Are slow cookers shit?

[rainbowstardrops]

I mean, I know they’re not shit but I’m currently cooking a Thai beef dish and it looks absolutely nothing like the picture in the recipe book. It looks dull and watery and just so unappetising.
Am I being unreasonable to think that the bloody recipes in these books look nothing like the final result photos?
Oh and I put half of the chilli flakes in because one of mine doesn’t like spicy (I do) but this is even setting my mouth on fire!
Pah!

They’re useful and cheap to use, but imo they’re nothing like as good as the oven. Just not as tasty.

I use mine mainly to make stock - I just put a chicken carcass in water and leave it overnight.

I just made an amazing veg recipe. Head of broccoli chopped in big chunks with red onion & garlic (I had pre-fried for another recipe & took out of freezer). Added last week’s pumpkin in biggish chunks, spinach, courgette remains & 1 can of tomatoes. Sumac, parsley, garam masala & red chilli. I literally put it in the bowl with the lid on top, switched it on slow & went out to work this morning. Dinner was ready to perfection when I got home.

Have made this before but with the thai curry sachet from the Ocado stir fry offer. Also a success.

Cut the veg up big so they don’t go soggy & don’t add too much liquid. Daal also works as does beef stew but you do have to leave it for a few hours.

I love mine, it’s just a cheap one from Asda but has the metal pan that can be transferred onto the hob or into the oven. I use it twice a week to batch cook lunches and put everything in raw then leave it to cook for around 4-6 hrs. At the end I give it 15 mins on the hob to thicken and cook off some or all of the sauce.

I find them a bit hit and miss. Good for some things, not so much for others. A worthwhile tool for when I was working full time with a long commute - the convenience was worth the trade off for not quite so tasty meals.

Nowadays, I only use one for soups, stews and gammon (plus pea and ham soup in the resulting stock).

Pressure cooker is much better imo.

I never used to brown anything but it does make a difference I find. My kids always groan when it gets to autumn and the slow cooker comes out 😂 but I love it and feels like someone else has made me dinner by the time it is actually ready in the evening!!

there are some things I wont cook- I don’t think a bolognaise is ever quite right but I love a beef stew or a chicken tagine type thing, always use much less liquid than any recipes suggest and I’ve not tried it but apparently putting a tea towel under the lid allows some of the liquid to escape as steam??

I agree the recipe is the issue. I also love my slow cooker but I wouldn't use it for everything, mainly soups, stews or casseroles, bolognese, curry or chilli.

Slow cookers are fantastic for some things (lamb and beef especially), not so good for others. If you’re adapting a normal recipe use a third less liquid than it says. And the best bit of slow cooker advice I was given, just because you can cook everything for ten hours, doesn’t mean you should!

I have The Easy Indian Slow Cooker cookbook which is great for curry but you need to fry the onions and some spices before you put them in. Otherwise - I do jacket potatoes and that's it. My spag bol and chili is better just done quickly on the hob in a cast iron then put in the oven for an hour.

And like others I don’t add liquid or if I do then it’s only a tiny amount.

My lunch this week is shredded chicken, I put 400g chicken breast, red onion, mushrooms and sliced peppers in the slow cooker with some peri-peri or bbq dry seasoning, then leave it to cook on high for about 3 hours, or low for about 5 hrs. Onto the hob for 10-15 mins to dry out the liquid released from the chicken and veg then shred the chicken with a couple of forks.

Always find the texture is mushy hate them

I never add liquid to savoury dishes in the slow cooker, generally always put a tea towel under the lid. If things still get a bit watery, I add a couple of teaspoons of potato starch.

I mainly use mine to make brownies, cakes, "baked" custards and cheesecakes, though.

I agree. Slow cooker meals deffo don't taste as good IMO and I basically brown everything off first for flavour

Horses for courses. Good for long slow cooking meat. Other ingredients may need to be added much later in the process to stop them turning to mush.

I love mine just made a prawn and chorizo paella in it!

I'm always so confused by this because so many people seem to live slow cookers and swear by them. I really like the idea but everything I've ever made has been a watery mess and has the same weird aftertaste. I've tried specific slow cooker recipes (in fact have bought several specific slow cooker recipe books) but can't seem to make anything edible. I feel like I must be missing something.

Great for some things - tougher cuts of meat, bolognaise, Ragu. Brown the meat first though.
But if you add too much liquid it's v watery, and if you add anything too soft it will be a mush!

They are a compromise. Brown your meat and onions first, add less liquid than you think you need. The result will be acceptable with lovely tender meat, but not as nice as if you cooked it using an oven or pressure cooker.

We have a very basic slow cooker and I use it to cook bolognese, chilli, curries, and pulled BBQ chicken for tacos. We absolutely love these meals and they certainly aren’t “slop”. They’re all really rich and full of flavour. I don’t know what everyone else is doing to their slow cooker meals but ours come out gorgeous.

Once I realised that a slow cooker isn’t a bung everything in at the start and cook it all for eight hours cooker, the results improved immeasurably.

Insipid and turns any meat into the texture of pre chewed stringy slop🤮

I appreciate you can leave it on all day but I'd much rather a good casserole. If you need to brown off in a pan it doesn't save much 'cooking' time than a casserole dish in the oven.

I did use mine for chicken stock before getting rid which is the only thing I found it useful for

Morphy Richard’s sear & stew. Middle bit goes on hob to brown meat then put it in slow cooker. Everything I make in it is nice.

Love my slow cooker

https://www.robertdyas.co.uk/morphy-richards-3-46-5l-sear-38-stew-slow-cooker-black?cq_src=google_ads&cq_cmp=22796790170&cq_term=&cq_plac=&cq_net=x&cq_plt=gp&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22790938713&gbraid=0AAAAACf0mw2jyBgKwPw4pg9tstic0IQA7&gclid=Cj0KCQiAiKzIBhCOARIsAKpKLAPbOShdvyxtuWL6LowPjgMCjv3NzBw2O311E45IxUxrbFHFZSWk5WIaAr9mEALw_wcB

I find it quite slow at cooking tbh