To ask about your views on slow cookers and recipes

[oldishladyinashoebox]

Okay I'm sure this has been done a lot but I just wanted to ask

.what do you think of slow cookers ?
. Do have any favourite recipes to share?

I like my slow cooker but I don't love it. To me, meals cooked in the oven do taste nicer but it's a nice( and smug ) feeling to throw something in the SC at the start of the day and come home to a nice hot meal without having to get an awful takeaway.
Recipes that work for us so far are.

1. Vietnamese chicken curry
2. Butternut squash risotto

3.a whole chicken ( not as nice as oven roasted but still nice)

1. Mumsnet cowgirl stew
2. Homemade baked beans

A Korean style beef stew 5 ratatouille

1. Baked potatoes
2. Soup stock

The biggest total flop was mac and cheese . That was awful, resembled 🐱 sick 🤢.

It's also nice to not turn the oven on when it's really hot outside

Thanks everyone

I do bolognese, chilli, curry. Slow cooked lamb works well, bone in joints don't dry out as much. Beef casserole using shin. Cashew chicken. I do a Spanish inspired casserole with chorizo, pork belly and butter beans. Pulled pork. Stews. Rice pudding. Creme brûlée. I love my slow cookers!

Cake is lovely done in the slow cooker. Not what you asked for I know but...cake!

Place marking here.

DS1 bought me a slow cooker for Christmas and I still haven't used it yet.

I'm making a lamb stew this week. I didn't realise it might taste 'different' or 'wrong' compared to in a pot on the hob

Do you all soften/brown stuff first before putting it in the slow cooker or just throw all the ingredients in raw? I always brown then put in slow cooker but that makes it more effort and more washing up!

I haven't loved most of what I've tried in my slow cooker but I do love a ham in Coca-Cola! And it frees up oven space.

I got one when I'd just moved in and had no working cooker for a few weeks... It helped tide me over but wasn't amazing. Maybe it works better for meat as a lot of veg went soggy and I found anything with onions or garlic in tasted downright weird.

Baked potatoes were nice, much better than microwaved, as was daal and stew/ curry with pulses. I even made a slightly odd but quite tasty lasagne! You have to really increase the spices and seasoning though. Rice pudding works well.

I use it mostly now for dried chickpeas and beans, soak overnight then leave on low.

Gammon in coke,
Whole chicken
Plum Jam
Mince type lasagne filling
Veggie curries

A PP mentioned the chicken falling apart - I was given a tip to sit it on a long strip of foil (long enough to go under the chicken and up the sides of the pot). That way you can lift the chicken out whole.

Haven't used mine in ages.

Made a few chicken dishes in them on evenings when the DC had activities but dc1 really disliked the texture of the food.

I once cooked a whole chicken in one...it was absolutely vile. Slimy, grey and greasy...shudder.

Successes have been...

Pork steaks with dried apricots and a lemon/honey sauce

Bbq ribs

Pulled pork

Chocolate fudge

Generally though, oven cooked food is far nicer.

I ditched my slow cooker a few years ago after a lot of trying. I don’t like how bland and over cooked everything tastes cooked in it. What I do is batch cook when I am in the mood for some quality me time in the kitchen (usually after everybody’s in bed). I find it good to have two massive pots in the fridge, say a soup and curry. These are great for a quick meal when you have been out or busy with something and too tired to cook.

I also mix the above ‘reserve’ meals with a roast or chicken thighs and steam veg or similar. It means I can not cook for days and still feed the family good nutritious food.

I've made a delicious casserole with Toulouse sausages and haricot beans, the beans go in dry, not even soaked, and cook perfectly. Did roast chicken today which was moist and very good. A brilliant Musselman beef curry also very successful.

I had one for twenty years and wouldn't part with it. It's excellent for anything that needs long slow cooking. Nothing has ever come out of it tasting weird or bland.

