Yup! I use the slow cooker weekly. BTW, I use boiling water from the kettle and a squeeze of dish luquid to clean the ceramic "pot" of the slow cooker. Just let the hot water do the work for two minutes. It works on any residue, or any pot for that matter. I learned that from an old army cook years ago. Use a nylon brush to remove the harder to remove bits to not scratch the glazed finish. NEVER use abrasives on the glazed portion of your slow cooker!
I am a slow cooker fan I fry and put a good piece of beef in slow cooker and cook Portuguese sopas with linguiça and pour it over bread. I use a cup of wine and you cannot taste the wine. It takes 8 to 9 hours.
That is what I did, but I either soaked it all night or for a couple hours. Mine is a old one from the 70's and its one piece pot, but it still works like new. I have to clean it in a empty sink or put hot soapy water in it, let it soak sitting on the counter. its a Rival Crock pot slow cooker in Red. My favorite Aunt gave it to me when I was 24 and I am now almost 63. I have a newer one but this one is my favorite
My wife died in June of 2017. Since then, I have been working on my cooking skills a bit. I have a pressure cooker and a slow cooker the wife used. So, I'm picking up some ideas from the net, and hope to start working with both a bit more in the coming weeks and months. Thanks for the channel. I'll be checking it out.
I've been cooking for my family for 55 years. A slow cooker is just another tool. Most of this advice is spot on. Exceptions are: Peeking won't make a difference if not done every 10 minutes. Liners not needed, it's ceramic, cleans easily. Frozen foods, not ideal, but no big deal. Searing is preferred for better depth of flavor, but it will be fine regardless. Bottom line, it is hard to screw up a slow cooked meal. It will always come out edible. With some experimentation it will come out fantastic. Just have fun with it and don't worry.
Beans can be tricky and need to be checked during cooking, especially for liquid content. Burned them once, and trust me, that is a smell that lingers in the house for days:).
You ABSOLUTELY have to sear the meat. If you don’t sear it, you are stuck with something that tastes like boiled meat. I hated slow cookers for the longest time, but my husband loved them and grew up having slow cooker meals all of the time. I finally got the idea to sear a pork roast on all sides and then I put them in the crockpot. The pork roast tasted like carnitas. It was incredible! I finally found a way for both of us to be happy.
I make rotisserie style chicken in my crock pot all the time; There is no need to remove the skin. The only rule to follow is that the chicken must be lifted slightly during the cooking process so it won't soak in its own fat. To do this you must line the bottom of the crock-pot with aluminum foil balls about 2-3 inches in diameter. 6-8 aluminum foils balls should be enough. some people use those small red potato's but the aluminum foil is more versatile. The trick is to lift the chicken up but you still want to be able to close the lid. Hope this trick helps.
I read somewhere that to thicken gravy in a slow cooker use cornstarch not flour. I tried it and it is a better result. I do it about 20 min before it is done. I also always add a pat of butter because it really makes gravy taste better. ( A tip from my Italian mother.)
Opening the lid does not add thirty minutes cooking time as the air does not contain that much heat compared to the thermal mass of the food and the crock pot itself. You might lose some moisture but the contained air will quickly be re-saturated once the lid is put back on. This is a myth.
You'd think people would realize this from most slow cookers having a thin, ventilated glass lid. Slow cookers are not pressure cookers and they certainly aren't ovens. I mean, on one hand they say not to open the top because it adds half an hour, but then say to add the vegetables in the last half hour. If it takes a half hour to get back up to temp then how do the vegetables cook?
I was in chemical engineering. When you lift the lid, you lose about 1000 watts which is bout 20 of those 60 watt light bulbs.. which is why it feels so hot to your hand. The cooker is about 200 watts or 4 light bulbs worth of heat per second. Thus, it will take about 5 seconds to restore the heat youve lost by opening it. The video says 30 minutes worth of lost heat. Well that is 30 x 60 x 1000 or 1,800,000 watts of lost heat which is like 1800 stove burners at once per sqft. So according to the video, if you opened that lid for one second, it should burn right through your hand and set your ceiling on fire.
