I'm disappointed with my slow cooker

ladylouise62

As Kingkano said, you need to choose the right types of meat, in particular cheap cuts (like stewing steak), or large items like leg of lamb.

zippychick

Some people just don't gel with slow cookers. I personally have never had a problem.

Ive merged this with a thread of peopel discussing the same sort of issue

Slow cooker curry may help & slow cooker beef casserole(just sub the beef for chicken)

Zip

lickylonglips

i use mine on a very regular basis, both in the summer and winter. i've currently got a pan of stew (beef mince, carrots, onion, celery, stock, potato, parsnip, butternut squash, dried herbs, tomato puree, broth mix) bubbling away, and once that's cooked and cooled, i will put a vat of bolognese sauce (beef mince, passata, celery, onion, carrot, chicken livers, wine, stock, dried herbs, mushrooms, garlic, tiny bit of butternut squash and celery) on to cook. these will be portioned up and frozen for later use.

ska_lover

Some dishes I have cooked in mine have come out watery, in particular stew - as other posters have said it just does not reduce the liquid and you do not get the lovely almost 'melting' veggies in a slow cooker stew.

When I use mine these days, I tend to use..dare I say it .. packet mixes and jars (things like curry etc) and they work out well for me.

squeaky

ska_lover wrote: »

Some dishes I have cooked in mine have come out watery, in particular stew - as other posters have said it just does not reduce the liquid and you do not get the lovely almost 'melting' veggies in a slow cooker stew.

When I use mine these days, I tend to use..dare I say it .. packet mixes and jars (things like curry etc) and they work out well for me.

There are quite a few ways of dealing with the "water issue"...

Only barely cover your ingredients - putting in just the amount you think will make the kind of casserole or stew that you want.

Add either breadcrumbs or (porridge) oats or lentils at the start. These will dissolve into your casserole and thicken the liquid.

Make up some cornflour with cold water and then add it to the liquids about an hour before the end of cooking if you think the liquid is too thin.

Make a roue and add it at the start.

Decant the liquid and reduce it in a saucepan before putting it back. Or decant the liquid with a small amount of the solids in your stew and when cool(er) so you don't crack your liquidiser, blitz it and put it back.

kingkano

squeaky wrote: »

There are quite a few ways of dealing with the "water issue"...

Only barely cover your ingredients - putting in just the amount you think will make the kind of casserole or stew that you want.

Add either breadcrumbs or (porridge) oats or lentils at the start. These will dissolve into your casserole and thicken the liquid.

Make up some cornflour with cold water and then add it to the liquids about an hour before the end of cooking if you think the liquid is too thin.

Make a roue and add it at the start.

Decant the liquid and reduce it in a saucepan before putting it back. Or decant the liquid with a small amount of the solids in your stew and when cool(er) so you don't crack your liquidiser, blitz it and put it back.

Also pearl barley is good for soaking up! Or I make some cous cous and then serve it together, it has a habit of soaking up juice and mixing into stews nicely.

Otherwise I tend to do the cornflour trick really. Depending if its a strong casserole (ie oxtail) I might remove some of the liquid first and keep it for making a soup/gravy at another time - then thicken the rest. Freeze it if not using within a few days.

zippychick

ska_lover wrote: »

Some dishes I have cooked in mine have come out watery, in particular stew - as other posters have said it just does not reduce the liquid and you do not get the lovely almost 'melting' veggies in a slow cooker stew.

My SC book always said to add half as much liquid as you would normally.

When I use mine these days, I tend to use..dare I say it .. packet mixes and jars (things like curry etc) and they work out well for me.

I made fantastic stew on Sunday in the SC. I put in extra potatoes, remove some after cooking through for about 6 hours, mashed them then returned to the stew. Instant thickener

There is a SC thickening thread

ska_lover

zippychick wrote: »

I made fantastic stew on Sunday in the SC. I put in extra potatoes, remove some after cooking through for about 6 hours, mashed them then returned to the stew. Instant thickener

There is a SC thickening thread

Oh i do like that idea, mashed potatoes are my favorite food in the whole world!

Thanks for the linky

zippychick

No probs, it was an old trick I learned from my Gran, rest her soul:A

[Deleted User]

I have never used my slow cooker on high as the idea is it cooks slowly so its on low all the time I usually put my meal in last thing at night before bed ,especially in the winter and when I get up first thing the meal is cooked and my kitchen is warm and smelling delicious.