To throw my slow cooker under a big bUs

[hellokittymania]

I was trying to make steak teriyaki, I marinated the steak for one hour in the teriyaki sauce and then put it in the slow cooker. It's totally tasteless and I have no idea what to do with it now. Can I just put more sauce on it? How do you cook meat in the slow cooker without it turning out to be a flavorless liquidy disaster? 😩😩 Barbecue sauce seems to cook well, as does a pack of Mexican spices on ground beef, but whenever I have tried to make pork or any other meat In sauce, something goes wrong.

I drained the liquid by the way because the liquid tasted of nothing.

[Devorak]

Yes, more sauce. I often reduce any cooking liquor for extra sauce.

I'd have marinated it for longer too.

How much liquid came off?

Isn't teriyaki usually cooked quickly?

[hellokittymania]

It's the first time that I used teriyaki sauce so I don't know how quickly it cooks or how much I should have added, but by the end it was really watery. Maybe I should have cooked it in the oven? But I didn't want it to dry out Or be tough. How long do you usually marinate meat for?

[Eatingcheeseontoast]

I hate slow cookers. Everything tastes the same. I'm a good cook too.

I don't think I'd put steak in, that needs quick cooking.

[Devorak]

Overnight usually. Maybe longer. If it's for the slow cooker then overnight and then put the food in to cook in the morning. If not for the slow cooker then it's put in to marinate before bed and left until it's cooked the following evening.

What kind of steak was it? Had it been frozen? I'm surprised it was so watery.

Searing the meat first can make a big difference to the flavour of the finished dish. It's nonsense that it 'seals in moisture' but it does make the meat tastier; quite a bit!

[AgentProvocateur]

I hate slow cookers. Everything I've ever had from one tasted the same - homogenous stew flavour.

[DoraChance]

I love the idea of my slow cooker but have never enjoyed anything that's come out of it. Tender meat yes but it's usually tasteless and bland. Chuck it under the bus!

[hellokittymania]

I bought it yesterday at the farmers market, it was diced but I don't know what cut. Maybe I should have just used another sauce or something else?

[DumbledoresApprentice]

Coat your meat in seasoned flour or cornflour first. It thickens the sauces. I also put only very small amounts of liquid in.

[Bisquick]

You might have started with too much liquid, and that had a lot of the flavour so if it was drained off it's all gone with it iyswim?

I actually don't like marinating and then putting in the slow cooker - I either marinate and then flash fry or grill or bake quickly; or pop in the slow cooker and let it cook down. And don't feel like you need to cover it in a lot of liquid - you can just pop ribs and such in there with a small amount of liquid (say a few tbsp) and it'll cook down nicely.

Sorry about this mess though! You could toss it in a sticky glaze of honey + mustard + soy sauce perhaps to give it back some flavour?

[Bisquick]

Just realised you said the liquid tasted of nothing. Weird that so much water came out if all you put in is teriyaki sauce (which is usually quite thick).

Normally if I'm marinating meat I do it overnight as pp said, but then cook it quickly. Or I don't marinate just chuck it all in slow cooker and then cook it. I sometimes then pull the meat out, and then reduce the liquid until it forms a nice thick sauce and put it back in the meat. That helps (but wouldn't if liquid was flavourless as you mentioned). The flavourless liquid suggests that the meat had been frozen perhaps or somehow was just too watery.

[hellokittymania]

How much honey, mustard and soy sauce should I use? 1 tablespoon each? And just mix?

[hellokittymania]

This is what I used on it, and it was very runny.

[nelipotter]

I never marinate or flash fry, I just pile it all in in the morning and leave it til dinner. Make sure there is little to no liquid - or just enough to cover the meat/veg/rice/beans.Use stock powders or tomato paste, or just bay leaves and herbs and plenty of salt. I often put a good splash of apple cider vinegar (the good stuff, with 'mother') or balsamic, as I find a dash of acid helps to balance the flavours. Also, cider vinegar helps to extract all the goodness from the bones.

I am amazed that people struggle - I find it the easiest thing in the world! I like to do chicken soup, lentil dahl, whole chicken, curries (saag paneer and anything with coconut are faves). What else? Stewed chick peas, and classic beef stews. My friend makes amazing pulled pork, lots of mexican style chillis and heaps of cakes - self-saucing pudding and what not - in fact she has three slow cookers! She'll chuck em all on in the morning and not think about it til the night and then voila, three-course meal.

Keep at it, buy a good recipe book, it's an absolute godsend when you're crazy busy. Great for hot breakfast too if you want to chuck oatmeal etc in for the morning.

[nelipotter]

Did you JUST use that sauce? I would use that sauce, but also a splash of oil, salt and pepper, maybe a pinch of turmeric/fennel or the like, maybe a good squeeze of sweet sticky soy sauce too, and a squidge of chilli. And fill up the sides with potatoes and sliced up garlic too!
Maybe that's why it works, I go nuts with condiments.

[hellokittymania]

Potter, how do you cook oatmeal in it? Do I just put a cup of milk to half a cup of oatmeal like I would on the hob? How many minutes should I cook it for?

[user1491572121]

Agree that only using the bottled sauce wasn't a good idea.

[thetroutofnocraic]

I'm vegetarian, I tried using a slow cooker to make various things like stews, soups, curries. Everything tastes exactly the same, like school dinners.
My cooking in a big pot on the stove is always delicious (immodesty alert) so I know it's the bastard slow cooker.

[hellokittymania]

Yes I only use that sauce. When I did the ribs a few weeks ago they turned out really well and I put some potatoes in tinfoil above the ribs they also turned out well. I saw somebody doing something similar on YouTube but with roast chicken so I copied her . Ground beef with apacket of Mexican spices and a can of tomatoes turned out well too.

[RortyCrankle]

I hate food cooked in a slow cooker too. I nearly chuckedmine out but decided instead to use it for making scented candles - it works brilliantly.

[hellokittymania]

That's brave! I don't think I would dare to try mixing my slow cooker with scented candles of any kind! My neighbors wouldn't like it if I burned down the building! 😂

[TeslasDeathRay]

It probably is just because it's runny. [I don't know how true it is but] I read somewhere that meat never really absorbs the flavour of "liquidy"-type marinades/sauces. Dry herb/spice rubs and that kind of are supposed to be the best.

[LaLegue]

The temptation with both slow cookers and pressure cookers is to just sling in the same ratios of ingredients as you would for an oven or hob cooked dish but the two methods require vastly different approaches and different ratios of ingredients. Resist the temptation to just throw stuff in and wing it and invest in a couple of good slow cooker recipe books, and stick to them. When you have got the measure of it, then start experiementing.

[hellokittymania]

Jerk sauce also worked well on the chicken I made the other week. Maybe it needs to be a thick sauce.

[hoddtastic]

i read loads of threads on here where people suggest a slow cooker to solve all ills.
I have one, i use it sparingly and follow a slow cooker recipe book as if i don't i end up with grey meat, in tonnes of liquid that looks like washing up water,underneath a layer of scum.

[hellokittymania]

Lalegue can you recommend any please? I'll look and see what I can find on iBooks.