I agree on everything except using a slow cooker liner, as with the long cooking process; u don't know what side effects cooking on a plastic base might have on ur health. I noticed I would have more frequent headaches and abdominal pain when I use slow cookers liners, I just cook the food inside the slow cooker now, don't care about tough cleaning afterwards, as long it doesn't affect my health.
You can cook with wine in the slow cooker as long as you cook it down before putting it in. After you've browned your meat in whatever pan you use, you can deglaze the pan with the wine which will cook off the alcohol. Normally you'd be adding aromatics anyway (carrots, onions, celery) to soften them up. Deglazing after cooking the aromatics and allowing the wine to reduce a bit will give you some amazing flavor.
I own a slow cooker with an insert that you can put on the stove top. I take it out and cook the onions sear the meat and cook the alcohol off and then put it in the slow cooker for the desired amount of time. Just means ALL of the flavour stays in the cooker when done. It wasn't that expensive either. A few of these "mistakes" are just click bait rubbish.
Common mistake: thinking your slow cooker cooks slow when set on slow. New ones cook much faster, I think because of liability issues. Check the heat of your crockpot dish occasionally with a thermometer. If it's much above about 200 you can opt to lower the temp by cracking the lid off a half inch until the temp goes down (a couple of minutes.) The old crockpots cooked truly slowly and the dishes tasted better. (Some people put frozen foodhh in their slow cooker, and that may cause a health issue, I think.)
never had a problem with mine. we put frozen meat in all the time & never gotten sick. we usually use dried seasonings anyway cuz its cheaper so idk bout that one. never used a crock pot bag cuz theyre expensive & i dont relish the idea of cooking my food for several hrs in plastic. my crockpot is my best friend & nobody will change my mind. oh, and it doesnt use that much electricity! my bill has never gone up & i use it several times a week.
romeoneverdies thats usually what i do, thaw it in the fridge the night before. but sometimes we put a frozen roast in the crock pot & its been fine. ive put frozen chicken breasts in too & they turned out good. but yea i usually thaw overnight in fridge.
@Mandy Alley: if you are willing to take the risk, it's your prorogative. My thought is, that it can go well 9 times out of 10, but it only takes it going wrong one time for your family to get really really sick. Personally I prefer to take my risks with other things in life rather than my family's health. I do trust slow cookers when used in an appropriate way. Not judging, just sharing my personal choice in the matter.
As someone who has been cooking with a slow cooker since the 1980's - The 30 minute per every time you open the lid is false, also cooking a whole chicken with the skin on is easy and preferred, just put some onions sliced in half cut part down on the bottom and put the chicken on top - turns out perfect
I agree with you Dave! The skin on the chicken holds in the moisture resulting in a much more tender bird! If a person does not prefer the soft skin they can simply remove it after the cooking process👍I always put the onions in the bottom to protect meat from burning as well! Works like a charm😋
I like to make Coq au Vin in my slow cooker, which usually involves adding a whole bottle of red wine. It has never come out "too boozy." Always delicious.
