How do I use this old crockpot ?

[Elasticatedwaist]

Haven’t had a kitchen now for over 2 weeks. No oven or hob just a microwave.
I’ve acquired a really old crockpot (dad found it in his loft). Anyway , I’ve got some stewing beef defrosted but not sure how best to do it. Can anyone help please ? I’m not the best with cooking to begin with so keep it simple if you can 😂

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/slow-cooker-beef-recipes

Have a look online for clow cooker recipes. The beef plus a tin of tomatoes, some stock and 8 hours on slow or 4 hours on high, will cook it for you.

You may find that onions stay crunchy ifyou can't brown them first, and potatoes and carrots take a lon time to cook so cut them small if you can. Curries, spiced food, works well as the spices have longer to permeate. (Don't be afraid to use microwave rice pouches to go with it, they taste find and you need all the help you can get with no kitchen to speak of)

You need a packet of dried onions, a tin of chopped tomatoes, some veg (a stick of celery and a carrot or two), a beef stock cube dissolved in a mug of boiling water and a glass of red wine.

Spread the onions across the bottom of the crockpot. Mix all the other ingredients in a bowl and pour over the onions. Lid in and cook on high for 4h or low for 6h.

Taste and season. Add salt/black pepper/chilli/paprika/mixed herbs according to your liking.

Served with microwaved rice or jacket potatoes.

If the crockpot is big enough you can also tuck smallish potatoes in around the edge of the stew.

Also google crockpot recipes and slowcooker recipes. There are masses online.

Don't bother with precooking anything or browning meat, it's not really necessary, just chuck in meat, veg, some stock,, herbs, leave it on high at least until simmering then you can turn down.

Thankyou much appreciated 😊

Do you know how old it is? I have my original slow cooker purchased in the early 1980s. They were made differently then and really do cook very slowly indeed, i.e. at lower temperatures than modern ones. I believe they were fashionable for a while then, dropped out of favour, and then when slow cooking became popular again the newer ones run much hotter. I don't know why.

Anyway, when I make a stew in my old slow cooker, I start everything off on the hob so it's hot when it goes in, I have it on High for the first 30 minutes or an hour to give it a good start, and then I turn it down to Auto and it cooks all day, i.e. 12-14 hours, no attention needed at all. It could be done a good deal quicker by keeping it on High all the way through, but 4 hours wouldn't be long enough. 8 hours, maybe.

If yours is as old as mine, I think you can get round the lack of hob by using boiling water for stock and as others have said chop the veg quite small. You can quite safely set it off this evening, leave it on all night and see how it's doing in the morning. Stews often taste better for being made in advance and re-heated. Once it's all cooked, switch off and leave to get cold, then keep in fridge until you're ready to re-heat in the microwave.

Good luck!