slow cooker quick questions thread

helenhugs

ohhh i always add my water cold to the slow cooker, whoops. No-one has died from food poisoning yet & it tends to go on about 10am & we eat about 6pm if that helps.
So should I be adding the water from the kettle then or does it really not make that much difference (shows how much I looked at my instruction book doesn't it).
hugs
Helen

lxpeanut

helenhugs wrote: »

ohhh i always add my water cold to the slow cooker, whoops. No-one has died from food poisoning yet & it tends to go on about 10am & we eat about 6pm if that helps.

Thats good to know. I'd possibly be putting it on at about 8am and not eating until about 7pm which is a longer time than the recipes seem to say so hopefully it will be ok.

Sorry I have another question. I have some nice recipes for curries, chillies and tagines. How do you adapt recipes for conventional cooking to the SC?

3tabbycats

zippychick wrote: »

Hi i think its ok to add the lentils or pulses, but pasta and rice generally should be left to the last 30-60 mins. I think u cook the pasta first . Pulses can go in dry but do use extra liquid - thats all from my reading on here, so not personal experience.

Ok, i checked my book.

dried beans and pulses - overnight soaking required. drain after soaking and cover with enouigh water for them to reach double their quantity. cook on high 2-4 hrs or until tender. if tinned, add 30-45 min before end of cooking time.

Pasta - rice and noodles - not recommended for long cooking times apart from pudding rice. Cook separately and add during last 30 mins.

HTH Edited for book info! I have a rosemary conley SC, just for info.

Thanks Zippychick, thats really helpful! Will definately not do the pasta & pulses mix in the SC then.. I've got a plain pulse mix so I'll give that a go instead! :T

zippychick

lxpeanut wrote: »

Hi

Just got a slow cooker and have two questions:

The instructions say liquids should be boiling when put in to the cooker. I was hoping to put everything together the night before so I just had to put it in and switch it on in the morning. Is it OK to start from cold like this?

I'm veggie and looking at some of the non veggie recipes that sound like they would work well with veggie mince. Do I need to adjust the recipes in any way when using veggie mince instead of meat mince?

Thanks

heres a link to some SC veggie recipes

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=493785&postcount=18

they may help?

No prob tabby cat

Regards putting in heated liquid, i believe it is to give the SC a good head start. If you put cold liquid in, it takes longer to heat up and get going ( i understand its recommended to add too cooking time if cold liquid?)

Im prepping for my meal tomorrow actualyl which fits my question or dilemma

Im doing sausage and mustard casserole. Ive upped the sausage content from 400g to 530 (pedantic i know), added in two carrots and willl add frozen peas at the end. Now it asks for a pint of stock, and half a pint in the original recipe. I was going to up the cider content ( any excuse) to a pint. WOuld that be adequate for the extra sausages and the newly added carrots or should i add more?

SHould i also add more mustard and cornflour? (now 2 tbsp wg mustard and 2 tbsp cornflour)

ALso wouldnt it make sense to add the cider tomorrow so it doesnt lose its flatness or does that nor matter?

Am bringing stuff to boil now with veg, then will reheat in micro tomorow. My sausages are prebrowned in the fridge.

SO wake up, heat up veg & liquid, add cider and thyme. Pour over sausages. Voila. Putting it on at 915 and plannin to eat around 7 so thats 9h 45! Stay on low will be ok? Is that too long?

What do yous reckon. Thats a lot of questions :eek:

Melonade

Can I make a curry in the sc? I made curry for the first time last w/e (not from scratch) using a pataks curry paste and it got me thinking about wether or not I could just bung it all in the slow cooker?

zippychick

lxpeanut wrote: »

Thats good to know. I'd possibly be putting it on at about 8am and not eating until about 7pm which is a longer time than the recipes seem to say so hopefully it will be ok.

Sorry I have another question. I have some nice recipes for curries, chillies and tagines. How do you adapt recipes for conventional cooking to the SC?

My rosemary conley book says to half the liquid content for traditional recipes. If too much liquid at end, blend one to two tbsps of cornflour in, wack up to high, and leave for 20-30 mins. HTH.

Heres my morrocan tagine recipe i cooked, devine and low gi apparently (rosemary conley)

Serves 6 Moroccan lamb apricot tagine
439 cal per serving, 22g fat

500g lean stewing lamb cubed
1 sliced onion
1-2 crushed cloves garlic
600m,l lamb or beef stock
1 teasp ground cinnamon
2 tblspns paprika
150g dried apricots
1 small can cannellini beans
fresh coriander or flat leafed parsley chopped
S & P

Brown lamb in non stick pan, transfer to Sc
Then, onions and garlic to pan, soften, add on top of meat
heat stock in pan and whisk in cinnamon and paprika
pour over lamb and veg in sc
stir in apricots
cover and cook on low 8-10 hours

last jalf hour, drain beans and add for last half hour cooking

serve with s & p and stir in coriander or parsley to serve

it was yum! im no great cook by any stretch of the imagination, but this was easy!

remember every time you open your sc you need to add about 30 mins onto cooking so resist"!!!!!

zippychick

Melonade wrote: »

Can I make a curry in the sc? I made curry for the first time last w/e (not from scratch) using a pataks curry paste and it got me thinking about wether or not I could just bung it all in the slow cooker?

you absolutely can! This is a recipe for mutton curry but im sure it will give you an idea anyway

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=57066&postcount=98

domestic_goddess

I am making a Quorn chilli in the slow cooker and I just wondered if I add the Quorn in at the start like I would mince or do I put it in a bit later as I don't think it takes as long to cook normally

Thanks

tinkerbell84

Put it in as late as you can - it only really needs heating through.

mypet62

I just treat quorn like mince and chuck it all in together to cook!:cheesy: