Slow cooker disasters

[Yumchips]

So everytime I use a slow cooker the meal is a disappointment. I've used two different slow cookers in my life and neither results have been impressive. I've been following some food people on Instagram who have released books etc on slow cooking recipes. All seems very practical and easy with their tried and tested good ideas, seems a win win scenario. I measure and follow the recipes with almost scientific precision. Yet the end result is always a disappointment. Is it just me? I'm giving up slow cooking for life now but I want to know. Am I the problem?

I have found the secret for successful slow cooker cooking is not to just bung everything in at the beginning and leave it. I add ingredients at intervals. For example, vegetables an hour or so before I want to serve. That way they retain their taste and texture and don’t disintegrate into a grey school dinner mush.

Air fryer or instant pot (pressure cooker).
Slow cookers are good for things that actually need slow cooking. Like pulled pork, or Chinese herbal soup with bone broth..

BTW instant pots have a slow cooker mode sj I don't understand why anybody would buy 'just" a slow cooker. I use the IP for wet stuff the air fryer for crispy stuff perfect.

That works but it also defeats the whole purpose!
Dump and cook is my motto. I love good food but just don't have the time to faff about.

I also chucked a chicken into mine that had to be used up that day when rushing back to work, again just added salt and pepper. Came home 3-4 hours later and cooked perfectly and even a browned skin.

Thank you OP. You’ve saved me literally decades of angst thinking I was missing out as I’ve never owned a slow cooker. I’ve toyed with the idea for years. Reading this thread it looks like I’ve had a lucky escape. I now know it’s a good thing I’ve never bought one 👍 I can sleep easy tonight. One thing less to FOMO about 😆

The apples recipe is the only thing I may dream about tonight though so…

😂😂😂

I drag my awful heavy cast iron stock pot out for Roman oxtail stew and also one time (because it took so bloody long) a lamb joint, might have been a shoulder, Jamie Oliver style, 7 hours, very very very low in the oven

Probably one of the best things Ive cooked. As well as the oxtail.

But I hate that bloody thing, too heavy, cant go in the dishwasher, worried about smashing the butler sink while trying to manage to wash the thing.

Mum used to make porridge in the slow cooker, I remember it being amazing. When she mentioned once she still had the old slow cooker I said I would have it. Came down in the morning really looking forward to my wonderfully creamy porridge to discover it tasted of slow cooked meat. I tried making one beef thing in it after that which tasted of slow cooker then it went up on a kitchen shelf, eventually to be chucked away in a house move. I didn't need a 30 year old slow cooker haunted by the taste of 30 year old casseroles.

Some things are great in the slow cooker. Others are watery or stringy or would just be best slow roasted.

I use it for about 5 or 6 recipes maybe? And never chicken for some reason, always ends up with horrendous texture- and chicken hardly takes any time to cook normally anyway. Plus I hate having to chop and seal meat at 8am or whatever! It's just as much work to chop and seal it in the evening!

Not really a disaster as such, but I learnt to never leave it on overnight

I cooked a chicken stock overnight and woke up dreaming about chicken all night

Bloody thing stank the house out!

Am I the only one who finds a slow cooker too... well..... Slow???

It frustrates me. Six hours to cook soup? C mon

🤔

Also Ive found that chicken bones disintegrate and you cant fish them out, end up with bits of semi soft bone in your stew.

I love my slow cooker for things that slow cook well.
Things that do not cook well: anything with a meat that cooks quickly and then dries out (chicken, lean pork, steak, fish, seafood) or has lots of sugar in (all the mad stuff on the Facebook pages like fudge and cakes and other things that will burn.
It is great for braising gammon, brisket or silverside, lamb shanks, hearts, shoulder, even leg if you want to cook the whole thing to soft unctiousness, pork shoulder for pulled pork, meatloaf.
Always skim off any fat about an hour before the end or it stops the sauce reducing and thickening.
Always caramelise and season; add much less liquid than you expect.

I suppose that rather depends on what you think the purpose of a slow cooker is.

I use mine to cook things that benefit from long slow cooking, like meat, then add the things that definitely don’t benefit from long slow cooking later.

