Slow Cooker

Pollycat

The veg should be ok.
However, a more MSE tip would be to buy unprepared veg.
If you have half a swede, carrots, parsnips, leeks left over you could do a veg soup in the slow cooker.
I've never used stock pots.
I use Knorr or Tesco stock tablets, I find Oxo too strong tasting.
I just make sure the liquid covers the meat & veg.
I find adding flour before you set it off helps to reduce the liquid.

P933alilli

Thanks again! I'm very inexperienced regarding cooking anything and wouldnt know how to braise or brown the meat beforehand. The meat may well be just on the tough side, diced stewing steak, but my main concern is avoiding food poisoning. I have a food thermometer and wondered what the temperature should reach inside the meat itself?
  Anyway things i'm considering in future!

a) buy individual carrots/turnips & onion and dice them myself rather than buying mixed bags of pre diced!
b) using flour, although it states in the instructions that it isnt strictly necessary. How much flour do i need to sprinkle on?
c) mixing a knorr stock cube in with some chopped tomatoes/ tomato sauce and putting on top of the meat.
d) making sure i get a ratio of 250g/200g veg/meat in case the higher % of veg 'drowns out' the beef when cooking.

joedenise

To flour the meat I add a heaped Tablespoon of flour to a plastic bag and then put the meat in and seal it and then shake the bag around a bit to coat the meat before adding to the SC; although if you are only using 200g that will probably be too much.  I have a larger SC and tend to use at least double that amount as I'm making a lot of portions for the freezer and not just enough for a single meal for the 2 of us.

Farway

All the previous replies, and I'm a bung it all in raw including a crumbled OXO and tablespoon of flour, give it a stir during which the flour goes into lumps but carry on regardless because come the end it's all stewed down.

I normally give it a stir after a few hours just in case anything is sticking or not dissolving

OP Have a look on YouTube, loads of slow cooker stuff on there

bouicca21

Tomato purée, paste or actual tomatoes rather than tomato sauce!

bouicca21

Oh, and as for food poisoning, no need for food thermometer when dealing with stews. If the meat were undercooked, which seems most unlikely after hours in a slow cooker, you’d see blood when you cut into it.  If it’s not red/pink, it’s cooked.

goldfinches

I can't help you with your questions about the beef as I've never cooked it in a slow cooker myself but wondered if this recipe, which has a video, might be helpful as it seems to be almost the same as the one you're making.
Slow cooker beef stew with dumplings - Slow Cooker Recipes (goodhousekeeping.com)

katkin

I've found a fuller slow cooker seems to cook better. Have you considered making say double quantities and freezing the extra for another time? Always great to have a home cooked "ready meal" in stock for those nights when you can't be bothered cooking from scratch.

You can buy "cook in bags" and do 2 dishes at a time, also hardly any cleaning required if using bags. I got some free and they were handy, meant i could prep extra meals at the one time and utilise the full capacity of the slow cooker. 

P933alilli

Thanks again for the replies! The beef stu with dumplings looks delicious but they make it look so easy! Maybe i would be better using braising steak rather than stewing steak?
   The cook in bags are a great idea, can they be bought from any supermarket? 
  

Frugalista

Collyflower1 said:

   The cook in bags are a great idea, can they be bought from any supermarket? 
  

I've seen them in Home bargains and Aldi.