Are slow cookers great or crap?

[Whenisitmysleepytime]

Dh is about to start a new job which will mean him being away from home 4 days a week.

The dc are 3&1 so still require a lot of watching which makes cooking a bit tricky.

Is a slow cooker a godsend for bunging stuff in and having a decent tea or do you just end up with slop?

Any thoughts welcome! :)

gay40 - if it scares you slosh a bit of wine in too, and some herbs, and maybe a garlic clove. you can use it for gravy if there's not too much fat

whenisit - another very easy one is curry. Tin of toms, curry paste or powder, chutney, onion, stock cube (no water), meat. optional - leftover veg if you want to get rid of it. stick it all in and mix it up. oh, i'll usually include a chopped apple and sultanas as well if i have them.

gay40

You can do it, just be brave.

I love my slow cooker and I do lots of meals in it, I think it's just the idea of all that heat and no liquid. I know the meat will produce some liquid. This might have to be a weekend experiement so I can keep an eye on it (as opposed to burning the house down with a charred joint midweek).

You will be amazed at how much liquid the meat and SC produce. To give you an idea, when I cook a gammon in mine I don't put any water in just the meat and when it is cooked there is enough stock to make soup the next day - about 3 inches in the bottom. I have a big 6 litre SC.