Slow Cooker recipes

odyssey06

ellejay wrote: »

ooh....so I need enough liquid to cover the beef?
I've a big slow cooker (6.5litre) and it's a small piece of meat.

Yep, just enough to cover what you are cooking, the liquid doesn't boil off or evaporate, it's pretty much a closed system.

Some good tips here:
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/10-top-tips-using-slow-cooker

Dizzyblonde

I never cover the meat with liquid, I throw in about a mugful and by the time it's finished cooking there's a lot more liquid in there. It's different if you're making a stew type dish.

threein99

ellejay wrote: »

Hi

I plan trying Housekeepers cut in the slow cooker.

I've only the Tesco packet of Oxtail soup, would that do instead of the tin or should I wait til I get the tin of soup?
Also, should I sear it first please.

I used the packet soup and it turned out great. Use about a pint of it. I left it on for 12 hours on low and it was lovely

jaffa20

Gaia Mother Earth wrote: »

I made this Lemon-Garlic Chicken slow cooker recipe. I didn't put too much stock in and I put a dash of cream in at the end. Ended up very tasty and the children devoured it

I'm slowly getting the hang of the slow cooker. It's a Godsend!

http://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a51690/slow-cooker-lemon-garlic-chicken-recipe/

Sounds nice. Might try today. Looks freezable too.

harr

odyssey06 wrote: »

Yep, just enough to cover what you are cooking, the liquid doesn't boil off or evaporate, it's pretty much a closed system.

Some good tips here:
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/10-top-tips-using-slow-cooker

I would never cover the joint, about half a pint of stock or water. What I do is brown the joint in pan and then make up the stock in the pan.
I think by covering it you would loose to much flavour.
After cooking then separate fat out of liquid that’s left and make a fantastic gravy.

odyssey06

harr wrote: »

I would never cover the joint, about half a pint of stock or water. What I do is brown the joint in pan and then make up the stock in the pan. I think by covering it you would loose to much flavour.
After cooking then separate fat out of liquid that’s left and make a fantastic gravy.

Interesting, I knew it was important not to put too much liquid in e.g. to fill to the brim, sounds like can err on the side of caution and reduce quantity even further.

harr

odyssey06 wrote: »

Interesting, I knew it was important not to put too much liquid in e.g. to fill to the brim, sounds like can err on the side of caution and reduce quantity even further.

Absolutely, I have cooked joints and chicken with only a hint of water covering the bottom of the pot and you would be surprised by the amount of liquid produced during cooking.
As it cooks the joint will release water and juices and that condensation has no where to evaporate so stays in the pot.
Its fine to cover the meat if doing a stew or another sauce based dish..keeping in mind the cooking process in slow cooker produces liquid unlike traditional cooking methods where liquid would evaporate.

Kat1170

The only time I would completely cover a meat joint would be when doing Bacon or Corned Beef.

rawn

Kat1170 wrote: »

The only time I would completely cover a meat joint would be when doing Bacon or Corned Beef.

I made a 3kg ham in the SC on Christmas. I placed chopped onions on the bottom, placed ham on top, poured over glaze and cooked for 8 hours on low. I didn't add any stock at all. Finished in oven with remaining glaze to crisp up, it was delish!

Gaia Mother Earth

jaffa20 wrote: »

Sounds nice. Might try today. Looks freezable too.

It was very tasty. Next time I make it, I'm going to put a leek in it to flesh it out a bit.

jay0109

threein99 wrote: »

I used the packet soup and it turned out great. Use about a pint of it. I left it on for 12 hours on low and it was lovely

I too used a packet of oxtail soup with a housekeepers cut of beef last night. Put in a bed of chopped onions,carrots, leeks and celery and sat the beef on it (didn't sear in advance).
Turned it off after 10 hours as the beef was crumbling on touch.

It's not a roast beef like you'd normally be used of, more pulled beef in texture and style. But it was very nice.

I seperated the juice from the veg and put in the fridge. The fat/gease from the meat sat at the top after it went cold and I scooped that out.
I then used the rest (with the onions put back in) as a gravy. Very tasty and not oxtail soup tasting at all

ellejay

My own efforts weren't so successful.

The beef ended up like pulled pork but very very dry and chewy.
I cooked it on low for 8 hours, with the oxtail soup.

I'll try it again, but change my supplier (Aldi.):)

Dizzyblonde

ellejay wrote: »

My own efforts weren't so successful.

The beef ended up like pulled pork but very very dry and chewy.
I cooked it on low for 8 hours, with the oxtail soup.

I'll try it again, but change my supplier (Aldi.):)

Sometimes the piece of meat is just so dry that there's nothing you can do with it.

LirW

Yeah, I got some stewing beef a while ago that I dumped into the slow cooker, it was a hopeless case, it just didn't work because the meat was too tough and dry.

blinding

Would a drop of red wine be any help for the dry meat .

Kat1170

blinding wrote: »

Would a drop of red wine be any help for the dry meat .

Couple of bottles, you won't care either way :D

LirW

It is a bit of a misconception that a slow cooker will make a tough cut into a nice tender meal. It's true that tougher cut turn out nice, given they have a certain quality. If the meat is bad, the slow cooker won't do anything to it and you'll be frustrated.

Mystery Egg

It's more about fat and connective tissue.

Housekeepers cut has none, so there's nothing to tenderise.

Buy a nicely marbled piece of meat for a tender, melt in the mouth slow cooked meal.

Glebee

Have this in the pot at the moment.
It was on the Today Show on RTE on 25th Jan. and looked lovely.
Whats the bets the kidds will turn there noses up at it.:):)

KAREN COAKLEY'S SLOW COOKED SAUSAGE AND BEAN CHILLI.

