General Chat

Many thanks for advice and recipes. Keep coming please:-) BCXX

I have steam bags so I put the chopped veg in one and pop it in the microwave for one and a half mins, then transfer to the slow cooker, works every time with very little effort. a nice way to do a ham is if it is salty either soak overnight or boil in water for a few mins, I did a unsmoked one, so just put it in, added unsweetened apple juice about halfway up the ham, set the cooker on high for an hour then on low it took about 8 hours in all, although you could put it in over night, we like it later cold with salad or chips.... it is so good.....

Jean x

I put my veges in with the meat at the start- layering it and then give it a stir later on. The only think I do later in the last hour or so is thicken the casserole or maybe add a scone mixture on top like dumplings.

It makes macaroni cheese and lasagne really well.

It can also be great to take to parties - everyone arrives with something that has to go in the oven and the oven is too full so take along the slow cooker or crockpot and plug it in to keep warm till supper time and it is a serving dish as well.

Persey

Made a gorgeous rice pudding in mine yesterday, going to try a bread and butter pudding next week.

Boracic lint at the moment so am trying to use up all of my store cupboard ingrediants.

Usually use it just for stews and casseroles etc but now going for old fashioned puddings.

Yes Ann.start off on low, then high......for a couple of hours then turn it back down when veg goes in
well diced veg cooks ok from frozen, usually leave it till a couple of hours before its due to be finished before dropping the veg in....I like the veg NOT mushy.......overall cooking time about 6 hours..

dumplings, I make in batches and freeze them...........about 20 mm - 25 mm dia.about 10 go in a stew

ours was £10 from tesco last year...
Bob

Mine was a £1 from a boot sale. best £1 i ever spent.

I also got my bread maker for £2.

Have alot of them coming up on freecycle as well

There went up quick in tesco. i think asda were doing them as well at the prise. But even at £15 still a good buy.

Hazelx

Hazel - mine's one of the £10 Tesco slow cookers - they're £15 now!

Not so much a recipe - more a 'what have I got in the cupboard'!

Maggie's ad-hoc chicken broth:
I took most of the chicken off the carcass, then boiled the carcass.
Cooked some barley (which I love).
Let the boiled carcass cool, then removed as much meat as I could, and strained the liquid into the slow cooker.
Added meat, barley, diced potato, carrot & parsnip - and any other veggie lying around - I think I added cauliflower bits too - to the liquid, added a bay leaf & some herbs, plus a chicken oxo cube, turned cooker to hot and left!

After a while - when the veggies were soft - I 'liquidised' the mixture using a hand thingy - the amount you pulverise it depends on taste - and had some of it for lunch.

You could add white wine - or anything!!
I should imagine a dash of worcester sauce would enhance it too.

maggie

Tesco were doing one for £10 the other week as my mate got one.

I put mine on be for i go out by time get home its all ready for me,

Cut veg up as you would if makeing it go inot oven, i put meat in first, then root veg in next. I like pearl barley in mine as well if you use that put it in first. Then few oxo's. Dont fill it to top.

I put mine on auto if going out. high if staying in.

My daugther said that in The Works shop have some good books for slow cookers in there. And cheap as well.


Good luck and enjoy

Hazelx.

P.S I will try and find my recipe book i got with mine and put some on here for you. I know its in a box in the shed some where as i moved here in June and still have boxes to find where to put the things. As you do

Ann, I find that the veg don't cook very good from raw, even when I cut them in tiny pieces. So I always part cook the veg before putting them in. I also like to make a rice pudding in mine, I can never seem to get it right when I cook it in the oven.

msc, I found that even cutting the veg into tiny pieces, they still took a very long time to cook. As you say, the meat is lovely and tender, even the cheaper cuts of meat. Sallie.

hi ann if you cut veg smaller the normal they will cook ok. its great for cooking joints loverly and tender. msc

Hmmmm that DOES look half decent, thank you Susan,,,,I was looking at the Breville which has been reduced at Argos but the Tesco one looks the same....

*bites fingernails.....

choices choices.....

lol BCXX

BC

Tesco is doing a nice looking slow cooker for an amazing price of 14-99

sorry Ann....I just tend to throw things in and let it cook.. meat ends up really tender.

Thanks Bob, do you find the veg cooks properly, when I tried it from raw it didn't so I part cook it now. Do you cook it all the time on low?

we generally do a bog standard casserole or stew in ours.....(its a 3.5 litre pot).we are not very adventurous in our recipes. although I tend to put anything in......'er indoors is a bit stuck in er ways......we just had a stew, steak n kidney and liver, potatoes barley parsnip some swede, turnip, carrot, peas, and my dumplings I make with flour, some butter rubbed in and put some sage n onion stuffing mix in em......oh! some lea n perrin, and a dash of curry powder.....oxo mixed with a bit of cornflour..... and keep topping up the liquid as it all thickens

Hmm!! think thats it!! what we dont eat in one go, goes in the freezer......

Bob

Maggie can you tell us the recipe for the chicken broth.

I did a lovely chicken broth in mine, from the carcass of a chicken!
Lovely for boiling bacon, and cheap lamb cuts.

Thanks Msc

As it is now a bit late for me I will add some recipes tomorrow.

hi ann if you google crockpots there are some recieps on there will give you a few idear,s msc