slow cooker quick questions thread

£2coinsaver

My butcher always gives me loads of chicken scraps to make stock with whenever I buy a chicken He said I could make soup too but I didn't get round to asking him how to do this as we'd already spent ages discussing the lamb casserole Could anyone help? To make in the slow cooker of course, a very old sunbeam one that my m-i-l kindly gave me

Bunny200

goodgirl80 wrote: »

Can you boil potatoes in it, so they are ready for mashing when you get home?

Dunno about cooking them to mash but as a quick way to get mash I often boil and mash up a load of spuds and then freeze them in bags. I then break what I need off and bung it in the m/w with a bit of butter/milk to defrost it.

I've got beef casserole in the s/c today which has potatoes in but they are waxy new potatoes so not sure they will get soft enough for mashing. Old floury ones might....

hth

zippychick

what kind of texture does that give the potatoes?

sparrer

£2coinsaver wrote: »

My butcher always gives me loads of chicken scraps to make stock with whenever I buy a chicken He said I could make soup too but I didn't get round to asking him how to do this as we'd already spent ages discussing the lamb casserole Could anyone help? To make in the slow cooker of course, a very old sunbeam one that my m-i-l kindly gave me

I've just make a stock in the slow cooker using the chicken carcass, an onion, carrot, 2 bay leaves, a small sprig of fresh tarragon and a litre of water. Started on high til it began to bubble then turned it down for 5 hours. Left overnight to cool, strained it this morning, removed the herbs and bones, blended the remaining solids and mixed them back into the stock. It's absolutely delicious, rich, and thick enough to use as a main course with some hm bread. You could leave the chicken bits and veg whole and just stir them back into the stock but personally I like the thicker texture which I find more filling. I had one portion for lunch and froze three more

£2coinsaver

sparrer wrote: »

I've just make a stock in the slow cooker using the chicken carcass, an onion, carrot, 2 bay leaves, a small sprig of fresh tarragon and a litre of water. Started on high til it began to bubble then turned it down for 5 hours. Left overnight to cool, strained it this morning, removed the herbs and bones, blended the remaining solids and mixed them back into the stock. It's absolutely delicious, rich, and thick enough to use as a main course with some hm bread. You could leave the chicken bits and veg whole and just stir them back into the stock but personally I like the thicker texture which I find more filling. I had one portion for lunch and froze three more

Thanks for this. Unfortunately i discovered the slow cooker doesn't actually work :mad: so will have to get o/h to look at it for me

sparrer

Sorry to hear that £2coinsaver , hope you can get it fixed, or if not perhaps try freecycle where they're advertised occasionally. Also Mr T has an own brand one on sale for £12 atm .
hth

hannahO_2

sparrer wrote: »

Left overnight to cool, strained it this morning, removed the herbs and bones, blended the remaining solids and mixed them back into the stock.

You will probably tell me that nothing bad happened so far and you are still living but shouldn't these cooked food stuff be cooled quickly and refridgerated rather than left overnight in room temperature?

sparrer

hannahO wrote: »

You will probably tell me that nothing bad happened so far and you are still living but shouldn't these cooked food stuff be cooled quickly and refridgerated rather than left overnight in room temperature?

The food was left covered in my kitchen overnight. I'm not sure what 'bad' could happen in the space of 8 hours.

While I appreciate that some folk need prompting to learn basic food hygiene I allow common sense to prevail. There are more new super bugs discovered practically daily, partly because we live in far too sterile a world. If I followed half the advice meted out today, and spent my hard earned money on all these products that supposedly kill every kitchen and bathroom germ know to man I'd be struck down by some horrible disease as soon as I stepped outside my door.

Believe me if there had been 'things' crawling through the broth, or a culture growing rampant on the surface, I'd have given it to the dog

Fruball

sparrer wrote: »

The food was left covered in my kitchen overnight. I'm not sure what 'bad' could happen in the space of 8 hours.

While I appreciate that some folk need prompting to learn basic food hygiene I allow common sense to prevail. There are more new super bugs discovered practically daily, partly because we live in far too sterile a world. If I followed half the advice meted out today, and spent my hard earned money on all these products that supposedly kill every kitchen and bathroom germ know to man I'd be struck down by some horrible disease as soon as I stepped outside my door.

Believe me if there had been 'things' crawling through the broth, or a culture growing rampant on the surface, I'd have given it to the dog

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: Agreed I often leave things in the pan overnight and we eat it the next day, no probs yet

:T

niceblokejohn

Hi,

I wanted to use lentils in a bolognaise/stew. I have red lentils, chick peas and pearl barley. Do i have to boil them beforehand or put add them to my s/c from the packet,

Thanks