slow cooker help

[Mimi1977]

I bought a new slow cooker last week and have used it twice. I have cooked beef casserole and for some reason thought you needed to cover everything with water - or at least up to the level of the meat but I'm left with so much liquid - do I need to add that much? It is more than the recipes but there is usually more veg than the recipes.

Another question i have is when cooking with alcohol do I need to cook on the hob with the meat to burn off the alcohol so it's okay for children?

And what about browning the meat - yes or no?

Thanks

I never bother browning the meat but then I'm lazy My Weightwatchers leader swears by it though to make casseroles more flavoursome without having to add extra fat.

However, if you coat the raw meat in a little flour, then brown it, when it slow cooks the flour will help 'thicken' the liquid so it becomes a bit more gravy like.

Left over liquid is always a problem with slow cookers as you tend to find it doesn't evaporate like it would if you were cooking in a pan - and the food always releases more liquid if it's cooking.

I tend to have a default of making sure there is somewhere between one and two inches of liquid (I usually use boiling water to give it a headstart).

If I end up with too much, I either ladle some off or add some cornflour to thicken.

As for alcohol, I regularly do things like pork in cider or beef in beer - by the time it's done all the alchohol will have evaporated so I wouldn't worry IIWY.

unfortunately you do have to cover the meat with with water/stock or any cooking liquid you want to use, otherwise it dries out on top.

if you use some tasty stock to cook it in, you can try thicken it....or you could serve your casserole with a slotted spoon, and save/freeze the stock to cook something else in another time.

im not sure about the alcohol question, but i do know that browning the meat is optional. if you are in a hurry, just throw everything in!

You can just put the meat on the bottom and the veggies on top - but personally I've never had a problem with food drying out and I prefer to put the meat on the top as sometimes it goes a bit brown, which is great if you are faced with eating otherwise anaemic looking sausages

Of course, you can always just stir it every so often if you are actually around.

You could have either drained some off before serving or thickenned the liquid.