I'm disappointed with my slow cooker

Meadows

MrsE wrote: »

Is it just me or does anyone else think slow cookers make food smell & taste funny? DH loves stews done in it & the meat is very tender & its like the fairies have made your dinner when you get in BUT I get this odd taste/smell from it. I'm half wondering if I'm imagining it. Anyone else notice it?

Never had a funny taste or smell with mine.

valk_scot

I don't think food done in the slow cooker tastes odd per se, but I do think it all tastes very similar. There's no clear flavour notes in the food, as you would get if you cooked the same recipe in a casserole in the oven. You can barely tell what kind of meat you used, or the flavourings unless it's something really strong like chilli. Whoever called it an 'institutional' taste got it spot on imho. Everything tastes as if it's been kept warm in the serving hatch containers for a very, very long time. Which I suppose it has, really.

Plus I don't necessarily like meat cooked to the point of falling off the bones. It reminds me of the way my mother used to cook...she boiled everything at least three times as long as necessary and it all had a rather soft, mushy texture.

puddy

MrsE wrote: »

Ah ha, someone else:T
Its a weird almost electrical taste/smell. DH doesn't smell/taste it:mad:

I didn't use mine for over a year & got it out again & its the same strange smell/taste.

yes, thats exactly what it is, its not old food smells or overcooked food its an electrical smell

its the same smell that the electric hand whisk has, which incidently is the same smell as the electric drill we have and when we do DIY jobs, it makes me think of cakes being mixed up

I dont think anyone else has this sense of smell that i do

puddy

Swan wrote: »

I read on here that more recent SCs cook hotter than older models, I found that mine cooked quite 'hard' even on the low setting
I'm sure it wasn't faulty, because I had to have my original one exchanged as the crock had chipped right through & they both operated in exactly the same way

it was a Morphy Richards 6.5 Lt


interesting that some of you mention the smell, in the case of the whole chicken, apart from the collapsed & slimy carcase, that was the worst thing about it

I make chicken stock in the conventional way & never have a problem, but the whole house was filled with the most revolting stench, so much so, that even if the chicken had looked appealing & tasted nice, I doubt I'd have been able to eat it

I did get a lot of lovely chicken stock out of it, but it was an awful waste of a lovely free-range bird & it took me a while to be able to face it! thank goodness for freezers

god, thats just reminded me that quite often when i have something in the slow cooker, if i go out and come back home again i always panic that the cat has done something in the house because of the smell, then i remember that its food not poop

guccigoo

Never noticed a smell off mine or funny taste. im using mine now got chicken tonight in it and it smells how it would if it was done in the oven. Love my SC

clairehi

puddy wrote: »

yes, thats exactly what it is, its not old food smells or overcooked food its an electrical smell

its the same smell that the electric hand whisk has, which incidently is the same smell as the electric drill we have and when we do DIY jobs, it makes me think of cakes being mixed up

I dont think anyone else has this sense of smell that i do

is it a sort of smell of burning dust - like if you put an electric fire on which hasnt been used for a while?

puddy

no, i cant explain it. when i was little and my mum would make (the odd) cake, i always thought that the smell of her mixing stuff up with the mixer was the cake mix or ingredients. but in later life, i realise its the smell of the equipment not the ingredients because of the smell of the drill and my own electric whisk

Swan_2

valk_scot wrote: »

I don't think food done in the slow cooker tastes odd per se, but I do think it all tastes very similar. There's no clear flavour notes in the food, as you would get if you cooked the same recipe in a casserole in the oven. You can barely tell what kind of meat you used, or the flavourings unless it's something really strong like chilli. Whoever called it an 'institutional' taste got it spot on imho. Everything tastes as if it's been kept warm in the serving hatch containers for a very, very long time. Which I suppose it has, really.

Plus I don't necessarily like meat cooked to the point of falling off the bones. It reminds me of the way my mother used to cook...she boiled everything at least three times as long as necessary and it all had a rather soft, mushy texture.

very eloquently put :T

& I coudn't agree more about 'falling off the bone', I've always been mystified by that description being viewed as a positive :think:

puddy wrote: »

god, thats just reminded me that quite often when i have something in the slow cooker, if i go out and come back home again i always panic that the cat has done something in the house because of the smell, then i remember that its food not poop

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

seriously, particularly when I cooked the chicken, the smell in the house made all of us gag
in no way shape or form could it be compared to a proper roast chicken, unless you have a very weird oven



that's not to say SCs don't have their place, for instance when you're out all day & want to come home to a hot meal ready to eat

but why anyone would want to use one when they have the time to access other cooking methods is utterly beyond me

MrsE_2

Swan wrote: »

that's not to say SCs don't have their place, for instance when you're out all day & want to come home to a hot meal ready to eat

but why anyone would want to use one when they have the time to access other cooking methods is utterly beyond me

Thats why I want to use mine, but I don't enjoy it like le cruset cooked stews.

I think the thing to do is cook it the evening before (when in), leave in the fridge & reheat the next day:D

JenniO

Have you ever taken the pot out of the slow cooker and looked at the element underneath it? It may be filthy and giving off the smell and that is filtering into your food? It's just a thought so I really am not sure.

Have to say though that my SC does not give off a funny taste or smell and I'm like a bloodhound - I can smell everything, which isn't always a good thing