I would never , never ever put frozen meat in a slow cooker I think it not sanitized at all ,but that’s just me.yes let the people know ,thank you for your ideas about the slow Cooker great job 👍👍👍👌👍👌👍👌👍👌👍👍👌👍✌️
I agree with every single one of these, except for one. I don't find the process of cleaning the slow-cooker liner to be a cumbersome one at all. I don't let it soak. Rather, I just fill it with hot soapy water, then take a scouring sponge and really just wipe down the sides and bottom with it. Pretty much everything will come right off, and I don't use a liner or resit at all, unless I'm making something in there that will have a tendency to stick, like pasta. But these are all very good tips that people should know. Allow me to add a couple more that a lot of people do not know. Most of your aromatics, you're strongly flavoured ingredients that lend a good deal of flavor to your dish, such as garlic and onions, have a lot of liquid in them that needs to be driven off before you start the slow cooking process. If your recipe calls 4 onion, use a hell of a lot of it, and cook it down with your other flavor base ingredients before you put it in the slow cooker. Let me explain. One of my favorite slow cooker recipes is a basic marinara sauce that makes about three quarts. The recipe starts out with two large yellow onions and about eight cloves of garlic, some tomato paste, and some dried oregano. If I was to just dump all that stuff in the slow cooker with the Tomato products, I would end up with something so watered down that it would not be pleasant to eat. So you add a little olive oil to your large Skillet, cook those onions and other things down until the onions shrink and give up a lot of their liquid, delays with about a 1/2 cup of dry red wine and let it reduce a bit, then add it to your slow cooker along with crushed tomatoes and tomato puree. The flavor concentrates down and the sauce is a lot thicker and richer. This goes for any other recipe for soup or stew or pasta sauce. In slow cooker recipes then you would for stovetop dishes. Greatly over cook their chicken in the slow cooker. I have some rules on this. I never ever make a whole chicken in the slow cooker. I only use boneless skinless chicken breast boneless skinless chicken thighs in the slow cooker. And when using these, the cooking time should never ever go past about 3 and 1/2 or 4 hours. Any longer than that, and you're going to ruin your dish.
I have a Russell Hobbs large Slow Cooker, and the cooking pot is so easy to clean! I don't have to use any scrub material, just rinse it with warm water and a little Washing up Liquid.
@@jodyel dishwasher components and your plumbing, and greatly shortens the life of your dishwasher. No need for that, I personally would rather spend my money on something else, rather than replacing my dishwasher every 3 or 4 years, because I'm too lazy to wash my dishes properly. But your basic point is correct, the liner can go into the dishwasher just fine.
@@twosocks1976 The crockpot insert is what goes in the dishwasher. Washes up well and never had an issue. My dishwasher is just fine and older than 4 years. SMH lol
Being an older lady and using my crock pot for years, it only takes a few moments to search the meat.Doing so seals in the inner flavor and juices as it slow cooks,and makes for a thicker savory au jus cooking liquid at the end that is rich and delicious.Well worth the effort.
Not sure I agree about the part about not throwing fresh herbs in until towards the end...I've done pot roast with thyme, rosemary, and a bayleaf, all fresh, and I put them in at the start. The leaves on the first two tend to come off and you're just left with the sprigs by the end, but the flavor just penetrates the meat and liquid in a great way, so I'm sticking with this method.
You can cook from frozen. You just have to keep in mind that it could take longer and probably should not cook it on low. I do it all the time when i make pulled chicken for my enchiladas. It usually is done in about 6 or 7 hours. I have never gotten sick from it and I am pretty sensitive to things like that.
its not because you "can" that you "should" cooking never kills all the bacteria ... that’s just a myth. cooking kills most of the pathogens ( not all of them and not all bacteria are pathogens etc) cooking frozen food is never advised because the time it will take to thaw out while cooking will expose the cooked area to the frozen and thawing areas thus bacteria will be able to grow and so its possible to pathogens to develop that wont be killed and the meat wont be fully cooked and or will be spoiled with bacteria ( without you knowing it) this is why you should never cook from frozen to slow cooker , but you can thaw the meat in the fridge the night before(depending on the meat size) and let it cook all day and it will be perfectly fine. same you would with a turkey or any meat/ method of cooking . defrosting in the microwave is also not really a good idea if the meat wont be exposed to very high heat and cooked throughout very rapidly afterwards.
Once the contents of the slow cooker have reached high temperature, lifting the lid doesn't cool the temp. Unless you forget to replace the lid for a bloody hour.