The last thing cooked cooked in it was beef cheeks to a Jamie Oliver recipe. Absolutely delicious.

As mentioned I like That I can switch it on and leave the house and have a hot meal to come home to instead of getting a pizza at Asda for everyone.
I do have a multi cooker and the slow cook setting is shite. It runs very hot and boils the food. I used it once and said never again.

I’ve only just started using one, use it a few times a week. Sausage and potatoes casserole is very good, the risotto needs fine tuning but the beef fajitas were excellent

Many moons ago dp had a pressure cooker explode in his kitchen. Apparently it took out the windows, we are not getting a pressure cooker.

Love it for red meat dishes. But I don't think I have any good recipes involving chicken or veg only.

I brown meat and onion/garlic before adding to slow cooker otherwise things taste funny.
I like ribs in bbq sauce.
Honey and mustard chicken, honey and lemon chicken.
I always reduce the cooking time on the chicken. 5 hours on low is too long in my cooker.
I would also like an actifry thread.

I dislike my slow cooker. Everything ends up not cooked properly as the liquid doesn’t evaporate unless the lid is off for part of the cooking. If I have to do that I might as well just cook it on the stove.

I don’t mind slow roasting a small joint in there but tbh there’s 5 of us so I rarely buy a small joint.

I hate the texture of chicken that comes out of it. And everything is so watery!

I feel exactly the same as previous poster.

How does the watery sauce always taste of acid?

I found the same with slow cooker. Then, like other pps got an instantpot and I can hand on heart say it is the best piece of kitchen gadgetery going. It does have a slow cooker on it (which i havent used yet) but the pressure cooker has a timer on it and a keep warm function so can be used so meal is ready on walking through the door. And it is not like scary pressure cookers of old!
I found slow cooker tasteless, watery & weird texture; instant pot superb.

Oh and instantpot massively reduces washing up as whole meal can be done in it. I put it on then go away snd do something until it's ready, so I find am gaining time.

You really need to learn to cook a bit differently in it otherwise yes, everything will come out bland and watery and a weird texture. It's not the same as cooking in the oven or on the hob, so recipes do have to be adapted. But when you do that, it is marvellous. I love it on those days when we're in and out a lot but still come home and dinner is done.

It's also been great for getting me to use cuts that I wouldn't normally. I now buy 10kg of beef directly from a farm and stick it in the freezer. It's a selection of different cuts, so there are some prime filet steaks but also larger tougher cuts which I'd normally stay away from. It means I can buy better quality (and ethically reared) meat. The recipes using these cuts have been a revelation, just fantastic!

@HippyChickMama could I have your creme brulee recipe please?

I love my slow cooker and don’t think everything tastes weird! If you don’t use recipes that are designed for the slow cooker, you need to reduce the amount of liquid to stop things ending up watery.

I did acquire an Instant Pot recently, but am struggling a bit with timings! Everything either takes miles longer than expected to get up to pressure, or does it really fast and catches me out. I suppose I just need more practice and I’ll work it out. I’ve made a lovely sausage casserole and cooked potatoes for mashing in the top, a risotto turned out really nice, plus I like having hot porridge waiting for me when I get up

I have a Morphy Richards multi cooker. It's good in a way because you can brown meat in it first (which it does very well) but I find stews get watery as the condensation collects on the lid and kust drips back. I now only put in a bit of liquid or stock but I still don't get that
Unctious. oozy sauce that I do in oven cooking. Also, the last two beef stews have been as hard as bullets and one was with really expensive beef ( farmers market, hand massaged by angels) so am wondering whether it is worth it. Also, the the best will in the world, at six o'clock in the morning, I really don't want to be dealing with dinner things and I know I will spend all day worrying that it isn't in flames!

Love slow cooker chicken, i don't mind if it falls apart because I don't like carving meat.
Bolognese, wonderful.
Chilli, especially with steak not mince.
Brisket with red wine, amazing. Need to buy some brisket!