Best Slow Cooker & Recipes for a novice cook?

ToTheBatcave

Hello wonderful MSE'rs!!

Apologies if this has already been asked. I've been reading the forums on and off for years and have read of the wonder of slow cookers but haven't yet invested in one.

I currently live with a relative and both of our attitudes to diet and food could use improvement (think lots of convenience food and ready meals) and I'd like to take action. Unfortunately im very inexperienced with cooking and really don't enjoy it - so I'm hoping being able to chuck things in a pot and forget about it may help. Limited kitchen space, time and money also mean i'd prefer not to spend a lot of time cooking.

As a very novice cook I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for a good slow cooker to use as well as any cheap, easy veggie recipes? Im hoping to introduce these kind of meals once or twice a week to start as said relative is fairly resistant to change.

Thanks in advance! :beer:

Farway

Unable to comment on brand of SC, but generally the oval shaped ones are easier to find a spot for without having too much dead space around them

I have a cheapo Cookworks one from Argos, it does the job for me, 3 heat settings, high, low, warm. + off

I'm not veggie but I generally follow the chuck it all in style of cooking and s*d the browning, frying before hand malarkey

I do have pot on high before switching to low, and use hot / boiling water to start with and not rely on SC to heat it first

joedenise

I'd agree about an oval slow cooker. I've got a Crockpot which I got in a sale for about £20 but you can get cheaper ones from most supermarkets. A 3.5 litre is a good size for 2-4 portions of food. So you could do 4 portions and freeze half of it for another meal later, say the following week or 2.

For recipes it's probably easiest to google "slow cooker vegetarian recipes" and you'll find loads.

For a really easy veggie casserole you could just chuck in a selection of veggies and maybe some beans, along with some vegetable stock. Don't put in too much as the liquid doesn't evaporate like it does in a saucepan.

Denise

buildersdaughter

I like pot roasting cheaper joints in mine.
I think they are great for recipes with pulses in them. You do have to boil some pulses before slow cooking because of a chemical that is dangerous if not boiled for a certain length of time. You can look it up, but I solve the problem by boiling them all for 12 minutes before chucking them in the slow cooker.
Yellow split peas or mushy peas with a ham hock - lovely!

I think the real secret of low cooking is to allow for the fact that there will be no evaporation. So you deal with it by one of the following:
Ladle out the juices and boil separately until they are the right consistency.

Use recipes that need very little evaporation, such as pot roasts and pulses.
like this:
Moroccan lamb

I make this with a shoulder of lamb. The following quantities are for half a shoulder, which serves 2-3 !!!8211; or 4 with extra roast veges!
Put the slow cooker on to heat on high
Score the skin on the upper side of the joint into diamond shapes with a small sharp knife.
Rub ras-al-hanouf into the skin all over the joint (about 2 tablesp. for half a shoulder)
I don!!!8217;t use saffron at this point, I put it in the cous-cous, but you can add it if you want.

Put into the slow cooker with the following, roughly chopped:
A small chopped onion, 3 cloves garlic, 2 de-seeded chillies, a lemon.
If you want to add some dried apricots, they will absorb the juices and taste lovely.
Cook for several hours on low.

Strain the juices & pour off the fat, use the remaining juice as part of the stock when making up the cous-cous.
I usually keep the lemon and squeeze it onto the cous-cous or lamb when serving, the cooking gives it a lovely deep flavour.

The meat will fall off the bone roughly !!!8211; this is not an elegant dish!

Serve with cous-cous, roast veges and/or salad.

Alternatives:
If you want a sauce, you can chop the onion, garlic & chillies (but not the lemon) finely and add a tin of chopped tomatoes with ½ teasp. mixed herbs. You will need to skim off the fat with a spoon.

You can use this method with any herb / spice mix.

I like this one:

Squeeze or crush 3 cloves garlic, rub into the lamb with plenty of pepper
Cook with a chopped onion, lemon & several sprigs of rosemary
OR: leave out the rosemary, and mix 2 teasp. any dried herbs with the garlic.

