Slowcooker - advice and recipes??

[Winged one]

Folks, I am toying with the idea of getting a slow cooker - with the intention of turning on dinner in the morning when we leave for work (7.30am) and eating it when we get home (approx 6pm). Dinners for 3 people.

Firstly - would this work with those kind of timings?

Secondly - is there any brand/model you'd recommend, or specific features to look for?

Thirdly - what kind of recipes could I use? (I presume it involves liquid in all recipes) - do you have some nice stews, curries, etc - what kind of meats (specific joints etc) should I look for, or mixes to make up (I am happy to make mixes from scratch- especially if I can make it the night before)? What veg works well or not?

Basically, as a slowcooker virgin, with not a lot of time and wanting to eat better in a hurry when we get in at night, this sounds like a reasonable idea but my reasonable ideas are not always the best when transferred to reality. So any advice and tips would be VERY gratefully received!
Wings

[Alison]

Not sure what type mine is, I inherited it (literally) off my nan. It may be a Teefal and is probably about the right size for cooking for 4 people with a large white pan with pyrex lid which can also be used on the hob or oven. I regularly use it in winter while I'm at work. Don't really follow recipes but will, for example, take some shin of beef, roll it in seasoned flour. Put it in the dish with a chopped onion, maybe some carrots, spuds etc and stock to cover and then leave it on low all day. Come it to a tea that's already done. A lot of the recipes that came with it call for browing and all sorts but I haven't got the time in the morning and haven't found any problems.

Basically, any meats that need a long caserole type cooking are good and I also tend to cook red cabbage in there also. Most of my recipes call for about 8 hours cooking but there isn't really any problem with them being in for longer, especially as I only use the low setting (note this could be a problem with chicken as you'd want to heat it up quickly to avoid nasties) rather than the high one for the first half hour. That reminds me, think that some models will auto switch from a high initial heat to a lower main cook heat.

Sorry for the confused message, hope you get what I mean!

[shirlthegirl43]

In response:

Firstly - yes - ideal

Secondly - mine is a Morphy Richards, they are much of a muchness I think, just make sure it will hold a chicken comfortably.

There are lots of recipes on here for slow cookers or there are lots of cook books for crock pots etc. I did lamb shanks in mine the other day - basically I cut up some spuds, carrots, turnip and onions, browned the lamb a little and put it on the veg, covered it all halfway with veg stock and red wine and seasoned with oregano and rosemary with some black pepper. Put it on high until the liquid started to boil then turned to low and left for hours and hours. The lamb fell off the bones and Madmax said it was scrummy (I don't eat lamb). You will soon get the hang of it and make up your own recipes.

[HeyWayne]

I'm not a big fan of stews per se, everything always seems to just taste of the same thing, but using a slow cooker should not just be limited to stews. It is handy though - as previously mentioned slow cooked lamb is to die for.

Chickens - whilst they don't get the golden colouring, do taste bladdy lovely.

[Hilary B]

I do chilli in the slow cooker (mine is one of the sort that goes from 'hi' to 'lo' automatically, but I don't often use it), and anything that can be cooked in liquid is suitable. Rolled Brisket of beef will 'potroast', 'shin' makes a lovely stew.
Potatoes may SOMETIMES get overdone. You can do some sorts of risotto (the sticky ones), once you get used to the machine.
The basic rule is, put it all in, turn on, and go to work! We tend to set the thing going before breakfast, and turn it down just before leaving the house, whether it is 'up to heat' or not. With the longer cooking time, you probably won't need to.
My favourite slow-cooker potroast is whole oxheart (can't often get one) stuffed with a ricey stuffing (made the evening before) and with large chunks of carrot, onion, swede etc in the pot. It always pays to add a bit of red wine to beefy meals (unless they are too spicey).
If you want to adapt a curry recipe, lots of them require the spices to be pre-roasted, but you can do this in advance. Dry-fry the spices, as hot as you dare until the house smells deliciously of them, then let them cool and store (not too long, a week is fine) in a little air-tight jar until wanted.

[Glutton4...]

My advice is get one - they are fab. I'm a very novice cook - married a Chef, it was easier However, I had a small slow-cooker given to me as a house warming present by a friend years ago when I was single, and I (then we) used it until it died. We really missed it, so my folks bought us a larger one for Crimbo a few years ago. It's the type with the brown rib-sided pot and a Hi/Lo/Auto switch on the front.

Anyway, just about any meat recipe can be adapted to suit, you may have to remove the liquid and reduce it down in a pan before serving, with some but not all recipes, especially if you like a thicker sauce. If in a hurry, I don't always bother to brown the meat first, just chuck in a load of snake and pygmy with some chopped carrots, leeks, onions or whatever, a can of beer/few glugs of vino and hey-presto!

I even used to use mine for chicken portions covered in a jar of 'chicken tonight' or other slime, sorry sauce in the days when I would eat processed food.

If you buy one new, you get a great little recipe book with it, if you buy one from your local car-boot and there's no book, just ask on here and I'm sure you will be flooded with enough recipes you won't have to repeat a meal for a whole year!

Have fun experimenting.

G4...X

[bloom]

I can't advice as to make and model but you can do pretty much anything, Curry, Chilli, Bolgnase, Casarole, Stew, sausage-onion and gravy, basically you throw a whole load so stuff in it and let it do its magic x

[Winged one]

Thanks guys, that's great. I think you've all managed to persuade me that, yes, it would be a good idea.

Will work on persuading DH over the weekend.....

[Hilary B]

My advice is get one - they are fab. I'm a very novice cook - married a Chef, it was easier However, I had a small slow-cooker given to me as a house warming present by a friend years ago when I was single, and I (then we) used it until it died. We really missed it, so my folks bought us a larger one for Crimbo a few years ago. It's the type with the brown rib-sided pot and a Hi/Lo/Auto switch on the front.

