Cooking a joint of beef in a slow cooker

[Eddas]

I know there are a million slow cooker threads but I have searched and can't find answers and don't have too much time to search

I have a couple of questions, dh seems to think just chuck it all in but from what i've read on here, should I

1. fry the onions?
2. brown the beef?
3. when making stock from stock cubes do i use boiling water like it says on the packet?

Do I really need to do 1 and 2? will it make it lovely and tasty? dh spent far too much on the beef so i really want it to be gorgeous

oh and

4. add cornflour mixed with water about half an hour prior to serving? to make the stock thicker?

Sorry i'm a completely rubbish cook and I have no one in rl to ask!

TIA

No idea mate but I'm staying at your for dinner when I drop G off

I've done a brisket beef joint in the slow cooker. it was soooo tender it literally fell apart on cutting

I didn't fry/onion anything, put veg in the bottom, Carrots, swede and diced onion, placed joint on top and added about 1/4 pint of boiling water. (saves the slow cooker heating it up which takes yonks) Put the lid on and leave.

If you fry the onions and beef first, then you will not only add some colour, but also it will add different flavours - the onions will caramelise a little.

As it will only take a few minutes, probably worth doing this!

I don't know enough about slow cooking to know about the boiling water, but I would imagine that the answer is that it should be boiling, as it will help to keep the temperature up rather than the slow cooker having to heat water up from cold.

And with my slow cooker, as you have to turn it on for 10 minutes before you put any food in, to ensure that the temperature isn't too low, I would imagine that boiling water would help keep the cooking time down/within the time of the recipe.

I do it both ways.

Yes the beef looks more cooked if browned, can look a bit grey if you don't brown first. but it doesn't realy matter.

As for boiling stock i always put in boiling stock, but that only because it said so in the instructions.

ok, so frying doesn't matter too much, and boiling water for stock. I thought it made sense to add boiling water temperature wise

eandh you can stop if you like, there's plenty! He bought it for 4, coz when the butcher asked how many he thought 4 2 adults and 2 children do not need beef for 4! He spent £20 on a pack of 8 sausages, beef and bacon it better taste nice! The sausages were tiny things, not sure if they tasted good as they were so smalL

Thanks for the advice, I may fry things up, like BIWI says it doesn't take long. Off to do my other jobs first and see how much time's left!