This thread is so interesting! My mums slow cooker is 40 years old- was a wedding gift and she still uses the same one today. She does chillis, stews, soups, rice pudding in it and so when I moved out she bought me one too. We have two! A smaller one from when I was a student is great for mulled wine at Xmas but a few things here- I actually totally agree with Bored of Lunch recipes. They don't work. I don't know why, I just don't get the hype. The seasoning was off and lots of things turned to mush. Shame as I wanted to love them!

Taming twins as many have said above I have found a total game changer though I have only tried her chicken recipes work really well eg barbecue chicken and satay too. You have to use chicken thigh and I keep a v close eye on the timing so not to overdo it but I've found it so easy and low effort. I leave it on a smart plug so if I'm delayed coming back from work I can just turn it off if need be.

I need to try the orzo recipes she has as they look delicious, I just haven't got round to buying any orzo yet. If anyone has any tips/tricks let me know

I use mine for two things - chilli con carne and keeping mulled wine warm.

I'm really surprised by the replies so far - I love my slow cooker. I use it mainly for batch cooking stews, soups and so on but I do a bit of brisket/topside in onions and red wine overnight for Sunday dinner sometimes and we all love it.

I do find recipes are often under seasoned for my taste - a couple of stock pots sorts that out. They can also be a bit watery so I cut down the amount of liquid (eg strain a tin of tomatoes before adding etc). It's easier to add later than take away.

However, my favourite ever slow cooker recipe is this one for rice pudding - absolutely divine 👌🏼
www.slowcookerclub.com/slow-cooker-rice-pudding/

Oh, just to add, most things taste better if they're left to 'ferment' for a while after cooking.

I'm no expert, in fact I'm not a great or adventurous cook at all. But I'm always seeing empty plates so I must be doing something right haha.

I only use it for pulled pork (when DS2 is home) and applesauce when next door bring me a sack of windfall apples. Other than that, I don't find it very good.

This is pretty decent. I normally add some white beans or whatever other tinned beans are lurking in the cupboard

greatbritishrecipes.com/wprm_print/1538

@aveenobambino do you mean orzo in the slow cooker?😱It cooks in minutes.

Recipe

I made this last week because I’d bought a bag of mixed frozen mushrooms and couldn’t think what to do with them so googled. It was really nice, in 20 mins.

Good morning all!

Oh that orzo recipe looks beautiful. I'll have a look at that in a bit. I've also never cooked rice pudding in the slow cooker (or any puddings for that matter).

@Yumchips The beef (it was a massive chunk of brisket) DOES look a bit anaemic (my fault, I didn't sear/seal it beforehand, just dumped it in the IP with some seasoning, veg and stock to cook on low for about 8/9hrs). I'm sticking it on to pressure cook for 20mins just to make damned sure it's all cooked through to falling apart, then I'll sear it. Smells good though. I'll do a dump recipe for chilli con carne when the brisket is done.

Morning all. I think I have found my tribe when it comes to slow cooker madness!

@TicTac80 so am I right in thinking that you'll be slow cooking, pressure cooking and searing to get a good meal tonight? Because that sort of takes away from the joy of dumping it and running away for me. No doubt though I'm sure that'll be a lovely meal but it sort of defeats the point of slow cooking for me at least.

As the OP has said multiple times she just wants a hot meal at the end of the day. In 2024, the slow cooker is often marketed as a convenience appliance.
Many traditional recipes like stews etc, that used to be in a watched pot taste great when slow cooked... Agreed... But that's not what OP wants.
The whole appeal is to have something cooking while you're at work all day so it's ready to eat when you come home. Hence all these 'slow cooker x y z' recipes where x y z doesn't really do well slow cooked. Not a SAHM that can add ingredients throughout the day although I guess some WFH people can do that.
Tossing in a few ingredients right after walking in the door is fine. But if I was home the whole day or even had a whole hour to make dinner why on earth would I use the slow cooker. I'd just air fry/pressure cooker so much faster.
Also a lot of people don't have loads of space to store various appliances used only for certain recipes. Many modern pressure cookers have a slow cooker function so there's no need for a slow cooker..