In my slow cooker today...

geek0

Could someone help me out here, im doing a chilli and i was wondering if putting the tinned kidney beans in for the last hr would be enough with them already being cooked, i thought they might just turn to mush if i put them in for the whole day?

furndire

You don't have to brown stuff before you put it in slow cooker, but certainly adds to flavour if you do.


When I cook a joint in the slow cooker, I brown the outside first in wok, or frying pan (no oil), and then put it in the slow cooker with no liquid of any kind. Works perfectly everytime, as the meat throws out its own juices - even organic free range chicken etc. (although the free range/organic don't put out as much as non-free range/organic)
I always used to put some stock in, but discovered it wasn't necessary when I forgot one day.

k2tog

SmlSave wrote: »

I'd love to know the answer VLT!

I'm thinking of getting a slow cooker and just wanted to ask...Do you have to brown stuff before putting it in the sc or can you just chuck things in and leave it?

Also how does it do rice?

Ta

There is definitely a recipe on here for risotto somewhere but haven't tried it myself and not sure about standard rice.

zippychick

Here;s a chicken risotto recipe if that helps.


Zippy

kidcat

geek0 wrote: »

Could someone help me out here, im doing a chilli and i was wondering if putting the tinned kidney beans in for the last hr would be enough with them already being cooked, i thought they might just turn to mush if i put them in for the whole day?

I add tinned kidney beans at the end too, usually cos I forget till then, so it will be fine.

freakyogre

I have (almost) always put kidney beans in at the start and they've never gone to mush (and they had been in there around 12 hours!) I did add them later on when I made chilli last week, but that's because I was adding them to bolognese and they were fine then too.

MissyMAD

I had Sivlerside of beef in my SC yesterday - first time I had tried a chunk of meat. I had a bed of carrots and parsnips to rest it on and the added potatoes, and celery round the edge with herbs. Red wine and beef stock to cover about 1/3 of the meat and it turned out excellent.

The meat was tender and tasty. So much so we are having today again.

madcook

Tesco'a are doing a slow cooker £9.95 and Wilkson have some good ones depends on the size you want.

jimmyboy420

Hey folks,

I'm also interested in how to cook rice in a slow cooker. Any advice apprecaited

madcook

Well I have been playing again and after the success with the Sponge Pudding decided to make a Fruit Cake, as I needed to use some bits and pieces in my cupboard. This cake has no sugar or fat and can be stored in an air tight container. You need to start this the day before as the fruit needs soaking. I might try to speed this up in the slow cooker in the future at some point. If you have a sweet tooth make sure you use some sweet fruit. I used cherries and banannas. As for the liquid you can use any tea, fruit juice or probably alcohol.

Fruit Cake
350g/12oz/2 Cup Mixed Fruit
300ml/1/2 pint Tea Earl Grey
400g/14oz/3 3/4 Cup Flour
1 Teaspon Baking Powder
1 Egg Beaten

Need either a loaf pan with 900g/2 lb/8 cup capacity or similiar container that will fit your slow cooker. I used slicon loaf tin with lid. So if you have a suitable plastic container with lid should be fine.

Soak the Fruit in Tea. (2 Teabags in 300ml of water for about 5 mins or left over tea's fine).

When you are ready to cook the cake Pre-Heat the Slow Cooker and have sufficient water to come up to at least half way past the middle of the container if its higher it doesn't matter just need to be careful that its not going to get into the container.

Sift the baking powder and flour together and stir evenly into the Fruit. Beat in the egg. Needs to be a dropping consistence. You may need to add a bit more liquid. I used a bit of water as I didn't have any tea left. Pour mixture into container and cover either with some foil or baking parchment, make sure there is enough room for the cake to rise.

Cooker for 3 and 1/2 Hours on High.