beef in a slow cooker,HELP

[jenk1]

i bought the beef yesterday to have this afternoon and it says its good slow cooked.
i havent done a joint of beef before in my slow cooker.
so im unsure of what to put in with it, ie water and how much.

TIA

A little stock or even better wine, chopped onion and turn it on and leave it.

how much liquid do i put in it?
sorry thicko emoticon needed here

The liquid won't reduce so just enough to make the gravy that you want with it (IYSWIM) Enough to cover the bottom of the slow cooker

i've never done a whole joint in the slow cooker, just diced braising steak etc. i put loads of wine in and then thicken to make a nice gravy.

you can just do it in the oven on a low heat. have you got one of those casserole/roasting tins with a tray in the bottom?

you put the joint in that with some onions cut in half and some large chunks of carrot and enough stock to cover the base of the dish then bung the lid on and cook slowly.

just found this homeparents.about.com/od/beefslowcookerrecipes/r/pot_roast.htm which might help.

hope it's tasty!

thanks mcdreamy and paddlechick.

I make a little instant gravy and add a spoon of horseradish. Like mcDreamy says you only need to add enough to cover the bottom of the slow cooker. I find this kind of joint releases loads of liquid.
As an aside I have using the slow cooker this week in JULY!!!!!!!!

no prob.

i use my slow cooker all year round. last week we had a lovely chicken and vegetable casserole with rice.

dd lives on what i do in the slow cooker and then batch up and freeze. don't know what i'd do without it tbh!

never thought to do a whole joint tho - might try that sometime.

joint of lamb is a great done this way too.

I also remove most of the skin from whole chicken and cook in the slow coker. The most recent one was with red onion,garlic,chilli flakes, orange juice (from a carton)and a table spoon of cranberry sauce. The sauce was fantastic once I had thickened it.
I threw it in all after deciding to use up the stuff I had sitting around in the fridge

I've not tried doing a whole joint before either. It sounds lovely. Do you just leave it in for the usual 6-8 hours. Do you need to brown it first? I need to borrow the 'thicko emoticon' I think - haven't had my slow cooker very long but I love it!

oh yes i forgot about that, the browning, DH might not like it if its not browned. so should i brown it first?

you can but I never do. I can't stand making the extra mess to be honest.
What I find is that the meat that is above the juice browns anyway!
when are you going to put it in ?

I never bother either

putting it in now so its ready for 7pm tonight

How was it jenk? Hope it was nice

hiya, yes it was lovely, thanks for all the help and suggestions.

Ooh I've never done a whole joint before either. What about Lamb?

Lamb is fab, it just falls off the bone mmmmm

I'm thinking add a bit of red wine and mint or rosemary? Or should I add some water as well?

Mmmm, I usually brown the beef joint first, then bung it in the slow cooker, add a bottle of red wine, then cook on slow for about 6-7 hours. It falls apart, soooo tender. The red wine can then be used to make a lovely rich gravy with chopped up mushrooms and onions.

i don't brown anything first - takes the easiness of a slowcooker away imo

i stick in the joint and pour alcohol of some sort over...
beef - red wine or beer
pork - cider (aple juive if pushed )
chicken - white wine

easy peasy and delish

I don't put any liquid in mine. Just bung in switch on and go to work. It's fine!

What about adding onions and mushrooms to the red wine? (With beef or lamb?) to make a gravey and cook the joint all at once?!!