The frozen food thing is kind of on a case by case basis.... whenever you're using frozen food, ALWAYS put the slow cooker on high. This will minimize the amount of time the food spends in the temperature range where bacteria grows the most. I wouldn't put huge chunks of frozen food in there either. Chicken cubes? Sure. Frozen veggies? Awesome. Big chicken breasts? No. A large chicken breast will spend quite a bit of time in the danger zone, giving that bacteria lots of time to produce toxins that make us sick 👍 Just thaw it in the microwave if you're short on time. Thawing something in a microwave is 100% cool as long as you cook it immediately
"Don't open the slow cooker while cooking because each time you do it adds an extra half hour to the cooking time." "Add your dairy products one half hour before your dish is done so they won't curdle." Wouldn't doing that add an extra half hour to the cooking time? If you added it a half hour before it was done wouldn't you have to cook the dish an hour longer and wouldn't that make the cream curdle? Or, should you wait until it's done, then add the dairy products and then cook it for an extra half hour and wouldn't that over cook the dish? And what do you do if you add fresh herbs? At that rate you may end up eating pizza for dinner.
Mary Therese McCool mine is ceramic, even the messiest meals aren’t hard to clean. I’ve cooked potato soup in mine and it cleans off after soaking for about 30 mins.
Mine too. I don't even know how to cook and bought my first slow cooker just to be able to make the Mississippi pot roast in it. Every single time I've made it, cleaning the cooker after has been effortless!
Please, tell me what brand you are using? I've tried 3 different brands, and had to start using the liners with all of them. I follow all the care instructions to the letter, but they still de-glaze and start to crack. Medium was never once used for solids, only stocks, but it stuck at the top the worst of all. It finally cracked into pieces, while using a liner.
So true, and the potatoes and carrots can turn to mush. It’s even worse if you’ve forgotten the seasoning and salt. #ILoveMyMom #ButtEye #BecameAChef #ToSurviveMyChildhood
My venison roasts always go in frozen and spend all day in the "spa". Never had an issue. Always turn out moist, tender and delicious. I have tried thawing them overnight first, but they then turn out dry... Frozen is the way to go!
FYI you can actually do slow cooking without a specific slow cooker, use a large enough pot, put on low heat with lid on, works great especially for those tougher meats!
I always do meat sauce, so yes, I do brown what ever I am doing with the meat. but sometimes I just buy canned diced tomato's with onions and peppers already in it, and mushrooms you can just put in the sauce in the crock pot. I did add about a cup of burgundy wine too. The sauce always came out a deep nice red color, besides tasting so good, it looks really good too
you have to brown the meat, but if you cook it all day, try dropping everything else in there and see how it turns out, but you might have to cook it longer, but I would just go to onion powder and garlic doesn't need to be browned. I really don't like lots of onion in it so I really prefer the onion powder, and it seems to work just fine. Hey that one about " if you don't believe me" was not to you, the dude before you called me a liar but he messed up the spelling LOL. So just brown your ground meat and drain it, you don't want that extra grease, and toss the meat and everything else in and cook it for 6 or 8 hours. I used to start it on high and after a hour turned it down to low, and let it cook and like the lady said, DON'T take the kid off. Try it you'll love it and let me know how it comes out. Also I use a Better Homes and Garden Cookbook recipe for hamburger Spaghetti sauce I believe it was called. but now I kind of wing it after all these years. My Mom gave me the cook book when I moved out on my own, in 1979
that would be a mess, just brown the meat in your non stick skillet and drain it and add it into the pot with everything else. I have done something else in my old crock pot, and I didn't brown anything, several pieces of chicken on the bone, spices and a jar of spaghetti sauce and let it cook all day , Cook some pasta just before dinner, put the sauce on the pasta and chicken on the side, its really easy and good. I saw my cousin do something once that was also good, she had a frozen pork roast and put it in her oval crock pot along with potato's and carrots and a onion soup mix, and a can of cream of mushroom soup, turned it on and let it cook all day long, it was really good even as left overs, and a friend at work did the Chili verde with a cheaper cut of pork and green verde sauce in her slow cooker and made really good tacos. There are lot of things you can cook in these things, . Check on on youtube, Campbell soup has some great recipes on here and a couple are Slow cooker recipes, check it out. And let me know how your sauce comes out.
