slow cooker quick questions thread

Westywoodpecker

I bought some lamb bones recently from Morrison's for 35p for pooch.
I gave my mum a couple for her dog but it's taken a lot of skin off her nose as she chewed it, bless. Not do that again in a hurry.

Chudders

Hi,

Just a quick question, if anyone could help me please. I have had a quick scan through the slow cooker thread but couldn't see the answer.

I am going to cook some Lamb Shanks in the slow cooker today (just about to put them in) in a minted gravy.

I haven't done this before so this might sound a daft question but do I need to cover the shanks totally in gravy or just a couple of inches of gravy in the bottom?

I'm cooking my veg seperately later as I want it crisp from the steamer rather than casseroled so its just the shanks and the gravy in the SC but I have a 6ltr SC and it'll take pints of gravy to cover them!

Thanks in advance.

fairtrade

You do not need to cover the meat in liquid.

2 things to consider though.

Check every so often to make sure there is still liquid there.

Gravy that is 'reduced' down will be stronger so don't use anything that is remotely salty. The salt taste would just intensify and may become inedible.

Impecunious_2

Apologies if this has already been asked (I'm sure it has, but I can't find it!)

Has anyone seen any authoritative information on running costs? I've seen the quotes about SCs costing the same to run as a lightbulb, but the cooker I'm looking at (Morphy Richards 6.5l) is rated at 330w - which is a helluva lightbulb. My kettle is 3kw, so wouldn't running a 330w SC for 10 hours use more electricity than boiling the kettle for an hour? (OK, nobody would do that, but you know what I mean.)

My oven and hob are gas, so it's difficult to do a direct comparison, but I wonder whether there would be any money savings at all over using the hob for things like soup and stews. Maybe I'd only use it for things that would otherwise go in the oven - but then the SC would be running the whole time, whereas the oven switches itself on and off to maintain the chosen temperature, so how much of a saving is there here?

I'm bewildered. Has anyone checked their before and after electricity bills?

squeaky

That 330W will be its maximum level of power consumption. So on "low cook" usage will be less. And in most cases the heater is not on ALL the time - it will go on and off to maintain the required cooking temperature.

So the average power consumption over a period of time really is much nearer a 100W light bulb.

HTH

cjj_2

Hi
Was just wondering if i can use frozen sausage in the slow cooker as it is much cheaper. On the pack it states for best results always cook from frozen. I was thinking of defrosting them to use in sc. Has any one else done this or used them frozen ?
Many thanks in advance x

Impecunious_2

squeaky wrote: »

And in most cases the heater is not on ALL the time - it will go on and off to maintain the required cooking temperature.

Aha, that would explain it. I thought they just chugged away for the whole cooking time . In that case, I think I'll take the plunge.

Thanks Squeaky.

squeaky

cjj wrote: »

Hi
Was just wondering if i can use frozen sausage in the slow cooker as it is much cheaper. On the pack it states for best results always cook from frozen. I was thinking of defrosting them to use in sc. Has any one else done this or used them frozen ?
Many thanks in advance x

As a personal thing I always defrost things before putting them in the slow cooker. Frozen foods lower the initial temperatures and mean that you have to extend the cooking time. You can't use the recommended cooking time for a given meal if the ingredients are frozen - and how much extra cooking time you might need is pure guesswork.

Jariya

cjj wrote: »

Hi
Was just wondering if i can use frozen sausage in the slow cooker as it is much cheaper. On the pack it states for best results always cook from frozen. I was thinking of defrosting them to use in sc. Has any one else done this or used them frozen ?
Many thanks in advance x

Do defrost as they may break your slow cooker dish..nothing frozen should go in there as extremes in temperature can damage the pot.

You could put them straight in once defrosted but they won't look quite the same as sausages usually look when cooked.
I always brown mine first - just so they 'look' like cooked sausages.

Liz_M

Hi, I've got some brisket in my slow cooker. Never tried a joint before so this is my first time! I put chopped celery, carrot and onion in the bottom, then decided I'd chuck in a couple of chopped up tomatoes which I've never put in the slow cooker before but hoping they'll just cook down to mush. I put the brisket on top of this, then put some random things in that I've either put in before or seen suggested on these forums - I put a couple of oxo cubes, some garlic puree, tomato puree, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, mixed herbs, tomato ketchup and a bottle of ale. Fingers crossed these all end up going ok together!

I usually do a similar kind of thing but have the meat chopped up, put potatoes in and do dumplings at the end. I thought for a change I'd do roast potatoes and homemade yorkshire puddings this time (can never work out why people buy yorkshire puddings as I don't see what people find hard about making them :S), so I've not put potatoes in the SC.

Anyway my question is: when it's cooked, should I just serve the veg in gravy alongside the sliced cooked brisket, potatoes and yorkshires, or should I take the brisket out, use my new stick blender and puree the veg into a thick gravy?