General Chat

glad it was a succes , Ann
Try Minestrone soup or make stock overnight with left over bones,
I nearly put --your old bones --LOL
Ros xx

I have a very basic slow cooker with just a high and a low setting but the principle is the same. If simple rules are followed it works very well.

All food MUST be piping hot when put into the pot. I would get it hot in a large saucepan first.
Once added to the slowcooker my recipe book tells me to put it on high for about half an hour before turning to low for the rest of the cooking period.

It will not spoil if left in for an extra couple of hours but every time you open the lid it will lower the temperature so you'd need to switch to high setting for a short time to bring it back up.

This means a meal prepared in the morning could be shared by different people if they have different meal times so long as the earlier ones put the lid back on and put it on high setting for a short while (10 minutes perhaps).

A slow cooker is the modern version of a Haybox
http://www.inthewake.org/b1cooking.html
http://www.selfsufficientish.com/hayboxcooker.htm

I was once on a Girlguiding weekend and another Guider was doing the cooking for a group. She'd brought along 2 slow cookers and (despite my telling her that I always made sure the food was hot before going in) she said it would be all right! She put loads of meat and veg on and left them all day but the food was cold when she put it in.

When we got back to the hut tired and hungry after a day out narrowboating the food in the slowcookers looked much the same as when it went in and the vegetables were still firm! We had to quickly improvise.

So the rules are:
Put food in hot
On high for half hour or so then low till needed.
No peeping and replace lid and reheat for short while if lid opened.

Sue
x

i use oxtail soup with meat veg and patatoes cook it all day it's lovely.

Rosemary, i did turn it up to high for the last 40 minutes.

I am going to try chicken breast tomorrow.

ann
glos

Glad to hear it worked! What are you going to try tomorrow?

If at first you don't succeed.

Well the meat was lovely, the carrots which were diced really small and the potatoes thinly sliced were not quite cooked. so next time will add on another hour or two.

Ann
Glos

If I do a piece of meat I don`t cover it with liquid but I know other recipes say the opposite , there is lovely juice comes off the meat joint to make gravy.
Ros xx

Mine emphasises that all food must be covered with the liquid.

Mine also says the crock pot is not suitable to use in the microwave, oven or freezer.

Ann
Glos

Hi Ann,
I've had a slo cooker for over 20 years and mine is high, auto or low, I've cooked stuff on high for up to 10 hours and its been fine, however my sons just got a basic one with high or low(the low is just for keeping things warm) - his food dried out and welded to the bottom after about 6 hours!!. They all vary, but they're worth the effort

I always stick my slo-cooker crock in the microwave for about fifteen minutes before transferring it to the slow cooker

my daughter uses hers most of the time,,its a 6ltr one,so can cook and freeze,,,,,,

pot roasts,
casserols,
chilli ,
rice puddings,
rice,
mince&onions,
currys,
chicken portions,or other chicken dishes,
Hams,
soups,
,and lots more stuff,,,,,,,


stew and dumplings,,the dumplings come out great,!

thanks again. looked at that site there are some good recipes which I have made a note of.

Ann
Glos

Might be a good Idea to unify the size of the potatoes as well.What I do when going out for the day is,make it up like a Casserole,switch it on low,and when we get back its done.**M**.

thank you. I re-read the instruction book and buried among other things it says the recipes in the book are for medium setting so I have put it on medium for 5 hours, chopped vef and sliced charlotte potatoes under diced lean pork. Should be OK, if not cooked by 7 it will go into another dish into microwave Lol!!

As you say trial and error.

claire thank you will check that site.

Ann
Glos

Thanks Susan and Brenda will give it a go probably didn't read the book when I got it lol!

Norah

A tip I had,when I first had my slow cooker,was put things like carrots,and potatoes,in the bottom of the cooker,and place meat on top,so I have always done it like that,and no problems!

Ann ,
i have just found my slow cook book
it says ....
Low setting is for long , slow cooking and is useful when all day cooking is required.
High setting is for.. the most useful when you want the benifit of tenderisation that slow cooking brings without extremely long cooking times .
dont know if this will help or not .
Hazelx

Nolls - I think most recipes say put the veg at the bottom of the pot, the meat on top. Because root veg take longer to cook, by being at the bottom, they get the most heat.

Cooking it for longer will only make the meat more tender - and as long as you dont keep taking off the lid, it wont dry out.

Only time I worry about cooking something too long is when it is something like liver or sausages - they just disintigrate into the liquid. lol

I dont know why the manufacturers complicate things by giving different settings. lol The ones I have had only had one setting - and the things I wanted to cook needed low and slow.

Oh Just a question to everyone I have found the potatoes don't seem to get cooked so well so never do them on the sc. is it me ??

Norah