How to soften my beef... and moisten my chicken!

[cjt110]

I buy beef - frozen from Asda - that we can afford.

I took extra effort the other day to fry off and seal with onions etc before putting in the slow cooker with herbs spices and stock. Cooked on low for 3 hours. Turned off for 2 hours then back on low for a further 2.

It was like old boots.

And also, whenever I cook chicken in the slow cooker, it goes dry. I might put it on low for 5 hours.

Is it the technique or the quality of meat?

I switched to a programmable pressure cooker (from Aldi) and it cooks meat beautifully.

For beef stews you need a nice fatty cut. I've had the best results cooking a joint compared to cooking diced beef.