...to think there’s nothing that a slow cooker does better?

[Bebepoor]

Cheaper running costs maybe. More convenient with timer etc, granted. But not better tasting than the traditional way of simmering for hours on hob or sitting in low oven.

In both, slow and pressure cookers, the flavours will never get a chance to concentrate as liquid never evaporates, not in significant amounts to result in more intense flavours. Therefore one either just over-seasons and accepts the watery nature of the end result or makes soups.
:-(

I love my slow cooker. I literally am the world's laziest cook. I do absolutely NOTHING to any ingredients before chucking them in. I get fab results and compliments on my slow cooker meals.
My faves are Beef Stew, whole Ham/Gammon, Currys and rice pudding.

wake you can put a tea towel under the lid to aid with thickening or just take the lid off. When I do bread in my SC i use the tea towel method, works a treat

I don't put any water or stock in, for a start. Except when I do a ham.

Pulled pork... mmm.

My cooker timer is broken and I work weird hours.

If it wasn't for my slow cooker I'd only ever eat microwaved food. And yes, some things it doesn't do so well, but if you only cook the kind of food it's meant for, it's bloody brilliant (ps, brown meat before you slow cook it, stops the 'spongey' thing).

I'll admit to no cooking poultry in the slow cooker because nothing is better than crisp, golden chicken skin. But for joints of meat, casseroles and stews etc, I love the tender, fall apart as soon as you stick a fork in it, way of cooking a slow cooker gives.

That was an interesting read arbitrary. The comparison pictures very telling.

It's great for making soup, stock, cordial and chutney. Also cooking some joints of meat. I do a great hunters chicken as well. But mince is rubbish in it, whole chickens are not great either and a jacket potato experiment was disappointing. If you don't get a great result, it's probably not something suited to the device. No one complains that breadmakers are rubbish because fried eggs come out wrong.

I love mine, especially when I can put dinner on before I go to work - and there is a lovely hot meal, ready when we get home, after battling commuting and are cold, tired and hungry! IMO, all stews, casseroles, curries, etc taste better from a slow cooker! DDs don't like the texture of red meat, but will eat it when it falls apart, after being in a slow cooker!

Those of you who get watery, tasteless food are doing something wrong!

If you want thicker sauce add some cornflour

you can get the food falling apart with the fork using other cooking methods and in less than 6 hours.

I only ever use ours for chilli, and only if we're going to be out all day and need something ASAP in between school and sports. It's great for that but I really dislike any other meat out the slow cooker, it goes stringy and wet, and noone will eat it here. To me it's worth keeping just for that one evening a week chilli though.

My slow cooker is currently on the go cooking a brisket of beef studded with garlic. I've used a Coleman's casserole mix and chucked in a load of veg. It took under five minutes to prep and tonight will be delicious.

Theresno but sometimes you NEED to leave it for 6 hours (like a shift at work or a day out). Being able to cook it faster isn't always an option.

I loved my slow cooker in my mind. It was going to change my life. I'd pop in veg before I went to work and come home to a wonderful casserole. Trouble is I'm always in a rush and prepping dinner is my last thought in the morning. Slow cooker has now been passed on to some unsuspecting young couple at work moving into their first flat.
I never even got to take it out of the box.
I wonder whether they'll use it or pass it on to someone else.

No matter what kitchen gadgets I get I just can't get on with them but do admit hate having the workspace cluttered so put everything away in cupboards. I've also got a little round cooker thing that's electric ..think it's an oven which my late mum gave me . I just don't know why I'd use it when I've got an oven already

I only like them for soups, and even then only some soups.

I find the only way other slow cooker meals come out decent is if you do quite a bit of cooking of some ingredients beforehand, rather than just throwing it all in. Which for me, defeats the purpose. At that point it's just as easy to devote a couple of hours to batch cooking some really nice meals one day a week.

Honestly I think the differing opinions just come down to personal taste. I like really intense, fresh, lively flavours. Slow cooker food ends up a bit more bland than food cooked the regular way, and I think a lot of people don't mind that, especially if they're cooking for children.

I cook a wonderful vegetarian winter stew. If I cook the same stew in the oven I start by frying the onions and gradually add more vegetables to that. However, with the slow cooker I just pitch in all the veg no oil at all. This makes the stew healthier. I add dumplings about 45 minutes before serving. I only paid £15 for the slow cooker at Lidl and have yet to explore other possibilities. I shall next experiment with slow cooked huevos rancheros. I think it should work with the eggs broken into the mixture just before the end.

I'd also like some recipes. I'm a vegetarian and end up cooking two meals. I'm after some veggie recipes that the meat eaters might eat. So far, I have veg chilli.

You think a slow cooker is good? You want to try a wood fired oven, the flavour is truly amazing and a roast chicken is unbelievable!

😂

I am of the slow cooker is shit group. Dh and DS are vegetarian so all meals were veggie but they were all without exception bowls of rubbery crap (various attempts at a baked pasta dishes) or just watery mixes with no depth of flavour . e,g Various recipies for "tangines" which were just were all awful.
To be fair, I did once cook lamb in it (when DH and DS were away for a night) and the resulting lamb was quite nice and fed me for a couple of days. So maybe it is better with meaty casserole/stew type dishes but we don't cook those so no use for us

I love my slow cooker! Tips I've found are remove skin from chicken before cooking it, always add much less liquid than the recipe says and have thickening granules or cornflour ready to chuck in at the end if it does go a bit runny. Chilli made with brisket instead of mince is fab, as are slow-cooker ribs.

YANBU they produce weird, horrible food. I made an oxtail stew that was in a word disgusting. Same done in oven, absolutely delicious.
Brisket was marginally less offensive but not great. I gave mine away. The thought of eating unbrowned meat makes me a bit queasy.

I only my slow cooker for making meat soft / melt in the mouth like gammon and lamb. Everything else I don't bother because it comes out bland or watery despite putting flour in! Better to simmer away on the hob.

OP, I must say that I agree.

When I first got my SC I thought it was the tits. We was then very underwhelmed by the flavours coming from family favourite meals, that I had been cooking for years in the exact same way. I think the steam and the longevity of the cooking actually reduces flavours a lot. We have a SC still, but use it for a joint of pork for pulled pork recipes only.

The whole idea is amazing, the reality isn't so great.