slow cooker quick questions thread

RustyFlange

Olliebeak wrote: »

You're very welcome, Rusty - always happy to help where I can ! Hope you're meal turned out good. We've had a 'meat meal' every evening this week - so have had toasted garlic and onion bagels with melted cheese tonight. Nice change from the richer food earlier in the week . Though I feel a slow cooker meal coming on tomorrow.

Going to put some mixed beans in to soak in a few minutes. Give them a boil for 15 minutes in the morning (some kidney beans among them so need to eliminate the toxins!). They will go in with some chicken thighs, onions, peppers, tinned tomatoes and spices in the morning. The aroma will drive the OH crazy all day as he's home tomorrow .

Really appreciate your help

The carribean chicken was lovely, we had no paprika so I improvised and added some cayenne so it had a little kick which OH loved ... however I used chicken breasts (x4) and they turned dark in colour probably where they had been cooked in the sauce? and were also fairly dry inside so I think next time I won't brown off the chicken and see if that changes anything. OH liked it though and so did I , and I have 2 takeaway tubs which has been frozen we have another meal

That sounds lovely! although I am not sure I am confident enough to make something like that from scratch so to speak! Still I guess with time I will chuck a bit of everything in

lexuslass

trying-very-trying wrote: »

We all start somewhere, so no your questions aren't stupid. I'm sorry that you didn't get an answer to this earlier in the day, but anyway.

I find with chicken legs/thighs it is best if you can remove the skin before putting it in the pot, the skin releases a lot of fat into the gravy.
If using a sachet of sauce, it should go in right at the beginning.
The cooking time depends on the rating of your sc, mine is an older one with a 135w, so it takes a good bit longer than the new ones, some are as high as 300w or more. The good thing is that you can never burn anything in the slow cooker, although chicken particularly has a tendency to literally fall of the bone if left too long. The heat setting are just to give you a little control over the timing of your meal. If you're out all day, start it off on low and leave it, it'll be ready when you get home. If you're at home and you didn't mind to switch it on until luchtime, then put it on high, it will probably be ready in about 4hours.

I realise this is all a bit vague, but hope it gives you some clue. I do hope you enjoy using your slow cooker.

Thank you so much for your reply... I ended up putting the sauce in about 1pm. I think I should have taken the skin off the chicken as the sauce ended up being a little too runny that what we'd have normally. OH was late home from work so we didn't tuck into it till about 8pm... and a lot of the chicken had fallen off the bone... it was still tasty though and the meat was really tender.

Have got some pieces of braising steak to put in today - just contemplating what to put with it!

Thanks again for your advice..as I mentioned - the instructions that came with it aren't that good at all!

ShelBell

lexuslass wrote: »

Thank you so much for your reply... I ended up putting the sauce in about 1pm. I think I should have taken the skin off the chicken as the sauce ended up being a little too runny that what we'd have normally. OH was late home from work so we didn't tuck into it till about 8pm... and a lot of the chicken had fallen off the bone... it was still tasty though and the meat was really tender.

Have got some pieces of braising steak to put in today - just contemplating what to put with it!

Thanks again for your advice..as I mentioned - the instructions that came with it aren't that good at all!

If you use a packet mix, only put in about 2/3 of the water it tells you too, as sooo much comes off the chicken and of course, with the sealed lid, no liquids evaporate. Alternatively, throw in a handful of porridge oats or mashed potato powder to thicken.

With the braising steak, I did some last weekend with beef gravy (made extra thick) and some leeks and carrots I had in. Put dumplings on top for the last hour on high. Everyone enjoyed it and hubby had the leftovers for tea last night.

lexuslass

ShelBell wrote: »

If you use a packet mix, only put in about 2/3 of the water it tells you too, as sooo much comes off the chicken and of course, with the sealed lid, no liquids evaporate. Alternatively, throw in a handful of porridge oats or mashed potato powder to thicken.

With the braising steak, I did some last weekend with beef gravy (made extra thick) and some leeks and carrots I had in. Put dumplings on top for the last hour on high. Everyone enjoyed it and hubby had the leftovers for tea last night.

mmm..thank you! that sounds yummy...wish I'd have come back to this thread before preparing tonights dinner!!

have already done the braising steak with mushrooms, onions, carrots, parsnips, a few chopped potatoes, garlic and herbs.

I reckon I'm going to end up with a runny sauce again - It was a toss up between the packet I had in the cupboard and using gravy!! I had put less water than it stated but is was more than 2/3 of what it said! But I guess I've still got time to pop to the shop and get some mashed potato powder to put in!

Thanks again for your tips ShelBel... I am getting so many great ideas from this thread - it's fab!!

:T

Olliebeak

RustyFlange wrote: »

Really appreciate your help

The carribean chicken was lovely, we had no paprika so I improvised and added some cayenne so it had a little kick which OH loved ... however I used chicken breasts (x4) and they turned dark in colour probably where they had been cooked in the sauce? and were also fairly dry inside so I think next time I won't brown off the chicken and see if that changes anything. OH liked it though and so did I , and I have 2 takeaway tubs which has been frozen we have another meal

That sounds lovely! although I am not sure I am confident enough to make something like that from scratch so to speak! Still I guess with time I will chuck a bit of everything in

I only brown the chicken first, if I'm leaving the skin on - as in thighs or drumsticks. With sausages, I always brown them as they look far more appetising that way.

Chicken thighs, onions/garlic, mixed peppers, mixed beans, tin of chopped tomatoes, jar of chilli sauce, mixed herbs and a mix of paprika/mild chilli/cayenne pepper all simmering nicely in mine at the moment. Keep opening the back door to torment the next-door neighbours . IF there are any left-overs, it will get frozen - usually in small tubs for use as jacket spud toppings.

Phi_2

Looking to buy a 3.5 litre Slow Cooker (I think that is the right size for 2 - 3 people) and was initially going to get the Morphy Richards 48710

I have however now seen that Tesco have their own 3.5L model at only £9.96 at present

Is this Tesco model any good as it seems to good to be true

I know uner £10 is not much these days but I have found in the past that cheap does not always mean good value and often it is better to pay more for something that will be the better buy over time

Can anyone enlighten me as to the Tesco model or should I just stick with and buy the Morphy Richards one

bertiebots

Dont know about the tesco model but I have the cheap version from wilkos and its brill. I would say go for the cheaper one as its probably made by the same factory as the mr one ..just a different label!

Phi_2

bertiebots wrote: »

Dont know about the tesco model but I have the cheap version from wilkos and its brill. I would say go for the cheaper one as its probably made by the same factory as the mr one ..just a different label!

Which one from Wilkinsons do you have -- as just looked and see there is more than one at their website

Mely

Hi all... im thinking about getting a slow cooker, but is it worth it as i cook mostly vegetarian food and not much meat etc?

phizzimum

Although I'm not veggie I've started using beans and lentils much more recently. The slow cooker is ideal as they need a long time to cook and the flavours develop beautifully. I use it to rehydrate chick peas for when I make hummous. You can cook up the whole pack and then freeze them in smaller portions for when you need it.