Slow Cooked Sausage and Bean Chilli Recipe

450g good quality butchers sausages,
1 onion, chopped
½ red, green and yellow pepper each half deseeded and chopped
1 chopped red chilli, seeds removed (optional)
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 can of beans, rinsed and drained, I use kidney beans, butter beans and cannellini beans
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
2-tbsp of good quality shop bought fajita mix or homemade as below
Juice of 1 lime
1 handful of coriander, chopped
Salt and pepper
Pinch of sugar
Sunflower oil
For a Homemade Fajita Mix
2-3 tsp ground Chilli Powder
2 tsp hot smoked paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic granules
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp oregano
½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp demerara sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper

1) Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the sausages to brown all over, remove and cut into bitesize chunks.
2) Place all the ingredients into a Slow Cooker, fill the tomato can 1/3rd with water and add the water to the ingredients.
3) Cook on high for 3 hrs, turn to low for another 2 hr. I usually remove the lid for the last half hour of cooking and turn it up to high to reduce the liquid and to get a nice thick consistency on the sauce.
Serving suggestions:
In a lunchtime wrap with lettuce, cheddar, sour cream and salsa.
In a Saturday night Fake Away ‘Chill Bowl’ on top of homemade Oven Fries topped with Jalapenos, melted cheese, sour cream and coriander.
Or a healthy mid-week supper with Couscous and Fat Free Fromage Frais.

McMurphy

That sounds like a really good dish Glebee will give this a shot next week when I'm ready for the next slow cooker dish.

This bit however

3 can of beans, rinsed and drained, I use kidney beans, butter beans and cannellini beans

Will mean I'll be sharing the bed with an invisible brass band that night

Glebee

Johnny Dogs wrote: »

That sounds like a really good dish Glebee will give this a shot next week when I'm ready for the next slow cooker dish.

This bit however


Will mean I'll be sharing the bed with an invisible brass band that night

Only put in one can of mixed beans:)

rawn

R.I.P Rawn's slow cooker

I broke my slow cooker (and nearly burned my house down) so am window shopping for a new one. Any suggestions? I just had a large, manual one, nothing fancy so wouldn't mind upgrading. Anyone got a Sear & Stew that they can recommend? Or one with a timer? I've seen self-stirring ones has anyone got one of them? (or see the point?)

rubadub

rawn wrote: »

Any suggestions? I just had a large, manual one, nothing fancy so wouldn't mind upgrading.

I would be looking at the instant pot or similar, especially if you do not already have a pressure cooker.

rawn

rubadub wrote: »

I would be looking at the instant pot or similar, especially if you do not already have a pressure cooker.

I HAVE NEVER WANTED ANYTHING MORE IN MY LIFE *drools*

blinding

Would an electric slow cooker be much cheaper . I have one without a Timer .

Someone told me they had one with a Timer .

Electric slow cookers are very basic and hence reasonably inexpensive .

heldel00

Mine doesnt have an timer but i just use a timer plug when i need to.
My advice would be to get a slow cooker with an aluminium pot that can be used on the hob to brown pieces of meat. Saves on the washing up!

SteM

rawn wrote: »

I HAVE NEVER WANTED ANYTHING MORE IN MY LIFE *drools*

They seem to come up on sale regularly on Amazon. We picked one up on the spur of the moment when it was on sale a while back but it didn't get used much. I'd normally do all our stews in our slower cooker, 8 hours to allow the potatoes and root vegs to cook through etc. Last week we forgot to put the stew on before we left for work so my wife broke out the instant pot and did a stew in. It took 45 minutes and was as nice as anything the slow cooker has produced. The meat was incredibly tender and the veggies were cooked perfectly. Seems that it has a slow cooker function too but I'll be using it more often for sure.

Cheshire Cat

rawn wrote: »

R.I.P Rawn's slow cooker

I broke my slow cooker (and nearly burned my house down) so am window shopping for a new one. Any suggestions? I just had a large, manual one, nothing fancy so wouldn't mind upgrading. Anyone got a Sear & Stew that they can recommend? Or one with a timer? I've seen self-stirring ones has anyone got one of them? (or see the point?)

What happened? I always thought slow cookers are fairly safe :eek:

rawn

Cheshire Cat wrote: »

rawn wrote: »

R.I.P Rawn's slow cooker

I broke my slow cooker (and nearly burned my house down) so am window shopping for a new one. Any suggestions? I just had a large, manual one, nothing fancy so wouldn't mind upgrading. Anyone got a Sear & Stew that they can recommend? Or one with a timer? I've seen self-stirring ones has anyone got one of them? (or see the point?)

What happened? I always thought slow cookers are fairly safe :eek:

They are when used correctly mild exaggeration on my part, what happened was i somehow caught the wire between the bowl and the bottom part, when it heated up it melted through the wire and tripped the trip switch.

rawn

SteM wrote: »

rawn wrote: »

I HAVE NEVER WANTED ANYTHING MORE IN MY LIFE *drools*

They seem to come up on sale regularly on Amazon. We picked one up on the spur of the moment when it was on sale a while back but it didn't get used much. I'd normally do all our stews in our slower cooker, 8 hours to allow the potatoes and root vegs to cook through etc. Last week we forgot to put the stew on before we left for work so my wife broke out the instant pot and did a stew in. It took 45 minutes and was as nice as anything the slow cooker has produced. The meat was incredibly tender and the veggies were cooked perfectly. Seems that it has a slow cooker function too but I'll be using it more often for sure.

I'm sold! Amazon seems to be sold out with no PO date, do you mind me asking how much you paid for it? There's a few on ebay but they're coming from America, would love to compare the prices