Two meals slow-cooked so far. Two piles of inedible slop

[Bibulus]

I don't know how this is so difficult!

one chicken stew with chicken legs that completely disintegrated into individual fibres

one pearl barley stew (Hugh F-W's) which turned into lumpy glue

and both of them tasted of nothing! all the lovely veg etc I put in was totally annihilated

Each time I have left it on low all day and gone to work. That's how it's supposed to work, isn't it?

Just switched mine off with today's dinner - large gammon/ham joint been in for 4 hours on high with a splash of water in the bottom (2nd one this week, bit obsessed!), to have with spuds & cabbage later and sandwiches/ham & eggs the rest of the week.

Great bolognese/ragu recipe the whole family loves, especially the toddlers. The extract & recipe below comes from Giorgio Locatelli's 'how to cheat Italian', in The Observer years ago:

8. Use a slow cooker

Slow cookers are an excellent investment and very safe. You can make foolproof slow-cooked ragu in one. Put two kilos of minced beef, browned, two chopped carrots, a chopped celery stalk, two chopped onions, a bouquet garni, two cloves of garlic, a bottle of red wine, a litre of passata, five tablespoons of olive oil, a litre of water and some salt and pepper (this will serve eight) in the cooker first thing in the morning and then when you get home from work you'll have the best ragu.

I've found it goes much further than 8, freezes really well too.

Ditto what some have said about chicken & bones. I sometimes cook for 8 hours on low, which causes the bones to disintegrate, but 4 hours on high keeps it intact.

Also, did you know there are now sachets of mixes (Colmans) specifically for the slow cooker - check them out in the supermarket if you want a gentle introduction to slow cooking (haven't tried them myself yet)

Stuckinthefens - I've read somewhere that opening the lid reduces the cooking temp by 20%, which might be why results aren't as good.

Step away from the slow cooker (sometimes the temptation get's the better of me, and I always kick myself afterwards!)

How do you do the falafels GhostTrain?

I have had success frying off chicken breasts and then putting them into the slow cooker with herbs, wine and haricot beans, cooking on high for half an hour before I leave in the morning, at about 8am, and then turning it down to low for the rest of the day until we eat around 6.30 or so.

You can extend the cooking time by filling the crock the night before and storing the whole pot in the fridge overnight. Also using frozen veg.

If I cook chicken - I tend to do a whole chicken - or lay the chicken pieces on top of the stew (out of the liquid). All day is still bit of a push though.

I was put off slow cookers after reading this

www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=77093883&postcount=15

Clicketyclick - I can't follow your link without registering - what's the thread title on that forum called and I'll search it?

Mixed results with mine.

Did some buffalo wings that were a disaster - dry and burned after less than recommended cooking time. Also made some tasteless casserole/stew things.

I love it for chilli con carne or spag bol as I like the texture of the mince when it's cooked slowly, rather than like chewy little worms.

Roasted a whole chicken in it last weekend for the first time. Stuck a lemon and some thyme up its bum, slashed the thighs and left it about four hours. Was delicious and juicy. Looked a bit peelywally though so finished it off in the oven to crisp the skin.

Gammon joint I did the other day was divine. Got the gammon joint in the reduced 'quick sale still fresh' section of the supermarket, down to about £3 from £7 I think. I just popped it in the SC with some honey on it and I think I cooked it for about ten hours. It absolutely fell to bits when I lifted it out - like pulled pork I guess - and we had it with new potatoes, veg and cheese sauce, plus there was loads left to have on sarnies with mustard.

I also made my Christmas pud in the slow cooker the year before last which was great - no clouds of steam in the kitchen!

I probably use my SC at least once a week.

I love my slow cooker!!I have never had any problems with anything I have made (soups, stews, bolognese, chilli, joints of meat). I literally chuck all the ingredients in and leave it. I am out if the house for approx 10 hours on my work days and never had a problem!!

I make my soup in mine.

I find slow cooking works best if you put the seasoning in at the end. Especially garlic and fresh herbs. The only seasoning I put in at the beginning is whole peppercorns.

I have a slow cooker book, but all the recipes were ones you would make normally, then left in the slow cooker for an arbitrary amount of time - why not just shove in the oven. There is a 2 hour porridge recipe - yeah like I'm going to get up at 5am to put on the porridge

Possibly it does come into its own for soups or really oldfashioned meat stews. Or a Sunday lunch where you can be out for 3-4 hours at church/football/carboot sale.

I am a slow cooker whizz kid.....after a tricky start but oh so worth persevering til you get the hang of it.....

