I'm disappointed with my slow cooker

annie12

thriftlady wrote: »

Slow cookers aren't for everyone, I've never been impressed with mine I made a beef stew in the oven yesterday, cooked at a low temp for 2-3 hours. It was gorgeous, the liquid had concentrated and the flavours intensified. I didn't have to mess about with cornflour to thicken it and the vegetables were so soft they had practically dissolved into the gravy. Yummy.

My mouth is watering......yum x

milkydrink

I got a digital Hitachi one (on sale!).

BUT you can only have it on low for a short period or high for a long period. You could put it on manually, but thats not the idea with slow cookers, is it.

givememoney

thriftlady wrote: »

Slow cookers aren't for everyone, I've never been impressed with mine I made a beef stew in the oven yesterday, cooked at a low temp for 2-3 hours. It was gorgeous, the liquid had concentrated and the flavours intensified. I didn't have to mess about with cornflour to thicken it and the vegetables were so soft they had practically dissolved into the gravy. Yummy.

Yes this was one of my points I suppose. I have always made a stew/caserole in the oven and cooked it for about 2 hours then added dumplings for another 50 mins.

This always comes out with a rich gravy and always tastes very nice. I expected the one in the slow cooker to come out the same but as people pointed out I was using too much gravy the same amount I would use in the oven, but that evaporated with the cooking.

I don't like to be beaten though so I will use the tips here and try again.

csarina

I bought a slow cooker and hated it, I prefer a pressure cooker, it cooks quicker and the meat is very tender even the cheapie cuts cook well in it, I also use it to make stock for soup and cook beans.

givememoney

csarina wrote: »

I bought a slow cooker and hated it, I prefer a pressure cooker, it cooks quicker and the meat is very tender even the cheapie cuts cook well in it, I also use it to make stock for soup and cook beans.

Yes I have a pressure cooker to. Before we barbecue chicken we give it 5 mins in the pressure cooker. It keeps the chicken nice and moist then we just brown it off on the barby.

I also use it for making soup. I use the chopping blade in the food processor and add potatoe, onion, carrots, any green stuff, couple of cloves of garlic a tin of tomatoes whizz it up then put it in the pressure cooker, add some tomatoe puree, a dessert spoonful of balsamic vinegar and some water then bring to pressure and cook for 15 mins. Very nice.

jennybb

There seem to be people who love them and people who hate them. I sit between the two on this one.

Mine has been great for casseroles/ goulash/ stew type things when I'm working long days - it took a while to get used to the fact that the liquid doesn't reduce. I think it's great for cuts of meat like brisket. If I do a lamb joint, I always finish it off in the oven to crisp up the fat. A lot of people do whole chickens in theirs - but I don't like the texture - roast any day for me.

What I do find it does really well is stock - it keeps that perfect not quite simmer which is good for a stock - and it all happens when I'm at work.

I don't fancy mince in it at all - horse for course I guess. In an ideal world I'd be at home all day, slow cooking stews in an aga...................meantime - it has it's uses

moneysaver12

how do you seal meat

Merlot

I got a slow cooker 6.5ltr Morphy Richards, and until today I loved it, I've cooked joints and stews, but today I cooked a bolognese sauce with mince and it was the worst thing I have ever ever cooked, even the OH didn't eat it, so it must have been bad, I will not attempt anything again with mince, and I followed the receipe from the instruction manual.

csarina

I cook my bol sauce in a large frying pan, you need the space to allow the sauce to reduce to almost nothing, that does not happen in a slow cooker.

givememoney

moneysaver12 wrote: »

how do you seal meat

You fry it quicky in hot oil or fat to seal in the juices. Only for about 5mins or so, just to brown it off. You can coat it in flour first if you wish then this adds a thickness to the gravy when you add the meat to a caserole say.