slow cooker quick questions thread

foreversomeday

trying-very-trying wrote: »

I'm not sure what you're doing wrong. Maybe you're overcooking the outside of the meat before it goes in the sc? I put a whole chicken in unbrowned with all the veggies, leave all day, never lifting the lid, and the meat just falls off the bone and is very moist. I don't have the problem that some people seem to have re the veggies being hard, maybe I'm just lucky. I use a 135w sc if that makes any difference.

I've never used my sc for left over cooked meat.

I have never used mine to cook a whole joint of meat, I always use it for dishes which have bite sized pieces of meat in, hence using the leftovers. Perhaps I ought to experiment.

Bumping my question (whole q quoted by TVT) as it got overtaken a bit by the merged thread and I'm interested to see if anyone else has any ideas.

hotcookie101

Hi all,
Have 2 lovely chunky FR chicken legs out of freezer for dinner tomorrow. I am working late so won't be home until at least after 7/715(probably lots later as are short staffed and VERY busy at moment!). I should (hopefully) get home for lunch about 12/1pm.
I have a MR slow cooker (3.5L), would it be ok to stick carrots celery and onions in SC, add chickens, some spuds and liquid (stock/vermouth/sherry/water??) at lunch time? If so am I best to do it on low or high? will it be cooked in 6/7 hours? Got SC in spring so not really used it much (can't really think of summery slow cooker meals)

skintchick

It will be fine - I usually cook stuff for that long in mine, just do it on low (and from cold stock/water not hot).

THe worst that will happen is the chicken will fall off the bone, although the veg may go mushy, so perhaps just cook the chicken and add the veg when you get home then pop it on high for 30 mins or so.

kr15snw

Hi all Im new to all this so have a few questions...

Both me and the OH leave the house at 8 - 8:30 am and dont get home until 5 - 5:30 pm. We're getting fed up of 'quick' freezer dishes and only get casserole type things if I have a day off or we go the parents for tea!

So would a slow cooker be good for me? Could I chuck things in it at 8am and then leave it for the day? So that we can eat about 6pm?

I also have no idea what kind of things we could cook in it! Ive had a flick through and searched for things but Im getting confused.

We like caseroles, pastas (so making the sauce could be handy), curries, pies, goulash, roasts and chicken with various sauces.

So what you think?

Any any tips on which ones to look at? Theres 2 of us and we both love our food so eat a decent sized portion... Lol

skintchick

kr15snw wrote: »

Hi all Im new to all this so have a few questions...

Both me and the OH leave the house at 8 - 8:30 am and dont get home until 5 - 5:30 pm. We're getting fed up of 'quick' freezer dishes and only get casserole type things if I have a day off or we go the parents for tea!

So would a slow cooker be good for me? Could I chuck things in it at 8am and then leave it for the day? So that we can eat about 6pm?

I also have no idea what kind of things we could cook in it! Ive had a flick through and searched for things but Im getting confused.

We like caseroles, pastas (so making the sauce could be handy), curries, pies, goulash, roasts and chicken with various sauces.

So what you think?

Any any tips on which ones to look at? Theres 2 of us and we both love our food so eat a decent sized portion... Lol

You get home before I used to leave work! You have plenty of time to cook in the evenings surely?

As for the SC, you can cook all sorts in it though I use mine for soups and casseroles, you could do chilli and bolognese in it too.

HariboJunkie

skintchick wrote: »

You get home before I used to leave work! You have plenty of time to cook in the evenings surely?

As for the SC, you can cook all sorts in it though I use mine for soups and casseroles, you could do chilli and bolognese in it too.

Maybe kr15snw is tired in the evenings. We are all different.

kr15snw ................ Yes, you can leave it on all day while you're at work. You could even chop everything up the night before and keep in the fridge to save time in the morning. I would go for a bigger SC than you think you need and cook double and freeze so you have extra "ready meals" in the freezer. Have a look on the Slow Cooker Recipe Index for lots of recipes.

HariboJunkie

hotcookie101 wrote: »

Hi all,
Have 2 lovely chunky FR chicken legs out of freezer for dinner tomorrow. I am working late so won't be home until at least after 7/715(probably lots later as are short staffed and VERY busy at moment!). I should (hopefully) get home for lunch about 12/1pm.
I have a MR slow cooker (3.5L), would it be ok to stick carrots celery and onions in SC, add chickens, some spuds and liquid (stock/vermouth/sherry/water??) at lunch time? If so am I best to do it on low or high? will it be cooked in 6/7 hours? Got SC in spring so not really used it much (can't really think of summery slow cooker meals)

Just a little tip but I would brown the chicken a little first as the liquid can be quite fatty if cooked in the SC from raw IMHO. I would definitely cook it on low.

ShelBell

I don't bother to brown mine its down to taste.

KR15snw, slow cooker sounds perfect for you You can do casseroles, pasta sauces, bolognese, curries, chilli's, joints of meat, chicken in sauce, goulash, strogonoff, pie fillings, pretty much everything on your list!

Mine is a godsend when I have a busy week at work, and I've never had a meal go wrong in it yet

LabLover

Hi, am fairly new to the mse forum , but I bought a Slow Cooker a year ago and so far its been a god send. Im only 20 and my whole family think Im bonkers for raving about it , but everything I cook in there (apart from one small mistake with rice) has been brilliant. Ive experimented alot over the year with things , and find that most things work well . As far as chicken goes I tend to use breast meat and chop it into fairly big peices as I work a long day and if it was chopped too small it could go stringy. I NEVER brown my chicken first and have never found it greasy , when cooking it with onions etc they tend to soak it up.
Another thing I would mention is that most slow cookers tell you NOT to cook with cream, cheese, or pasta . However I find that if you add these ingredients about 20-30 mins before you want to serve then they are fine. My favourite thing to make other than curry is a nice chicken pie filling and because the pot from my slow cooker is oven proof I can just pop the pastry on top and bung it in the oven . Im so sorry Ive rambled on a bit , but really its the best thing Ive bought. I would say that everyone does things a bit differently with theirs and it is often down to trial and error to see what works and what doesnt. My b/fs sister once put a very expensive beef joint from the buthcers in her slow cooker on high all day , and when she came in from work , it was all burnt and had shrunk to the size of a beef burger , Lol !!!
Kirsti xxx

kr15snw

To be honest me and OH are both the kind of people who like to come home, shower and have tea at about 6. Then we have time to do the dishes and sit down by about 7 and enjoy our evening. Unfortunately this means no time for PROPER meals like casserols etc which we LOVE.

Im looking at the new Morphy Richards one (the one with a timer), has anyone got any good / bad points with this one?

Im liking the idea of getting the 6.5L one as me and OH both have microwaves at work and we tend to cook double portions so that we can take a portion each to work the next day for lunch

EDITED TO ADD: Just wondering alot of the recepies state to leave for 2 - 3 hours, or 5 - 6 on low? Would we be ok leaving it 9 - 10 hours? I mean it wouldnt burn would it?

Also we love doing the packet recepies (like coq au vin and chassaeur) can we do this in a slow cooker on low all day? Just mix the sauce, add the chicken and other veg and ignore?