Apologies if this has been mentioned but it´s not clear to me whether it can be used to fry. We´re mulling over the idea of buying this but frying chips will be a deciding factor.

You can shallow-fry in the Intellichef (with limitations, as discussed a few posts back in this thread) but, no, you cannot deep-fry in it, so no chips. Deep-fat fryers have all sorts of specialist filter systems and safety controls, and are a different thing altogether.

hazelk

Has anyone been able to get hold of a spare bowl for the Intellichef? MR has it on their web site but it is out of stock. I would find it very useful, say, for steaming veg or pudding in, then putting the original with the meat course back on to reheat, instead of having to decant it.

System

hazelk wrote: »

Has anyone been able to get hold of a spare bowl for the Intellichef?

I bought two just before Christmas -- one for doubling up on day-to-day use as you suggest (very useful indeed), and one to go away in the cupboard in case of future dire accidents involving non-stick surfaces and careless use of metal implements. They seem to have been out of stock on the web site ever since! You could try phoning Morphy Richards, maybe, in case Customer Support can offer any help or suggest when they're coming back in?

hazelk

Avocet wrote: »

I bought two just before Christmas -- one for doubling up on day-to-day use as you suggest (very useful indeed), and one to go away in the cupboard in case of future dire accidents involving non-stick surfaces and careless use of metal implements. They seem to have been out of stock on the web site ever since! You could try phoning Morphy Richards, maybe, in case Customer Support can offer any help or suggest when they're coming back in?

So you are the one responsible then;) Apparently they wont be getting any more bowls until May.
Is there any reason why I should not try cooking a whole chicken (about1.5kg) on the Bake programme, even if I have to run the programme twice? I have cooked whole chicken many times in a slow cooker, but I wanted to try to get a bit of 'bite' into it.
Is the inside of the Intellichef lid removable in any way, so that I can soak it and get rid of the smell of steamed smoked haddock:exclamati
Thanks for all your advice Avocet.

hazelk

terra_ferma wrote: »

I think you can only remove and wash the valve.
Maybe someone else has found a way?

Thank you or your reply, that is what I thought but on my old rice cooker I can remove the top plate for washing, so I was living in hope.

By the way, I cooked a 1.5 kg chicken in the Intellichef on the Bake programme and it was cooked in 1 hour. I did not bother to brown it first but seasoned it, squeezed half a lemon over and spread a small knob of garlic butter on the breast. Added a few carrot chunks, cooked it half on its back and half the other way and it was delicious. Then made gravy in the pot with all the scrapings whilst the chicken rested. A very quick and easy meal.:D

hazelk

terra_ferma wrote: »

To be honest with you I have not tried this, because I don't see much benefit from doing it in the Intellichef rather than the oven. Probably one of the few things I don't use IC for.
(erm.. I even tried making cottage pie... the mashed potatoes were too soft and not crispy at all, and my partner did not eat it. )

I did it to see if I could:D It is also energy saving, because my smallest oven is 1800 watts whereas the Intellichef is half of that, and does not need 20 minutes to warm up.
Thanks for the tip about the cottage pie, with the chicken it was only the part that was on the bottom of the pot that got browned, but it was easy to turn it to brown all over. You cannot do that with a cottage pie:rotfl:

hazelk

hazelk wrote: »

Thanks for the tip about the cottage pie, with the chicken it was only the part that was on the bottom of the pot that got browned, but it was easy to turn it to brown all over. You cannot do that with a cottage pie:rotfl:

Have just had an idea! How about putting the mashed potato on the bottom? Dot some butter first to make it brown and crispy, pour the cooked mince over the potato and then bake. When cooked, remove the bowl from the IC, place a dish over the top of the bowl, invert bowl and dish and turn out cottage pie with potato on the top.