slow cooker quick questions thread

emilyka

zippychick wrote: »

Big up to chilli flakes from me too

And me! Grew some chillies in the garden last year and when I harvested I had so many I dried then in the kitchen by hanging them up with thread attached to the kitchen cupboard, every now and again a chilli 'falls' into the slow cooker when OH isnt looking It's chops itself up and everything :rotfl:

ragz_2

I bought my slow cooker a few years ago at a boot fair, it's a Tower (make).

It's good for some things but I wonder if it may be a bit knackered as it's rather slow. For example the other day I put a beef stew in at 9am on high, by 4pm when I had mine with the kids the veg was still pretty hard and the whole thing didn't taste very slow-cooked, by 8pm it had improved a bit. I'm sure this must be too slow though as some recipes on here say 4-5 hours on high or overnight on low? (I always put my ingredients in hot to speed it up too)

I tried making chicken stock overnight on high (using boiling water) and all I got in the morning was smelly water, not really stock... also I worried about the hygiene as it obviously wasn't boiling...

Am I doing something wrong or should I just replace my slow cooker??

Many thanks
Ragz

greenbee

Has it always been like this? Or is it a new development?

And does it have 'warm' next to 'high' as I've accidentally put mine on this before and it really doesn't do anything... having said that, I no longer have my old tower one (I stupidly thought I didn't need it anymore after uni and got rid of it) but if yours is as old as mine was it might well be time to replace it. Then you'll probably find that the new one is too fast

Sublime_2

The older ones take ages to cook food. My first one was a Swan, and I'd put in on low about 7 in the morning (after zapping food in microwave for 5 mins first), and would be bubbling away at 6.30pm when I got in from work.

My current one Cookworks from argos, cooks food on low setting in about 8 hours. I don't usually bother pre-cooking anything, just throw it all in.

You can buy a new one for around £10. It would save the hassle of undercooked food.

lisa26_2

Tower slow cookers are really old, mine was bought in 1981!!! (not by me it was 4 months before I was born!). and they are much more 'gentle' than the newer ones. I can't win, the tower one is a bit too slow and my new one is too fast! With root veggies though you have to be careful, its a weird thing with slowcookers that the veggies take longer to cook than the meat!!! Try cutting them smaller and put them in the bottom with the meat on top then stir at the very end. Some peopel soften the veggies in a pan or the microwave first.

Lexxi

I put a chicken in for a sunday dinner but the chicken seems to have melted. How do I now turn it into chicken soup?
The chicken was cooked with potatoes and carrots. I've just tipped it all into a colander over a pan so I can fish the bones out. Do I need to skim the top of the liquid? Will I need to add more liquid, it's quite runny but there isn't a lot of it and I was hoping to mash the carrots and potatoes.
I don't have a cooker everything is having to be done in sc or microwave.
I've not added any seasoning but I do have herbs.
I've tried searching for recipes but I'm geting whole threads

Thanks
Lexxi

zippychick

Hi Lexxi - there are a few really good threads, brb.

zippychick

Ok

Here's Pink Wingeds explanation in writing, and a link to a piccy show Pink hosted . I have linked to these two specifically as I learnt from those two very bits of information

Home made chicken stock

Just to check, are you wanting to make stock using the bones, and then stock into soup?

chicken stock to soup

Do any of these help?

Lexxi

I think I left it on too long and I think I already have stock. The chicken has fallen apart and I've had to sieve it to get the bones out.
Thanks for the links, just going to have a read now

zippychick

Brilliant - it should be a deepish brown colour and taste like stock (funnily enough he he)

Next time, you could try using a sort of trivet of tinfoil under the chicken, so you can lift it out? Is that the right word.? Shout if you get stuck

Basically i would use it as normal stock now - so make your soup as you normally would. It will solidify when it's cold but that is normal