slow cooker quick questions thread

Penelope_Penguin

emma-uk wrote: »

Thaks guys, I've decided not to risk it and go shopping on my home from work.

I wouldn't either I'll add this to the existing thread to keep ideas together.

sjohnson87

Hi everyone
I dont post often, but recently received a slow cooker for christmas and i love it!! best ever present i think:j
I am wanting to do chicken korma for tonights tea, but unsure if i should cook the chicken a little bit before-hand.
I will be putting it on about 1ish and need it to be ready about 8ish, will that be enough time, also which setting would be best??
sorry for the questions
from 'the slow cooker novice':rotfl:

Penelope_Penguin

sjohnson87 wrote: »

Hi everyone
I dont post often, but recently received a slow cooker for christmas and i love it!! best ever present i think:j
I am wanting to do chicken korma for tonights tea, but unsure if i should cook the chicken a little bit before-hand.
I will be putting it on about 1ish and need it to be ready about 8ish, will that be enough time, also which setting would be best??
sorry for the questions
from 'the slow cooker novice':rotfl:

Don;t bother cooking the chicken beforehand - that's what the SC will do

7 hours should be plenty to cook ckicken.

I'll add this to the SC Quick Qs trread later.

claireforest

is it cheaper to make things in the slow cooker (8 hrs) or in my normal cooker- its electric, and also is it cheaper on the hob or oven or slow cooker?

Pink.

Hi claireforest

It will depend on the wattage of your particular slow cooker. In my case it's certainly cheaper to cook in the slow cooker than in the oven or on the hob.

This (older) thread has more advice although some of the costing may be out of date:

Question about slow cookers

There is also some discussion of slow cooker costs on these threads:

Buying a slow cooker (which? & why?)

slow cooker quick questions thread

I'll add your thread to the last link later as your question may hlep others.

Pink

Linda32

Hi,

I havn't got a slow cooker but I do have the setting on my Gas Oven, it below the ½ setting. I personally have only used it once or twice.
Thats mainly down to the fact that it was years ago, I knew next to nothing about cooking and did chicken legs, IMO chicken tends to have a slimy texture when done in a slow cooker so we never used it again.

Anyway, sorry, waffling on I think its more of a time saving rather than money saving. Although I understand you can tenderise cheaper cuts of meat, but since I don't use mine, I don't really know.

It suits us for me to batch cook, defrost the night before and re-heat. Some peeps just put whatever in the SC and dinner is done when they get home.

So, even if it costs fractionally more, the time it saves is worth it.

HTH

LJM

for me i dont know why but i feel more comfortable knowing that the slow cooker is going rather than my oven being on for hours, perhaps its just me being strange lol

TRYINGTOSWIM

I am so determined to use my slow cooker a lot more, I received the recipe book I ordered for inspiration today and I still feel uninspired:mad:

Most of ther ecipes say to brown meat ,onions etc in pan first,is this purely so it looks browned? or for any taste reasons?
basically I just want some simple recipes.. soups,casseroles,stews,curries etc but the book i got is mostly fancy recipes we wouldnt eat.
feeling a bit of a dumbo as everyoen seems to cook loads in theirs and I dont know what to cook....help please:)

looktothefuture

There is a thread here which will get you started!

I've just started to use my slowcooker, and I too was very uninspired by the bland tasting food I was creating BUT... see the last post on that thread for a great "roast" chicken! I'm never cooking chicken any other way!

happy35

I don't brown my meat or onions before they are put in the lsow cooker and my casseroles etc have always been fine

I only bought the slow cooker so I could bung everything in quickly before I went to work, if I had to brown everything in a pan I wouldn't use it as couldn't face frying beet etc at 6am