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!

No, I don’t think using a slow cooker is cheating. Why would you say that?

You only need to leave the lid slightly off the pot towards the end of the cook to reduce liquid - it’s not rocket science!

I think she means you sound like a woman scorned, by a slow cooker.

The lid on my slow cooker isn't a tight fit and I think some evaporation happens anyway when it is in use. My casseroles are never watery or taste like mass produced canteen food.

I inherited it from one of DD's houseshare friends when they moved out. She didn't want it so I thought I would give it a try. It is just a cheap Tesco own brand one and does a great job.

I don't use it very often as we tend not to eat many casserlie type meals.

If she’s scorned by a slow cooker, perhaps she should learn to use one.

I love mine use a couple of times a week.

I do sometimes thicken with cornflour or gravy granules.

I had no idea you could do jacket potatoes in them. How long do you do them for? And which setting do you use?

That poster knows what I mean, she just think she’s funny. God love her, she’s really trying her best.

Interesting article 🙂 The concept of long slow cooking has been around in many cultures for a very long time, though generally for reasons of fuel preservation or absence from the house for tending the fields etc rather than religious reasons. I’ve had delicious meat cooked in a Māori hangi - cooked from heated rocks , sealed in a buried pit. The haybox method of starting a stew off with heat then placing it in an insulated box (hay, wool or even paper) was very prevalent in WW2 in this country and revived again during the strikes of the 1970s which resulted in interrupted power. It’s more of a niche interest now but people use it for camping and I’m sure people are using it now fuel has become so expensive.

I love my slow cooker, but it's very different from cooking on the hob or in the oven. I do find some recipes end up lacking the caramelised flavours from browning foods on high heat, so meat will often be browned before slow cooking.

I also really like slow cooking things - ribs, wings, pork belly - before finishing them off on the barbecue for a few minutes.

One of my favourite uses for a slow cooker is baked potatoes. Put a big one in before the school run and it's perfect by lunchtime. Great when working from home in the winter. https://www.reddit.com/r/slowcooking/comments/10lvo5d/has_anyone_here_tried_baked_potatoes_in_a_slow/

I think everything cooked in the slow cooker tastes like slow cooker and I always end up having to transferring it to a pan/oven to finish it off. I can cook so it’s not me!

I cooked a leg of lamb in mine yesterday it cooked beautifully and very tender.

Agree, I do all meat in slow cooker even turkey at Christmas, frees up the oven for roast potatoes and parsnips.

If every sauce or gravy is a two inch thick sludge in the bottom of the slow cooker at the beginning, I always end up with a perfect consistency sauce at the end, be it curry, stew, caserole, lump of sirloin etc.
That was the game changer for me and my kids. They enjoy what comes out of it now.

There is definitely a knack to using a slow cooker - less liquid, more flavourings, add quick cook or microwaved veg at the very end for freshness, texture and colour (frozen peas are perfect here).

But since I got my electric pressure/multi cooker I always use that instead. The built in slow cooker mode isn't great so anything I would have slow cooked I cook at pressure and then leave on keep warm function if I want to have it ready for eating later. Just pressure cooking seems to bring out flavour, and leaving it on keep warm works really well for anything where you want bolognese etc. Again there are a few rules to learn - if you sear meat and onions in the pan you need to scrape off anything that stuck to the bottom of the pan (quick stir with a bit of cooking liquid normally does it) before you start pressure cooking, and put ingredients like tomatoes or cocoa powder (for mole sauces) on top. And again adding a bit of fresh veg at the end to cook in the residual heat lifts the dish. Plus it's incredibly versatile and hands off during the cooking time - yoghurt, easy peel boiled eggs, butter chicken, biryani and no-stir risotto are all favourites here.

Then you haven't learned how to use it properly or are cooking the wrong meals in it. I only ever use mine for meats that require long slow cooking after being browned properly.

The same here. A joint of lamb or a whole chicken goes in the sc. A fillet steak goes no where near it.

Oh and another thing for people (who are using their SCs) is that suet puddings do really well in a sc.

Agree with this. Everything I’ve ever had in a slow cooker, whoever it’s cooked by, tastes inferior to basically any other version of that same dish I’ve had.

So surprised by these answers mine are always lovely but you usually need far less liquid than you think.

That's not my experience.

Slow cooked chicken is the worst. It's so stringy and tasteless 🤢

I guess that’s the thing about life, everyone has different experiences, different perceptions and different tastes. You may prefer a dish that has been cooked in a slow cooker, I may prefer that very same dish cooked on the hob.
We can only answer questions based on our own experiences and in mine, slow cookers are indeed shit.

How are people having such different experiences? I make slow cooked BBQ chicken with chipotle paste and everyone loves it. It’s one of my favourite meals to make to have with tacos and homemade guacamole. That’s pulled chicken but I also make various curries and they’re all really good.

Because people have different tastes I guess. My husband is a truly excellent cook and I always prefer his version of dishes to those cooked by anyone else. There’s no way anything cooked in a slow cooker is coming close to his own version, in my opinion. Other people may feel differently, though! Neither is right or wrong, but for some people a slow cooker just isn’t worth bothering with.

I now love it but you have to be very careful which recipes you choose, I love this website now their recipes always seem to work, the korma is a favourite. Fuss Free Family Recipes & Meal Plans - Taming Twins