Left over lamb: make into a risotto !!!8211; I think it!!!8217;s nice with onions, apricots or raisins & flaked almonds.
Add to cous-cous & heat in the microwave.

Use thick sauces to cook with - such as say a tin of tomatoes, with no added water. If baby steps are needed, ready made sauces can be useful to get confidence. Like this (though this cheats with a can of beans!)

chilli:
1 1/2!pounds!stew beef!cut in 2-inch chunks
1!tablespoon!chili powder
1!teaspoon!cumin
1!teaspoon!salt
1/8!teaspoon!red cayenne pepper!or regular pepper (double this if you like it hot!)
1/2!onion!diced
1 15-oz!can!kidney beans drained and rinsed
1 28-oz!can!diced tomatoes with juice

You can make this even easier by using the kidneys beans in chilli sauce
You just throw this all in and cook for about 6 hours.

Tink_04

Start simple with recipes!

Casserole is easy and cheap to make and you can!!!8217;t really go wrong. There is some great recipes around but I mostly just hung it all in.

I do however find mince pointless in the SC as you have to brown it first and it!!!8217;s not really going to get more tender in there so I don!!!8217;t bother. I find sausages go a bit mushy if left too long and chicken breast gets a bit dry but thighs etc are lovely.

Personally I think the cheap SC are just as good as a more expensive ones too (I!!!8217;ve had a few)

Good luck!

PollyWollyDoodle

Any slow cooker, they all do the same thing really. As above, I usually just bung it all in - it's great for cheap cuts of meat like pig's cheek and oxtail, add some onion, celery or carrot and stock or red wine. I also cook pulses, and any dish containing tomatoes will really benefit from long, slow cooking. You can also make a great rice pudding.

Sorry, if you're a novice cook you probably want more definite recipes than this - I think any casserole or stew recipe will work fine in a slow cooker, doesn't need special recipes.

Lolly_willowes

In all honesty I've found slow cookers can make substandard meals for me. A sausage stew had all the fat come out of the sausages so the sauce was an pool of oil and the sausages were disgusting.
I'm that annoying person who will brown onions ect before cooking and have found soups really good in a slow cooker. There's a carrot and lentil soup on good food that it delicious on good food website and I cooked one with butternut squash that is stewed with a chai tea bag and then pur!ed that was also delish.
I'm gonna experiment with Dahl at some point too.

purpleybat

ToTheBatcave wrote: »

Hello wonderful MSE'rs!!

Apologies if this has already been asked. I've been reading the forums on and off for years and have read of the wonder of slow cookers but haven't yet invested in one.

I currently live with a relative and both of our attitudes to diet and food could use improvement (think lots of convenience food and ready meals) and I'd like to take action. Unfortunately im very inexperienced with cooking and really don't enjoy it - so I'm hoping being able to chuck things in a pot and forget about it may help. Limited kitchen space, time and money also mean i'd prefer not to spend a lot of time cooking.

As a very novice cook I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for a good slow cooker to use as well as any cheap, easy veggie recipes? Im hoping to introduce these kind of meals once or twice a week to start as said relative is fairly resistant to change.

Thanks in advance! :beer:

i love my slow cooker, tho they can take a little getting used to.
mine, i think, is a tesclo one and i'm told they have a tendency to run a little on the hot side. the above advice is good, put a lot less liquid in than if you were oven or hob cooking.
i think, going by other threads, the easiest way we can give you recipes is for you tell us the kind of thing you like to eat and we can see if we have a recipe.
what i would suggest tho is to pop in charity shops when passing and keep a beady eye out for slow-cooking cookbooks, i often see them in out local ones. also there are loads of recipes online if you search for 'slow-cooker vegetarian meals'
if you are using beans (esp kidney beans) tins are easy, rinse and bung in. dried beans mostly need a hard boil and your slowy won't do this.