Using a slow cooker - techniques and tips

arkonite_babe

I did a curry/chilli/beef thingy in the slow cooker yesterday. Had it on high for 4 hrs then put it to low just to keep warm until it was needed. Usually anything I cook in SC get approx 8 hrs as I leave it set on a timer cos I'm at work.

MrsB_2

I cook pretty much anything I do in the SC for about 8 hours on low. No disasters so far

black-saturn

I made a shepherds pie in mine the other day. It was on for about 4 hours and turned out really lovely. I don't brown the mine beforehand though, just throw it in there :rotfl:

MATH

Brown the mince first to run off most of the fat or your bol sauce will be very greasy. The easiest way to do this is to put the mince in a large bowl and micro for 8-10mins on high breaking up with a fork every few minutes. When all the mince has changed colour drain off the fat and put in the slo-cooker. I cook mince as I do everything else 6-8hrs on high or 8-10 on low.HTH

tiff

Which goes to prove Squeakys point lol, the length of time can be variable, its up to you

squeaky

There are too many variables - pot size, how full it is, how many ingredients are cool and how many hot when added... pre heating... make and model...

..and while it's difficult to overcook things in a slow cooker it can be done - especially with these new fangled ones and their higher power levels - so using a plug in timer to keep the cooking time reasonably close to whatever your manual (or the on line recipe) suggests is a good idea. With practice you'll get to judge for yourself how much extra or less time you'll give recipes to suit your own taste.

Currys, among others, do these timers for less than a fiver.

tootles_2

Thanks for the replies chapsesses.... yes I do have mixed herbs in...... I brown off the onions, put them on one side, then slam in the mince, once the fat has run I tip the whole lot into a sieve and strain ofrf the fat into a wide necked jar, press down to make sure as much of the fat is out as possible and them back in the pan, add red wine, stock cube and garlic etc, and I used to then bring it to boiling point and turn it down and cook until the wine was gone. Today when I drained the fat off I put the mince back in the pan with the wine and stock cube, when I had reduced the wine a bit I threw it all into the crock pot which is now about 1/4 full...... will set the timer for about 5 hours on low and see what its like in the morning when I get up. Its for supper tomorrow night, we have to be out for most of the day, so a quick supper was called for. I will use half of it and put the rest in the freezer against another day.

black-saturn

I just found this delicious recipe which has a casserole variation at the bottom:

Pot Cooked Macaroni and Beef

Curry_Queen

tiff wrote:

Which goes to prove Squeakys point lol, the length of time can be variable, its up to you

It also depends on the size and type of slow-cooker you have. I've got the 6.5l MR that quite a few of us here have (think we completely cleared out Tesco, Argos and Amazon at one point earlier in the year ) and this one has a higher wattage than most - 330W - so tends to cook things quicker!

I find 6 hrs on low is adequate for most meals - i.e. whole chicken, leg of lamb or half-to-three-quarter pot full of chilli/stew/casserole etc - usually containing approx 2lbs meat with veggies etc. Depending on the liquid content of the meal I could push it to 8 hours, but with thicker sauces it might start to catch after this long.

This is where some of the older/smaller slow cookers have the advantage of being lower wattage and capable of being left 8-12 hours without any problem at all, but they lack the capacity for bulk cooking. It's a case of what suits people best really

Curry_Queen

tootles wrote:

I brown off the onions, put them on one side, then slam in the mince, once the fat has run I tip the whole lot into a sieve and strain ofrf the fat into a wide necked jar, press down to make sure as much of the fat is out as possible and them back in the pan,

Can I just say here that if you're using a decent quality mince then you can skip this process because there should be very little excess fat in it, and the little that there is actually adds to the flavour, and we do need a certain amount of fat in our diet

Draining mince after browning, unless it's excessively fatty, loses all the essential juices and flavour too which is what enhances the flavour of the dish