Anyway, just about any meat recipe can be adapted to suit, you may have to remove the liquid and reduce it down in a pan before serving, with some but not all recipes, especially if you like a thicker sauce. If in a hurry, I don't always bother to brown the meat first, just chuck in a load of snake and pygmy with some chopped carrots, leeks, onions or whatever, a can of beer/few glugs of vino and hey-presto!

I even used to use mine for chicken portions covered in a jar of 'chicken tonight' or other slime, sorry sauce in the days when I would eat processed food.

If you buy one new, you get a great little recipe book with it, if you buy one from your local car-boot and there's no book, just ask on here and I'm sure you will be flooded with enough recipes you won't have to repeat a meal for a whole year!

Have fun experimenting.

G4...X

Yeah, I have been known to use 'pre-mixed' sauces (Patak's curry sauces most often, they are rather better than the average 'cook-in sauce') in the slow cooker. I always add veg as well as the meat.
For the laziest chillli in the world (for 2 greedy types, should do 3 with normal appetites)
1 tin toms
1 tin kidneybeans (canned in water, no sugar or salt) drained and rinsed
1 onion chopped
garlic to taste (I use about 3 cloves) finely chopped
½lb mince (the leanest you can get)
chilli flavouring (fresh ones if you've got them, I usually haven't so I use half-a-teaspoon of tabasco)
Put it all in the slowcooker, turn on, and let it cook all day.
Takes about 3 hours on 'high' or 6-8 on 'low'
I usually put it into 'wraps' because that is how my OH prefers, but rice or crusty bread work pretty well too.

If you add about 100ml (dry measure) Bulgar, and 200ml water, it will serve 4 and be lower in fat. You would need to adjust the chilli content, but that is entirely a matter of personal preference anyway.

[nelliegemini]

Oooh yes, get one. I've had mine a fortnight or so (£9.99, yes £9.99 at Tescos). There are only two of us and I can cook for two, or four and freeze half.

So far we have cooked a whole chicken, had a gorgeous melting oxtail, skirt of beef, Moroccan lamb - lovely tender meat and just right root veg.

I've bought a cook book (at £9.99 you don't get a recipe leaflet!), my local small town bookshop had three different ones. You can also use it to cook puds.

My butcher is entering into the fun, I said I would need beef cheeks soon and he said 'bring it on'.

Most recipes seem to be all day at low, or 4/5 hours at high.

[Hilary B]

OK tonight we had a slow-cooker supper for the second night in a row.
Yesterday was beef stew: braising steak, onion, carrot, swede, potato all cut to about an inch cubes. A bit of red wine, a couple of chopped garlic cloves, a tin of tomatoes, and water to cover all the veg etc. 6 hours, but with a bit extra water would not have spoiled for rather longer.
Tonight we had 'almost a cassoulet'. Haricot beans (except there weren't any in my cupboard so I used chick-peas) soaked overnight, 10 mins fast boil, in the pot. Large onion, quartered. I got a 'pork hock' cheap in the supermarket. There was some 'needs using up' chorizo in the fridge. Enough veg stock to nearly-cover the meat (from a stock cube, added hot). A drop of wine because there was the last half-glass from a bottle sitting around. A couple of carrots, and a few spuds, BIG pieces so they wouldn't cook too fast. 8 hours low heat. To serve, I lifted the pork joint out, cut off the lean meat and put back in the pot, then shared out onto deep plates.
The dogs got the stewed-to-crumbling bones and the skin from the pork.
Slow-cooker cookery is about making it easy!

[bobleponge]

They are just brilliant at this time of year especially. Cold days and nights, you get in and the house is full of a wonderful smell, and the food is fantastic. I have a smallish one, thinks its Morphy Richards but so old any form of marking has long gone, and I must have used it hundreds of times. Lamb/mutton is just devine if cooked for hours and hours.
If you havent persaude OH yet, get persuading.

[Kayt]

I've had mine for about 20 years and when I left the ex made sure it came with me!! Have cooked allsorts in it including porridge overnight when the kids were younger. It made life so much easier in the mornings as 2 of them went off on paper-rounds early and had a dish before they went then more when they came back aswell as me and the little one having ours whilst they were out! My parents who are both in their 80s have just got one and Dad is loving it, and this is the man who could barely boil an egg until Mum became ill over the last couple of years.

[Alison]

Had red cabbage in it last night. Threw half a large shredded cabbage, a chopped onion and a sliced cooking apple in along with a table spoon of brown sugar and another one of cider vinegar, seasoning and a few mustard seeds (meant to be ground cloves but had run out) and left it all day. When I came back from the lottie last night it was lovely and soft and went lovely with a bit of tuna and some cous cous which only took a few mintues. Also, loads left so four more portions are now in the freezer for future use.

[Jay Bee]

Buy big I guess is a good approach. You can cater for more people if you are having friends round, rather than buy small and kick yourself later. If you need to make a smaller meal you can but not so easy in reverse

Can't remember how long I left it in there for (probably not all day), but couple of years ago when my cooker oven was capoot I used the slow cooker quite a bit and I could just fit a large leg of lamb in there and it was lovely and melt off the bone scenario.

I seem to use it mainly atm for making stock by putting chicken carcasses in over night, (I can fit four in there in one go). I do use it to do up the plucks for the dog (if you are squeamish and dont know best probably not to ask). But yep stews can't beat it - all you have to do is make your dumplings when you get home and pop them in there for a short while and bobs your uncle! Lovely smell to come home to too!