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Why does every recipe I try end in the meat being so tough?? Can my slow cooker be too hot?
I'm not sure if I'm getting a little confused with the principles of slow cooking. I thought you cooked it for hours over a steady heat but everything I seem to cook on the LOW setting on my slow cooker bubbles furiously and ends up being way to tough.
Is the idea to cook the meat on a more lively simmer for a long period to tenderise the meat? or to keep it on a very low temp after it has been brought to the boil?

Maybe your slow cooker is broken? Mine doesn't bubble!

I find mine does the same, but if you leave it to cook for longer then the meat softens to that fall apart consistency.

I generally cook a meaty casserole type dish for about 6-8 hours on low.

What meat are you using?

On a low heat it should just simmer for hours. Mine might produce a few bubbles but it would never bubble over so I reckon yours is probably broken (sorry).

What I tend to do is fry the meat first so that it's browned all over, then put it in the slow cooker with onions, veg etc and enough sauce to fill it over halfway. That will go on a high setting for around half an hour and then turned down to low and cooked for as long as possible but no less than 3 hours if it's beef you are cooking and possibly as long as 6 or 7 hours.

If your slow cooker is broken, put it all in the casserole dish anyway, cover tightly with tin foil and put into oven at about 100 degrees. Then go to shop and buy new one for around £15.

Thanks for the advice. I did Lamb tonight and it was much much better. I think I was browning the meat for far too long in the pan first. I didn't even put the slow cooker on high this time. I left it on low for about 5-6 hours and it was beautifully tender this evening.

I think I've cracked it this time I do think my slow cooker is too hot though

Honestly, I don't brown now. It is too much of a bloody faff. Give it a try and see what you think. Also cheaper cuts work better so don't feel like you need to substitute chuck steak with rump, or pork shoulder with loin. Mine (Morphy Richards) bubbles on high, but we are talking teeny bubbles, albeit lots of them.

Stick to the front end of the animal Tetty - shoulder of owt is good in the SC I find. I found with my SC, once I cracked it, it was worth it's weight in gold. Just keep making leetle adjustments. I found it helpful to begin with to use it at the weekend when I could keep more of an eye on things (not the point, I know but still). Once I could judge how hot/simmering mine was, then I was much happier just leaving the bloody thing to its own devices.

Thanks Caveman, will see how things go for the next few meals. I think as mine is a large SC, that sometimes I don't have enough in there and that's why it bubbles.