Nonya Bizwax I really hate to point out that a slow cooker is not designed to save you time it is designed to be economic and use otherwise wasted time to cook something slowly so let the pot soak an hour and it's easy to clean and healthier than cooking in a plastic bag.
There is no solid proof that cooking in a plastic bag is bad, it's pure pseudo cooks like yourself that try to sell that as a valid point not doing it. You never use zip lock bags? Or get beef in a plastic package? You seriously want to worry about a baggie in a slow-cooker. That in itself already makes your point laughable...everything you buy is packed in plastic.
Michel Linschoten ha ha a little research will indicate that bpa is the most common chemical to leach out of plastic that has been heated in my country you would not cook in plastic you remove onto a plate I don't use zip lock bags I use glass and wood utensils to cook with. To store things single use plastic is ok the problem starts when you heat it up so I know you think your really good using big words but mate get back to school learn what your talking about then come tell me plastic is safe to cook in..and stop being so fucking lazy and wash up after...
Some of these make sense, some of them are common sense or totally optional, and some are nonsense. Not gonna lie, it seems like they're going entirely off blog data rather than first-hand experience. The peaking claim that removing the lid even once adds 30 mins to cook time each time lifted is total and 100% bullshit. Although my girlfriend claims the same thing, I routinely, but not excessively, stir and check my slow cooker meals and never had several hours added to cook time. That part made zero sense. I think they meant, "Don't fuck with it too much." I've worked in kitchens too long, where we cooked stews and the like low and slow, to believe that shit. We didn't even use slow cookers and had equally tender and fully cooked proteins and veg.
Frank Gutowski see, now that makes sense. They claimed that, in a slow cooker, every single time you lift the lid, it adds an additional 30 mins to cook time. If that were true, you would hear, all over the internet, how it takes excessively long and up to 24 hours to cook meals. Lol
technically it does add cook time , but peeking a few times ( 2-3 times ) doesn't do much for a cook time that is already long the slow cooker will not add the time automatically since cooking is an "eyeball" thing anyway its doubtful someone would notice a major difference unless they are peeking every 10 min.
ThursdayMonkey475 true. ive never used any rules etc. with a slow cooker. if that had to be the case, i would just go ahead, and use rehular pots, and pans.
Yes the "adds 30 minutes to cook time" is bullshit and impossible. Using the 30 minute logic, if I peaked 12 times in a 6 hour period, the meal would be no closer to "done" than when I started. It also implies the meal would never be done if a lid wasn't used.
The biggest mistake is buying a new "slow" cooker. New models cook at a way higher temperature than older ones because the "experts" say it is dangerous to cook at low temps. So if your slow cooker meals don't come out like you remember your mother's, that's probably why!
Most slow cookers have low and high settings, regulated by a thermostat to keep it constant. You can slow-cook a quart of water from cold, on each setting, and after an hour or so, use your cooking thermometer to test the temperature it is raised to.
Always heat the wine to let the alcohol to evaporate before using in a slow cooker or the taste is not the same. I’ve read countless slow books in my life and only one book pointed this out, try it.
I once tried to make peeking duck in our slow cooker. Every time I peeked, my lovely wife would swat my ear and I would duck. I didn’t follow the rules, but now I know. Thanks.
If you have anything with bones in it you should throw it in boiling water for 10-15 mins to get most of the gunk out (ox tail, ribs, neck chops etc). Ever wondered why alot of your meat dishes almost all taste identical in a slow cooker, its the salts in the blood stewing that turns to gunk adding a metallic flavour. Just because its a slow cooker doesnt mean you can get away with no prep work before hand!
