slow cooker

[steffy1]

my friend has just given me her slow cooker. i really want to use it because i go to university 2 days a week, and would love to come home to nice meal already done!

but what can i make in it? i know i can make beef casseroley things, but can i make spag bol in it? and what about chicken things?

any tips be great thankyou!

I think you can make anything in it.
I just throw everything in and leave it to do its stuff.

Not sure about pasra though.

oh no i just meant the pasta sauce!

so its safe to let it cook chicken too?

I think you need to brown the chicken first so it gets hot quickly and stays hot. Otherwise your risk food poisoning, I think. But yes, you can do chicken in a slow cooker. I think you can even roast them but don't know how.

Make spag bol like you usually would - I fry the onions & brown the meat first and bung it in the slow cooker with everything else. Yummy.

Except for mince, I rarely brown things before dumping in the slow cooker. Here are a few of my tried and trues:

Whole Chicken: Stuff with a chopped up onion, pat outside with a mixture of salt, pepper, paprika and garlic (or whatever spice you like). Add no liquid. Cook 8 hours on low, and you will have a chicking hanging off the bones tender and the pot half-full of juice.

Pork and Beef Roasts: Layer bottom of crock with sliced potato, sliced onion, chunked carrots etc. Lay roast on top of vegetables. Pour over with beef or chicken stock, or just a little water but then do salt and pepper the roast. Cook on low 8 hours.

Brown mince and mix up everything for spag bol in the crock. Let it cook for as long as you like and serve over pasta.

Brown mince and mix up mexican chili with lots of onions and peppers. Let cook all day. It's especially good if you start the mince browning with bacon or pancetta.

Those are the ones I use the most, but there are lots of others. You can also take frozen chicken and chuck it in still frozen, pour over a sauce (jarred or left over) and cook on high for size hours.

btw, never gotten food poisoning from a crockpot meal.

thankyou very much!