Slow cooker taste

[blotchyskin]

I keep on flirting with the idea of buying a new slow cooker but I am always reminded of how everything tastes of slow cooker. The one I used to have just made everything taste very similar. Is there anyway to avoid this? Do I need to buy a very expensive one? Not cook tomato based meals? Any ideas would be welcome. Thanks.

I do use the slow cooker a lot for bolognaise, chilli etc but I put the chopped onions (frozen) and diced veg (frozen) in first for a good hour on ‘High’. They do sauté down, albeit in a slower fashion.

I rarely add any stock and just rely on the juices from the tinned tomatoes.

I’ve got one of the older instant pots and love it. It’s got a timer so yes you can put food in in the morning, set the timer to pressure cook and it will be ready when you come in from work.

It's definitely from raw onions - I've stopped this by using onion confit instead, either buy it (sometimes called onion jam) or make it in a big batch on a day when you're at home and can be arsed to cook a load of onions, you can add garlic too.

@whiskeyarmadillo and @Titsywoo Broadly, I agree and said this up front but one thing I will say is that I think timings for a lot of slow cookers are wrong. In mine, on low, a lamb/beef based dish really needs at least 9 hours, or even 10 rather than the 8 that is so often recommended. Or 5 on low vs the popular 4 and I sometimes think that's part of the reason they're better in a proper pot on the stove or in the oven. I now routinely go for 9-10 high or 5 slow for any red meat based stew or casserole.

I saw in the Nagi recipe book the other day that she does a lamb shoulder in the oven which she cooks for 12 hours at 100C. A slow cooker on low is unlikely to be much higher than that so I think that really brings home the point that at the very very low temp of a slow cooker, you really do need the extra time.

Having said that, I have made spaghetti bolognaise in regular my regular large saucepan, regular large pot, my le creusset pot and my slow cooker and without a doubt, the le creusset tastes better every time so.... [shrug]

Another factor for a lot of slow cooker use is, I think, the meat used. A lot of people will buy "stewing" lamb/beef at the supermarket but it's often the most tasteless, overly lean meat. You really do need the right meat for a slowcooker. A beef shin, oxtail, or a lamb knuckle or neck or shoulder etc. The fat and the sinews or whatever they are is hugely important. Nothing makes me convinced that a TikTok recipe will be a disaster more than seeing cubes of red meat with zero fat or marbling or whatever going into the slow cooker before the other ingredients.

I prefer using an instant pot, you can brown everything in there, set to pressure cook then it stays on keep warm for 10 hours once it's done. Takes a bit of getting used to in order to get the liquid amounts correct as you basically need very little but I much prefer it to the slow cooker

Yes, a lot of stuff done in the slow cooker does taste like a lot of stuff done in the slow cooker, or not even 'taste' so much as just 'resemble'. I do like it for convenience but I do prefer the same things cooked not in the slow cooker when I have the time to do so. I still do use it because the time saving is really helpful, but when I use it too much in a week, everyone gets a bit fed up of slow-cooker dinners. I think it's just a consistency thing perhaps, or that it all just seems to have the same kind of texture in the end. I don't know. But I know what people on this thread are saying as I feel it too!

Yep , white elephant 😝

I've got a sear and stew one - you can put the inner part directly on the hob to brown stuff first. However I find that's too much hassle before work and we are often out for 10 hours which is too long for cooking chilli or bolognese. I use it if I can start it around lunchtime. Handy if all the family come in at different times.

Back to say that I bought the Lakeland digital slow cooker, 3.5l with delay start and a timer which is what I felt I needed to have any chance of success.

It’s trial day today. I’ve got a sweet Javanese beef curry in it from this book which my Amazon history tells me I bought in 2015. That must be the last time I tried one.

🤞 I’m out til 4:45. Let’s hope it’s edible.

You are right OP, there is a distinct slow cooker taste. I used to use it quite a lot if we were out for the day, to come back to a casserole. Better than a timer on the oven, as distance travelling meant our arrival wasn’t precise. I didn’t mind the taste much, DH really didn’t like it.

Eventually I took to making the things ‘properly’ and just reheating them. You have reminded me that we still have the slow cooker, so that’s one for the jumble sale, and a bit of freed up cupboard space.

Hmm, just back and inspected/tasted the slow cooker recipe. It is ok, not the same as slow cooked in the oven obviously but it is edible. I think the texture is ok (surprisingly).

I was worried that the high setting was fierce, it was bubbling in there, more than a simmer.

So I don’t know OP, better than I remembered is my first impression. I’ll try it again in the week.

A slow cooker is around 4p an hour to run and is so convenient.
I've been making chicken curry and pasta dishes in mine.
I get lots of inspiration from
Bored of Lunch & Tamming Twins on instagram

I have used an IP for years but would never leave food in it, like chicken, to sit on the side all day then turn itself on 6 hours later. Doesn't take that long to cook if you have everything ready in the fridge to put together when you get home. I cook a whole chicken in it in 35 mins and there are lots of IP recipes on the net which take about 12 mins. etc.