slow cooker quick questions thread

Olliebeak

I would buy one bigger than what you think would be 'useful' - that way you can 'double-cook' a meal for the freezer. My first one was 5 litres, but I decided I wanted a 6.5 litres so I can get plenty for the freezer.

Also make sure that you get one with a choice of heat settings.

Mine is a super-duper electronic display job but I would MUCH prefer one with a choice of heat settings!

perrywinkle

Hi Chell,

I recently had to replace my old tower slow cooker and I went for the morphy richards 48715 as it was a which magazine best buy and its 6.5 litre capacity meant I had plenty of room for meals for the family. I have checked the which website and it is still their best buy and I checked and argos are selling them for 33.97. On the best buys list there is also a prima 3.5 litre slow cooker at 19.99 which is available from prima-international.com with free P+P if you wanted something smaller - can't personally vouch for this one although the review looks good - I have certainly enjoyed using the morphy richards one I bought and I must have had it for at least 9 months and have used it regularly.

HTH
Perrywinkle

SAV3R

Hi, I am considering buying a slow cooker, just trying to find out first if I will use it enough. Quickly read through some of the posts and see its good for joints and chicken. Just have a couple of questions, would be grateful if anyone can advise.

1. If I make chicken chasseur, can I use a sachet, and do I cook in the same was as in the oven, but obviously for longer.

2. Can I cook mince mixture for use in either Shepherds Pie or spaghetti Bolognese, I currently add onions, mushrooms, tinned tomatoes and garden peas.

3. Can I cook lobby, using pre-cooked beef. I usually cook this on the hob for approx 1 hr, I imagine this could be a problem in the SC, many of you seem to experience undercooked veggies.

These are a few of our favourite meals, if they are ok in a SC, I suppose it would be a more economical way of cooking. Does antone know how much leccy they do use?

Sorry for all the questions, hopefully one day I will have some of the knowledge to advise others too.

Olliebeak

SAV3R wrote: »

Hi, I am considering buying a slow cooker, just trying to find out first if I will use it enough. Quickly read through some of the posts and see its good for joints and chicken. Just have a couple of questions, would be grateful if anyone can advise.

1. If I make chicken chasseur, can I use a sachet, and do I cook in the same was as in the oven, but obviously for longer.
You could do that but you may find that it doesn't give you very much cooking sauce in one of the larger size slow-cookers.

2. Can I cook mince mixture for use in either Shepherds Pie or spaghetti Bolognese, I currently add onions, mushrooms, tinned tomatoes and garden peas.
I would brown the mince first to get rid of most of the fat before putting in the slow-cooker.

3. Can I cook lobby, using pre-cooked beef. I usually cook this on the hob for approx 1 hr, I imagine this could be a problem in the SC, many of you seem to experience undercooked veggies.
Erm - not sure what 'lobby' is. Could it be something like 'lob-scouse' made using meat left over from a roast? If you have a pressure I think I would you use that instead of a slow-cooker for it - or you could microwave your veggies to give them a head start.

These are a few of our favourite meals, if they are ok in a SC, I suppose it would be a more economical way of cooking. Does antone know how much leccy they do use?

Sorry for all the questions, hopefully one day I will have some of the knowledge to advise others too.

I use mine for Turkey/Chicken/Sausage Casserole (I pre-brown my sausages first - nothing worse than anaemic sausages ) - but I tend to use a tin of chopped tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, sliced peppers, stock cubes and then thicken at the end with some granules/cornflour. I've also done Minted Lamb Shanks (fabulous!), Ham Shanks for Shank Stew and Pea&Ham Soup, Scouse, Turkey Drumsticks, Carrot and Coriander Soup, Leek and Potato Soup, Mixed Veg Soup, made my own stocks from chicken carcasses and bits of veggies.

Lots of people on here also use theirs for cooking a whole chicken - I wasn't over-keen when I tried it but have to say that the meat was very tender indeed and I got lots of delicious stock from it. But I do prefer my chicken with crispy skin :drool:!

Mermaid

Has anyone tried using baking tins inside a slow cooker? If so, did it work, and did you need to alter the time?

I want to do a normal meatloaf and a vegetarian version at the same time, and if I could use two small loaf tins (I've got a BIG slowcooker!), there would be no contact between the two loaves.

Has anyone tried making cakes/puddings in a slow cooker? I rather fancy the idea of coming home to a house smelling of warm cake!

Thanks for any help and advice!

Mermaid

2cats1kid

Yes, you can. I haven't, but according to my cook book you put the tins in as normal and put a little water in the bottom.

Again, I haven't done cakes or puddings, but there are lots in my cook book, so if you google crock pot recipes you should find loads.

Penelope_Penguin

I'll add this to the Slowcooker Quick Questions thread to keep all ideas together.

Penny. x

foreversomeday

I have a quick question about chicken!

I am fairly new to using my SC and I tend to follow recipes rather than experiment much. I usually brown/seal meat and partly fry veg in the same pan then add liquid and get to boiling before transferring to the SC which has been on to preheat while I am doing this. However if the meat is cut up small, which it usually is, I would be prepared to guess it is probably cooked through (or almost) by the time it goes in.

However every time I cook chicken in it it always seems to come out with a really dry texture! I can't understand it as surely cooking in liquid ought to keep it moist. Anyway, the other day I made a chicken dish which I had made before but used leftover cooked chicken which had been in the fridge overnight. I still warmed it through in a frying pan and brought the liquid to the boil before putting it all in the SC, but the chicken was lovely when it came out and not dry at all.

Any ideas what I've been doing wrong? I'd rather not have to prepare and cook chicken ages in advance for my SC as to me that defeats the object of it, although I suppose I could prepare all the veg etc the night before as well.

Pinkylouloubell

OK, so I have finally taken the bull by the horns and have put my slow cooker on this morning for the first time:j

BUT.........

Im really not sure that I have done it right or that it is working OK.

I browned off my beef and microwaved the carrots for a minute, just to get them started then put it all in the SC together with onions, peppers and some mix with water.

I put it on at 10.30 on high and have just come down to check it and it is bubbling away!!!
Is this OK????

I have turned it down to low now.

also there is a tiny bit of steam escaping from one side.

Please advise me if I am doing all this righ.

I so want to take the lid off ad give it a stir as its bubling

abaxas

Give it a stir, put lid back on.

Come back in 4-6 hours and eat.