Easy few recipes to get you on track -

Stewing steak, pour over some ale until meat 3/4 covered, leave for at least 6 hours on slow

Leg of lamb, 1/2 bottle of red wine and some water, add some rosemary and garlic into slits in the lamb leg, slow for at least 7 hours

I hope you get on OK with it, I think it is fab and use it loads now I'm more confident with it

Xx

Huffpot, the falafel recipe is here

crockpot365.blogspot.co.uk/2008/05/crockpot-falafel-recipe.html

You do have to prepare the falafel balls so it's not pure slow-cookery. But it's pretty easy once you've done it a couple of times, the results are great, and you can do massive batches and freeze. So it's worth the preparation at the beginning.

I'm thinking of taking my slow cooker camping this year (we'll obviously have an electric hook up!)

What do you think, and does anybody have a good recipe for porridge in a slow cooker?

I've always had good results with meat, especially chicken and pork.

The only thing I failed at was rice, it was a white stodgy mess!

jane, why not get one of these at the weekend? www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/special_buys3_24268.htm Then you'll have a slow cooker and a fast cooker - for porridge and fry-ups. Getting close to glamping, even

This is a fantastic book for slow cooker recipes:
www.amazon.co.uk/Ultimate-Slow-Cooker-Delicious-Recipes/dp/0600618951/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1334955911&sr=8-7

has all sorts of things in it; curries, stews, roasts, puddings, soups, etc etc

Current favourite is pork with a star anise and orange sauce which is heavenly.

It also has a useful section at the beginning where it explains a bit about the basics of slow cooking so you can adapt your own recipes.

Things like reducing the amount of liquid in a recipe - but also it's different from cooking in an oven because you would usually put say a casserole in and the sauce would evaporate and become more concentrated. In a slow cooker the water comes out of the meat/veg etc and makes it more dilute, which means any liquid you add needs to be more flavoursome - eg if you are adding wine add a slosh of sherry/port/brandy as well to give it a bit of a boost.

And if you are doing a roast chicken, give it a quick spray of light oil or rub a little oil over it at the start of the cooking and it seems to colour itself much better and get a bit crispier (not as good as in the oven but certainly not all flacid and pale as it can be). Likewise with lamb, a quick squirt/rub of oil before cooking can really help it appearance-wise

Love my slow cooker! Nothing like walking in the door at 5pm and smelling your supper. Though we did buy a timer for the plug the other week but it didn't work (human error). Was gutted

Lamb and apricot couscous is brilliant - put a squirt of honey at the bottom of the pot, add some cumin and cinnamon then bung in 1 chopped red onion, some garlic, couple of peppers, handful dried apricots, packet of diced lamb and empty a tin of chopped tomatoes over the top.

It will withstand 10 hours on low (!) and you can serve with couscous, so tea can be on the table v.quickly.

OP - Need to follow the instructions on your machine/instruction manual rather than recipe books first. Once you get to know your machine well, you can try cookbook/tv recipes. I find that those celeb chef recipes, and a few from cookbooks, always assume you are available to hover over the dish and make a few adjustments and checks - until you've worked out what you need. One chef's recipes always need more cooking time, another one I have a lot less - if we left it as long as written, we'd have space food (ie v dehydrated, lol....)

To be hinest I had mixed results

The issue I have is I often find the meat flaverless and often miss time when to put the veg in lest I out them in to earl and they turn to much

I think pearl barley was a bit risky to be honest. It often goes gluey. I think you have to season with a heavier hand than usual.

I'm a recent convert to the slow cooker but I love it, I've done all sorts of things in it. Got a large gammon joint in it at the moment, it will stay in overnight ready for lunch tomorrow. Can't see me doing a chilli in a frying pan ever again, or a bolognese come to that, they just taste so much better in the slow cooker.
Love the smell of cooked tea when you walk through the door after a hectic day....

Rice pudding is marvellous done in a slow cooker - just like my mother used to make in an Aga.

i often whack mine on at 8.00 am and then we have tea at about 4 - briskets, boneless cheapy chicken thighs, bologneses or meatballs - anything i have tried doing with my own stock has gone tits up so generally these are convenience versions with a jar whacked over them or a tin of toms with various chopped veg as well or just t he joint on its own with just a layering of really thick gravy (ahhh bisto) on the bottom. I know this is far from being a domestic goddesss but im all about the convenience. Doing a ncie joint in it as wel is ideal and a godsend for xmas day (set timer to come on at 3am) and whack turkey lurkey inthe main oven. Nigella eat your heart out , (or just die of shame)