slow cooker quick questions thread

Quasar

squeaky wrote: »

Hi dave

I'm going to add your question to our slow cooker quick questions thread.

I've never bothered soaking any pulses before bunging them in the slow cooker, but it will be interesting to find out what other do

Good luck

Interesting because, as I type, I have a soy bean meal in the slow cooker. Since I'm still a bit of a newbie with slow cookers and all I've done so far are stews (yummy ones if I may say so :drool:) I took no chances, and as soy beans are particularly hard I soaked them for 10 hours.

By the way, when I soak beans I always add a tablespoon of vinegar to the water, as I find that prevents the unpleasant effects of beans on the digestive system. Then when I pour the water away I rinse the beans before cooking.

Anyway, there they are in the sc, with a chopped onion, chopped garlic clove, tablespoon of marmite, a bit of Lo-Salt and a few rosemary sprigs. The smells that wafts around is delicious. Should be ready tonight for dinner.

Quasar

Bella08 wrote: »

Hi, I've made a beef casserole in my SC twice now, and both times the meat has been too chewy and not as nice as it goes in the oven. Once we didn't brown it and the second time we did and no difference. We left it on the low setting from 8am until about 7pm because we were out at work, should I be putting it on medium or high and leaving it all day instead?

That's strange because my stews have turned out great and the meat tender and soaked with all the flavours I put in. I leave my stews on for 8 hours. I do not brown the meat though, I just put it in the pot with the rest and let the sc get on with it. I also put a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.

My sc doesn't have a medium or high setting, so I wouldn't know the difference.

Bongedone

Bella08 wrote: »

Hi, I've made a beef casserole in my SC twice now, and both times the meat has been too chewy and not as nice as it goes in the oven. Once we didn't brown it and the second time we did and no difference. We left it on the low setting from 8am until about 7pm because we were out at work, should I be putting it on medium or high and leaving it all day instead?

Bella08,

Your not using roasting or frying beef are you ?

Bella08

I use braising steak cut into bitsize chunks, the same as when I cook a casserole in the oven. Is this the wrong type for a slow cooker?

Bongedone

Strange. I have used braising and it has been okay.

You could try marinating the beef over night in a can of Guiness. Use the Guiness as water in your stock. It gives the gravy a real depth.

It not really money saving though.

Sallygirl

Hi. Please can someone help me with some VERY basic instructions. I have been given a Cookworks SC35 Slow Cooker but no manual. I tried to cook a casserole in it this last week but it was not the best meal we've had. I put some carrots and potatoes (cut up small) in the base of the pot and some onions, garlic, celery, diced turkey thigh on top and a tin of chopped tomatoes with a glug of leftover wine as liquid. I switched it on to auto at 7.45 as I went out the door to work and at 6pm when I got in, the potatoes and carrots were still crunchy.

Questions:
1 - why were the carrots and potatoes still crunchy?
2 - not having an instruction manual, do I need to heat this model of slow cooker up before putting the food in?
3 - would you have made this any differently. Am I doing it wrong?
4 - how do you thicken the sauce/gravy? Do you drain it off at the end and thicken it in a pan on the cooker? Do you add cornflour to the stock at the beginning of the cooking time?
4 - can you please tell me where I could get a copy of the instruction manual?
5 - please could somebody post a sample recipe for me that takes me through the absolute basics of putting a meal on to cook in a slow cooker, say chicken thighs in a casserole type of thing or bolognese sauce - just so I have something basic to try. I'm worried about wasting the food if I try again on my own.

I would be so grateful if someone could answer some of my questions! I'd really appreciate your help.

Quasar

I think you should have put some more liquid in it rather than just the wine. I usually put a small glass of water in and the food consistency remains great. Also, I set the timer on 8 hours for a stew. If there is any liquid left over, I find it's very yummy to make a soup with it.

Your ingredients sound delicious! I put everything together, then set the cooker off. From reading your post therefore, the only thing I do differently is putting some water in it. Of course I don't know how long you have set the timer for on.

