Have put £12 worth of silverside beef in the slow cooker - what do I need to do? Don't want to balls it up!

[LadyOfTheFlowers]

Grabbed some beef from Tesco while it's on half price - can't afford it otherwise - so it is somewhat of a treat and I don't want to mess it up.

I put it in the slowcooker (brand new - never used it before) and put it on low. It has been in there about 20 mins and nothing has happened yet so if that's wrong I can hoik it out. I am assuming if that's it it should be cooked by dinnertime? It weighs 1.422 kg.

Is that all I do? It seems to easy. Is it going to turn into a piece of tough old leather? I want it to be 'melt in the mouth'.
Pregnancy craving for beef is very strong and if I muck it up I will be gutted and probably cry.

seems too* easy, even.

Nope that's all I do with mine. Just chuck it in the morning and done by dinner time. It's so juicy. I'm sure some one will be able to tell you a fancy way but I think easy simple is best! And all the juices make a great gravy!
Got my beef in Tesco too

Thanks So do you think I should turn it to high then if you do yours all day?

Won't cook by dinnertime now will it on low?

I normally put my meat in hot otherwise it does take an eternity, so sart it off in a pan on the hob. Whack it up to high, but not sure if it will be done by tea time. AHve you put liquid in there too

If you've only put it in the slow cooker this afternoon, it might take a while yet! Do you have low and high settings? Mine has auto (ie starts high, then automatically switches low) and most recipes seem to suggest they will be ready after 6-8 hours. However I've not done a roast, only done stews/casseroles ie small bits of meat, so perhaps someone else can suggest how long it would take... I don't think you need liquid, I'm sure I've seen other people talking about doing their roast dry. But don't lift the lid off too much - increases cooking time by 10mins!

You could see what some people suggest here - but last person says something about having to deal with 'the silver'?? (As I've never cooked beef, I've no idea what they mean...). Also I'm not sure first answer is for slowcooker, but there's one further down that def is.

uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071103144326AAkUs7x

How big is the joint, I'm thinking you've probably had to squish it in if it's one that cost £12 (I think mine cost that much too and my slow cooker is round)
I do mine dry, I do preheat the slow cooker first though.
I would switch it on to high if I were you. If you put it on at say 12/1 and then aren't having it till 5.30/ 6 you should be fine.
With you on the pregnancy craving for beef mine has never gone wrong in the slowe cooker yet. (I'm now 31 and had the same slow cooker since I was 17 and left home)

I will check in my book for you if you want but if it only went in at 2.15pm I am not sure it will be ready for a 5-6 o'clock teatime.

Turn it up high or it won't be cooked.

I shove some red wine and herbs/bay leaf/onion in too.

It is delicious cooked this way.

The longer you can leave it in there the nicer it will be. I usually put mine in about midnight on Saturday to eat for Sunday lunch, but you should be OK for later tonight if you put it on AUTO or High.

Thanks ladies.

It should have been £12 but was on half price. I chose an elongated bit like a huge sausage beause my stupid weak hands/wrists are rubbish at carving and this way I could slice it with a normal sharp knife. Think that helped. I had to bend it round like a banana - the pot is oval.

We had to pop to the RM parcel depot so didn't actually get it out till about 7pm.

IT WAS AWESOME!!

I sliced about 8 slices off before I realised I had the knife upside down! It was so easy to slice and so soft I could even give little cubes of it to DS3 who is 1 with only 6 new teeth with no problems.

It was not dry at all and lots of juice/water came out of it to make lovely gravy without much shrinkage at all.

DH was in absolute raptures over it, as was I, and he kept on and on this morn till I let him take some to work in his sarnies!!

All in all, a great success and am going to try the ham in it tomorrow after it has spent today soaking. When do you think I should put the ham in?
It is only a £10 slowcooker from Tescos so only has settings 'low' and 'high', but we are over the moon with it!

Glad it worked, there is nothing nicer than slow cooked beef
You don't have to put any liquid in with the ham, but it is nice to put a can of cider in and some slices of apple, then the juice makes a nice sauce.
My Christmas ham joint is in my slow cooker today, its enormous, I could barely shut the lid but its smelling delicious.