slow cooker help! need to thicken

recovering_spendaholic

if you mix equal quantities of butter/spread and plain flour into a paste and then add little knobs of it and whisk it it will thicken up nicely.

mioliere

I always mix the cornflour (cornstarch?) with a little cold water first; mix into a paste, then pour into the simmering casserole, stirring like mad! Alternatively, when I've browned all the ingredients off, before adding the stock, I stir in a good tablespoon on plain flour, then slowly add the hot stock, stirring all the time. Either way makes lovely casserole gravy.

kiwi_fruit

Thanks for your suggestions, I will try to make one tomorrow, see how it goes. Strange that when I use a stock/gravy type base for beef casserole it thickens fine and doesn't need a lot of cornflour at all.

Jei70

Also, try to add more onions - they sort of melt in a casserole and add thickness.

kerrirobberts

Have you tried adding lentils? That's all I use for mine, throw in 3 handfuls of lentils and leave. The lentils dissolve and the casserole thickens nicely

lizzyb1812

Guessing here but from your description you want to make a thick sauce before returning the meat to it? I'd not thicken the sauce until the casserole was cooked and a) the alcohol had cooked off and b) the total liquid had reduced. If there was a huge amount of runny sauce before I thickened it I'd reduce it on the hob by boiling it and then thicken the remainder with gravy granules or a bit of cornflour.

meritaten

I agree with lizzy - it seems that you are trying to thicken the casserole with cornflour before it has had chance to cook and thicken on its own.
I thicken a casserole at the END of cooking time if it really needs it. make sure the casserole is bubbling nicely away then mix up a heaped tablespoon of cornflour to approx 3 tablespoons of water - you want a nice thick creamy consistency. put the casserole on a low flame then slowly pour the cornflour mix in with one hand while stirring madly with the other! it should thicken almost instantly as you are putting the mix in. if it seems thick enough you might not need all the cornflour mix, then let it simmer gently for a minute then you can serve it.

ragz_2

I always coat the pork in seasoned flour before I fry it, then add shallots, thyme and equal amounts of cider and chicken stock. Cook for 30-40 mins with lid on then for a while with it off until it thickens. Have never needed to thicken it further. It's not a very thick sauce, makes the kind of casserole you'd have with mash, but it's certainly thick enough.

kiwi_fruit

Thanks for your advice, yes I never thought about adding it at the end of cooking, I thought usually you add it before it goes in the oven. Interesting suggestion about the lentils, would've never imagined.
I tried using stock/cider but I think taste-wise I prefer just-cider version, it's sort of more rich:D
Are any other thickeners better than the cornflour? I've heard about tapioca and arrowroot but never tried.

Haffiana

There was a bad batch of cornflour doing the rounds a while back - I had a box from Waitrose, and it simply would not thicken anything, no matter how much was put in. A friend had a box from Tesco that was exactly the same, but a box of Brown and Polson that she opened to use on the same gravy worked fine. I bought my last box from a chinese supermarket and a tiny smidge turns liquids virtually solid!