slow cookers

[Hilary B]

Do they need a 10 min boil if they are part of a sauce?

Dried beans, yes ALWAYS (ask our resident beans expert Two Sheds). Tinned ones no. The temperature in a slow cooker is not sufficient to cook out the toxins present in dried beans. Unless I've misunderstood, the same applies if you have frozen home-grown ones that had to be harvested short of being dried.

[Hilary B]

I think you just put the veg at the bottom ..? Mind you, I just make sure I chop them all up fairly finely and I don't need to worry about what goes where in the pot.

The one thing I DON'T like done in a slow cooker is mince. I've tried it a couple of times and the texture was just really weird - it was like it didn't break up at all and came out in big lumps. It may have been something I did or didn't do but ugh, it was disgusting, really disgusting.

I do stews and casseroles a lot in it ... If you get low cost stewing steak and do it in the slow cooker it comes out an absolute treat.

Also, people seem to always be saying you need to brown the meat. One morning when I was in a rush to get to work I thought stuff it, I'm not going to bother browing it. And you know what - I couldn't tell the difference! So I never bother now.

I got a fairly large volume slow cooker for a wedding present and it's great for batch cooking for the freezer.

The way to avoid mince being lumpy is... EITHER 'brown' the mince first, breaking it up meanwhile, OR stir mince and liquid together until it is sort of weird soupy texture, BEFORE starting to heat it all.
I do pot roasts occasionally, chilli or curry more often, and 'one pot' mealsin winter. You can pot-roast Brisket quite nicely.
There usually IS some evaporation, but much slower than in other ways of cooking.
If you only have a 'low' setting, it pays to add liquid hot, unless you intend to cook the stuff for 10 hours or more, but no need to heat anything else before adding.
Otherwise, bung it all in cold, use 'high' for as long as you can, up to maybe half-an-hour (we tend to turn it down just before setting off for work), then low until it's done.
If you want to include spuds in a casserole (as we often do), they are much quicker to cook than carrots etc. I add them later and turn to 'high' for an hour or so.

[di]

So are you all adding cold water/liquids at the start???...I always thought that although the raw solid ingredients are cold that the liquid you're cooking in should be hot?

[cupcake]

This is my favourite book


Slow Cooking Curries and Spicy Dishes Slow Cooking Slow Cooking: Amazon.co.uk: Carolyn Humphries: Books

There is a whole series of them.

[taff]

So are you all adding cold water/liquids at the start???...I always thought that although the raw solid ingredients are cold that the liquid you're cooking in should be hot?

you're just giving it a head start on warming up.
I just bung it all in cold, it sits on the top for 12 hours when I'm work so I reckon thats long enough for anything to cook and get to temperature.

[Glutton4...]

With many recipes, you can remove the solids, and put the liquid into a saucepan to reduce by half, then combine them again before serving. It takes a little time, but it is worth the effort. The alternative is to put a thickening agent in, but, personally, I don't like to do that. You can put less liquid in, but the solids that aren't covered may overcook and dry out.

Jeeeez, I almost sound like I know what I'm talking about!

[stella]

I hope you do G4 cause I am writing this down, now take fluids out.........