timer for the slow cooker?

YORKSHIRELASS

I would get rid of it and buy a new one - ours was £15 from T@sco for a big 3L one.

Curry went in this morning at 8am, left on low all day, just eaten it now - piping hot and perfectly cooked.

JustAnotherSaver

Yes there's a timer with it. I don't actually use it myself, my wife does I just eat the contents :rotfl:

Yes the food is cooked. It'll probably be easier if i find the make-model.

Right, it's a Morphy Richards slow cooker & the model is 460005 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Morphy-Richards-Accents-460005-Digital/dp/B00J3R3YUE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1521149896&sr=8-1&keywords=morphy+richards+460005 we got ours from Currys

It's not that old, only about a year or two at the most & to be honest we don't use it a great deal. My wife doesn't really like slow cooker meals and i find the having to re-heat thing a bit annoying. I'd have more slow cooker meals if it was hot when i got home.

elsien

I use a timer with mine - one of those that you use to turn lamps on and off when you go on holiday. Mine is only a couple of years old but the only setting are low, high and auto. It doesn't turn itself off. If it's just meat it's ok but if there's veggies in and it's on all day then they're far too soggy by the time I get home.
So I set the timer to come on lunchtimeish so it's cooked just right by the time I'm ready to eat.

buildersdaughter

I've had a look at it, and *think* the problem may be that your wife is following the instructions on timing (at 7.30am) and it is either switching off, or the 'keep warm' function isn't working.
So it seems that you either can't be @rs*d and abandon it, or one of you tackles it over the weekends when you are around and can keep an eye on what it is doing.
The manufacturers always want you to think it is simple, but like any piece of equipment, you need to get to know its quirks and limitations.
You say that your wife doesn't much like slow cooker meals - that may mean she doesn't want to put the energy into sorting out best recipes and best ways to do things. Of course I don't want to comment on your domestic arrangements and division of labour, but chucking things in a slow cooker at 07.30 is taxing enough, and if you feel no enthusiasm, pretty hard to fiddle and get just right.
Here is a recipe that you can assemble the night before, keep in the fridge and throw in the slow cooker in the morning:
about 350g.!!stewing beef!cut in 2-inch chunks
1!tablespoon!chili powder
1!teaspoon!cumin
1 teaspoon mixed herbs
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 14-oz!can!diced tomatoes with juice

The recipe says put on auto for 5-6 hours, I have put on auto and left it for 11 (with my old cooker) and it was fine. You might want to juggle with quantities, according to taste.

This is another one that you can prepare the night before:
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.

I can only apologise for the ! that insert themselves, but honestly, am only willing to cut-and-paste, not type from scratch!

JustAnotherSaver

The keep warm thing - it depends on what your take of 'warm' is. I mean, at the end of the 2 hours (i think it is) keep warm function - the food is warmer than stone cold like it'd be if it came out of the fridge but it's not what i'd personally call warm.

As for the 7:30 thing, all food is/was prepped the night before. Generally it was just chicken/beef casseroles. The morning would be just a case of turn it on.

I do remember us having a lot of trouble early on with water content. We did fajitas in there & the taste & texture of the meat was really nice .....BUT there was just so much juice that it was dripping out of the wraps. We had to stop having them that way. That's drifting off topic anyway.

IIRC the cooker goes on for an 8 hour cook as per the timer on the cooker itself. I'd need to look to see if this could be extended or not.
Since putting it on at 7:30am leaves it cold for us coming back, i was wondering about one of those plug in timer delay things and have it come on at say 10am-11am by which time the 8hours will be up at 6pm-7pm and *should* be good temperature right for us walking through the door as we get home from work.

buildersdaughter

Yes, if you're not heating it up at 7am, then it's fine to set the timer for a few hours later. As for the fjita sauce - reduce the liquid content by boiling the juice away, or using thicker tomato sauce.

JustAnotherSaver

Since i posted it quite late last night i had the chance to speak to my wife about this today & asked since i found it has a 10 hour max on the low heat setting - why she sets it at 8 hours.

She said it's because a) some of the recipes/guides state 8 hours for the cook and b) she doesn't want to burn it or c) make it all dry out.

TensandUnits

It's almost impossible to burn things in a slow cooker, or for them to dry out, so she shouldn't worry about that

Toomuchdebt

I agree...as we speak I have had a beef casserole in the slow cooker for 16 hours and it's fine.I've literally just added potatoes to it and will let it carry on until it's ready to eat.

pamsdish

My sister visits me every month or so, 160 miles away, I always try to cook something we enjoyed as children, her husband is VERY picky so she has given up, our favourite is pork hock with root veggies and red lentils, I always start this about 24 hours before, first the hock then add the veg about 6/8 hrs later in the stock created, on low the whole time, lentils about 4 hrs before eating, finishing about 10 mins before with a generous handful of thyme.