Slow cooker - I'm doing it wrong

[doblet]

I got a slow cooker for Xmas with a recipe book. After reading on here about how great they were I was really excited. 3 disasters later and the slow cooker is now just taking up space and the recipe book has been put in the charity shop pile.
I can't give up so easily, especially as I suspect I could still produce greatness. Please share your tips, any good recipe books or websites.

What's going wrong?
What did you make and what happened?

Joint of gammon / bacon
Can of full fat coke
6 hours on low.

Tis a delight!

Stews
Spag Bol
Chilli
Whole roast chicken
Roast beef

Oh, and if you're doing stews etc then put a dollop of cornflour, mix well and leave the lid off for the last hour to thicken the gravy.

Right i'm not very good at cooking yet slow cooker seems to work really well for me..
Last week i made sausage casserole - i cooked the sausages until brown then i whacked them in with some veg - carrots, some leftover aubergine, courgette and pepper and a tin of chopped tomatoes, a bit of water, a stock cube, some gravy granules and a little pot of "sausage traybake" i got from m&s (they still have them atm half price - 49p!) i think i might have chucked in a tin of baked beans too, just left it on high for the whole day and stirred ocasionally - added spices and Worcestershire sauce by taste.. it's a bit of a chuck it all in really..
i love slow cooker rice pudding and it's so easy to make (not so easy to clean which is bit of a pain lol )
The week before i made goulash - same base recipe just added LOTS of paprika and used beef steak and added some sour cream at the very end.. i never followed a recipe 100% just keep tasting it and add whatever you think will make it taste better!

Mine is on now. Chicken thighs, coated in flour, browned. Put in slow cooker, turned to high. Fry onion and garlic, add about 1/3 bottle red wine and table spoon tomato puree. Reduce. Add to chicken with carrots, sweet potato, celery, thyme and rosemary and cover with chicken stock. When simmering, reduce to low. I shall add rosemary dumplings in a mo.

I've tried 2 stews and a whole chicken recipe. They were all really bland. I just don't know how to adjust my normal, successful recipes to slow cooking

fry your onions and garlic first - boiled is just nasty - browning meat first is a good idea too

I can't manage to cook from scratch in mine at all but find it great for things which I precook and then let simmer or stew for ages so they are ready when we get in in the evening.

I ended up cooking my usual chilli or goulash or soup then bung it in and go out

Fry onions and garlic first otherwise everything tastes of raw onion. Use less liquid than you normally would as it doesn't evaporate the way it would in a pan. Use plenty of seasoning and get good with herbs and spices!

I can't get the stock bit right. They say cover with stock but because it doesn't evaporate it just looks watery and unappetising at the end. I've used it twice and it's just gathering dust at the moment.

Definitely brown the meat and onions first. They start to caramelise and taste completely different.

You need less liquid than you think. And you need to fry the onions. Meat less important I think, but definitely the onions. And get everything hot quickly.

It's a bit of a cheat but Schwartz do slow cooker packet mixes and the bean and sausage one is lush!