...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.

My dads BBQ pulled pork is better than anything in the oven. It's amazing!

I got Dianne Page's 'slow cooking properly explained with recipes' with my first sc in the 1980's. It is an excellent explanation of how to avoid water sauces, what to do if things go wrong, etc etc, it has been updated many times - latest here - www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004OR18R4/ref=x_gr_w_bb?linkCode=as2&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&creative=6738&camp=1634

I think once you understand how it works it is much easier to adapt recipes.

Add as much liquid as "how much liquid you want there to be when you get back".

The liquid doesn't go anywhere.

If you don't want to get up early to brown red meat, alcohol is your friend. Try using Ale, Guinness or red wine. For extra flavour, you can marinate the meat overnight in a Tupperware and then tip in all into the slow cooker in the morning.

If I'm at work all day, I use supermarket pre-prepared veg too so that my fingers don't smell of onion and garlic for the rest of the day!!!

Lasagne is nice in it as are baked potatoes.

Many people use too much water. I cook cheap cuts of beef, sat on quartered onion and a splash of water. For three hours on low. Comes out great.

I have made the mistake of filling with too much water and people are correct in saying the end result is poor.

Less water peeps!!

For us it’s worth it just for beef casseroles.

Carrot at bottom, then leek, celery, small onion, tomatoes, garlic, sprinkle of mixed herbs, large mug of water, beef on top (I don’t bother to brown the meat, just chuck it in off the packet).

After 5-8 hours add a bit of bisto and mix through and serve.

Can put potatoes in the mix too, or instead we serve alongside baby jacket baked potatoes (crockpot only feeds 2-3 people if potatoes are included).

Warning - Parsnips ruin it for some reason (and I love parsnips).

Not gourmet, but a really lovely and healthy meal! Never tried it using other methods so can’t say if the slow cooker is better.

Stock.

I use it a lot, bung in the chicken/other bones and a bit of sweaty veg. Leave cooking overnight, then you have a concentrated stock which I freeze in a silicone muffin pan, and use all the time. Honestly everything tastes better with a bit of homemade stock added.

My slow cooker (admittedly quite an old one) says to cover meat with liquid for best results. So how does it turn out if you only use a 'splash' of liquid? I usually leave the lid off to reduce sauce...

Reading this I don't use my slow cooker in the way others seem to. Mine has a metal pot, I start every dish as I would if I was cooking it on the hob or in the oven. Sautéing onions, softening veg and browning meat, add alcohol if using whilst on the hob and heating to reduce and I use small amounts of hot stock before putting the pot into the slow cooker. I also finish most dishes of on the hob for 10-20 mins.
The one time I just dumped everything in it was unpleasant and took nearly 24 hours to cook.

Country lollipop- is that beef casserole on high or low?

If you don't want to get up early to brown red meat, alcohol is your friend.

I concur with this.

It creates liquid Zaphodsotherhead mine said to cover with liquid so that's what I do the first time. Results were grim.

I often throw in just chicken thighs, with some herbs and spices, and no liquid whatsoever. This way the slow cooker does not get steamy and steam is the thing that makes chicken slimy.
Get home and they are beautifully soft, meat just falls off the bones and you can eat it as it is, or use it in other dishes. (I know cooking chicken breast doesn't take long, but I don't like white meat, dark is much tastier).

The only thing they are good for is big joints of meat.
I made beef in red wine last night, epic disappointment. Watery and crap.

I’m a good cook, I cook the same thing in the oven and it’s delicious. And I don’t want to add flour as I don’t eat flour.

SC shall return to its home on top of the fridge gathering dust.

Away to buy a pressure cooker...

I use mine for soup a lot. butternut squash and cumin is a favourite. bologaise, chill, pulled pork, Christmas ham, stews, chicken fajitas and stuffed peppers too.

I also cheat and have dried garlic and onion so I can really throw everything in when I am making stew and the like.

It isn't for everyone of course!

Mine gets used to make and keep mulled wine and cider warm.

When I no longer have the space for it I'll wave it off to the charity shop with no regrets at all.

It sounds like people are using way too much water or stock. I like mine but only for certain things. I cooked my gammon joint for Christmas in cider in it but you don't need to add much liquid at all. I also cooked my steak for my steak pie in it, I rolled all the steak in seasoned flour, put it in the slow cooker with chopped onions and then poured over some beef stock....it made a lovely gravy and was absolutely delicious.

YANBU Nothing is nicer from a slow cooker, nothing at all.

I'm in two minds. I work long hours, but actually too long to use the sc. I'm out thirteen hours and on slow it takes eight, so it's no good for that. I leave early and I can't face fiddling about with raw meat at six am, nor getting up early to do it!

But, now and then, it's useful. At the weekend I did three loads of batch cooking, plus my lunches for the week, and the sc did the chili, freeing up gas rings for other stuff.
It's fine for chili, though I don't like boiled meat so I do brown it first and also cook the onions to cook in the spices.

It's also good for stock, can bung that on and leave for hours without worrying. I've done a reasonable tagine in it. And lamb shanks come out very well.

But I've decided, overall, I'm not a "meat in slop" lover, so for me, it's only useful now and then.
And it's hopeless for dishes without meat really as veg can't cope with that type of treatment.

Lasagne in a slow cooker? Just....how!?
Do you buy special round-edged lasagne sheets or something.

I've done lasagne. Dried sheets. Break them.
Last night we had the most amazing chicken satay in the slow cooker. Yum.

I love doing soup or curry in mine!

I'm out thirteen hours and on slow it takes eight, so it's no good for that

I tend to find that the curries etc that I make are "done" after 8 hours but still done at 13.

If I felt that I needed 8, I'd get a plug timer and tell the slow cooker to come on 8 hours before I was due home. (I used to have one of these attached to a coffee machine so I could put water and coffee grounds in before bed and the coffee was made when I got up)