Sallygirl

Thanks Quasar. With the juice from the tin of tomatoes and the wine, all the meat and vegs were covered with liquid. But it is good to know that you would do things more or less the same. The slow cooker was on from 7.45 am to just after 6pm when I got home. That is about 10.5 hours and the carrots were still crunchy.

FZwanab

My carrots and celery were always rock hard when cooked in the slow cooker, so now while I am busy browning my meat/chicken, I put the carrots into a microwavable bowl cover with water and put in the microwave for 11/12 mins and then I drain them and add to the slow cooker. If I need to use stock and don't have any hm made, I use the drained water and add a stock cube. I would also like to know how to thicken sauces made in the slow cooker, perhaps coat the meat in flour before frying?? or any other suggestions?

annie-c

Sallygirl wrote: »

Hi. Please can someone help me with some VERY basic instructions. I have been given a Cookworks SC35 Slow Cooker but no manual. I tried to cook a casserole in it this last week but it was not the best meal we've had. I put some carrots and potatoes (cut up small) in the base of the pot and some onions, garlic, celery, diced turkey thigh on top and a tin of chopped tomatoes with a glug of leftover wine as liquid. I switched it on to auto at 7.45 as I went out the door to work and at 6pm when I got in, the potatoes and carrots were still crunchy.

Questions:
1 - why were the carrots and potatoes still crunchy?
2 - not having an instruction manual, do I need to heat this model of slow cooker up before putting the food in?
3 - would you have made this any differently. Am I doing it wrong?
4 - how do you thicken the sauce/gravy? Do you drain it off at the end and thicken it in a pan on the cooker? Do you add cornflour to the stock at the beginning of the cooking time?
4 - can you please tell me where I could get a copy of the instruction manual?
5 - please could somebody post a sample recipe for me that takes me through the absolute basics of putting a meal on to cook in a slow cooker, say chicken thighs in a casserole type of thing or bolognese sauce - just so I have something basic to try. I'm worried about wasting the food if I try again on my own.

I would be so grateful if someone could answer some of my questions! I'd really appreciate your help.

1 I suspect that the 'auto' position may be a very low setting that just keeps foord warm.. hence your veggies were not cooked as you'd expect after all that time. Mine has low, high and auto and auto doesn't meant 'automatic adjust' (as it does on some more costly machines')it is just a puttering along setting . To test out my hypothesis maybe make something cheap like soup with veg in, so you won't waste too much if I'm wrong.

2 I usually switch the slow cooker on with the lid on while doing the prep but it's not essential. Heating the food is the really timeconsuming job.

3 Nothing wrong with your recipe but see my suggestions below...

4a You could coat the meat in flour, but then I would brown it off to cook the starch before adding to the pan or it will likely just stay gooey. But 2 ways to thicken sauce AT THE END OF COOKING are: (1) Remove some of the veg into another dish and blend with a hand blender (or mash with a potato masher), then stir back in. Or (2) remove some of the liquid into a cup, stir in 1/2 tablespoon flour and mix to a paste, add more water, stirring till it's runny then stir back into casserole. But before doing any of these, remember slow cookers retain all the moisture in the food, so generally add less liquid in the first place than you would in an oven cooked dish

4b No idea about the Manual - CAN SOMEONE ELSE HELP PLEASE???

5 Switch the slow cooker on. Brown 1 chopped onion in a frying pan and add to pot. Brown some chicken legs/lamb shanks whatever til the colour is rich brown and add to pot. Pour over 2 tins chopped toms, stir in 1lb chopped veg (carrots, swede, potato, mushrooms, peppers, whatever). Add a little hot stock. Grind lots of pepper in, stick in a bay leaf and 1 tsp dried herbs. Stir round, leave on high for 3-5 hours or low for 6-10 hours. Add salt beforee serving and thicken one of the two ways above.

NB: Slow cookers don't brown food, so if you want meat brown you need to do it firs but this is not essential;. Onions also benefit from the caramelising process of being sauteed in a pan but this is not essential. What is essential is that if you brown the meat you MUST put it straight on to cook, not on a timer setting as warm meat breeds bacteria if not cooked straightaway.

It's all trial and error really, whether you have the manual or not. Good luck xx :T

Annie