My Family slow cooker favorites: A) BUSH'S BAKED BEANS, PINEAPPLE, BROWN SUGAR, BACON BITS.....LET IT GO SLOW-N-LOW 8 HRS AND EAT WITH RICE B) SMOKED HAM HOCKS, CHICKEN STOCK, GARLIC, BLK PEPPER.....COOK LOW OVERNIGHT/8 HOURS AND ENJOY... YOU CAN ADD ANY DRIED BEANS THE LAST 2 HOURS OF THE COOK OR ANY VEGGIES C) CHICKEN LEGS OR THIGHS, 2 BOTTLES OF BBQ SAUCE, 4 CUPS CHICKEN STOCK......8 HRS LATER...YUMMM D) Chili.......any way you like, it's chili !!!!! I add cooked ground beef, ham and chicken E) SUPERBOWL SPECIAL : 2 BIG BLOCKS VELVETTA CHEESE, 2 LARGE JARS OF SALSA, COOKED GROUND BEEF OR COOKED CRUMBLED BACON ( 1LB PACKAGE) - HEAT ON LOW & .DIP YOUR CHIPS OR ANYTHING ELSE....YUMMY *** I PUT EVERYTHING IN BEFORE WORK AND BY THE TIME YOU GET HOME, DINNER IS READY & WAITING...NO FUSS
......and speigels''-catalog''...company used to carry cast iron cookware along with ...ACE-HARDWARE-STORES-'''...'''THK/s-for-'''POSTING""...gotta-go-collect some FIREWOOD for my OLD CAST-iron''...pot-beLLy-STOVE''...like in the movie ...(T/Color-purple-'...with Danny-GLOVER & Whoopi-Goldberg-'''...i/m still ''LAUGHING"'...scene when his DUMBAss''...lit the ''STOVE""...with Kerosene''...
These are very helpful tips, thank you! I love adding maple syrup, fresh from home, to pork and other roasts and slow cooking with root vegetables for rich, deep flavor.
I know your comment is 3 years old But If you love maple syrup with meats..Other ideas is Brown sugar, Liquid smoke, molasses, My girlfriends fav is equal White vinegar And soya sauce And Half of that in water...boil chicken Or pork bites in a pot with a lid....Pork and chicken Adobo ..You can also add in garlic And other spices Base you're rice Or potato And plate the meat followed by a scoop of the sauce over everything
@@freakyflow sounds great! thanks for the tip. That sounds very similar to a marinade/dressing I make. I believe it has maple, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic or garlic powder and olive oil in it.
Yes, there is a reason not to put frozen food into a ceramic slow cooker and it has little to do with bacteria. I put frozen food into a slow cooker and made a mess. The heat from the slow cooker combined with the freezing food causing undue thermal stress and the ceramic pot cracked. Needless to say, I had somewhat of a mess on my hands. You can somewhat avoid this issue by thawing the food or using the low setting to heat the food more slowly over time. That is the real reason not to put frozen foods into a crock pot. Of course, if your slow cooker liner is made of metal, then it likely won't be a problem.
or you could have avoided the whole problem by adding some liquid in the bottom......and cook the food on low.............i have used crockpots for decades and yes thrown in frozen meat and have never had one break.....ever.............
There was plenty of liquid in the pot. Didn't solve the problem. In fact, I believe it was the highly chilled liquid that actually did the pot in. The shock of the excessive heating from the outside combined with the super chilled pot caused too much thermal stress and it broke in half.
Wow I've been using slow cookers for a long time but I just learned some things I didn't know so thanks . You have a very great channel thanks for sharing it with the rest of us , because we never stop learning .
The first time I used a liner, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven! It made cleanup SOOOOO much easier! I have a bad back and can't be standing at the sink forever...
Kris R Try using sitting in a chair to wash dishes it does help A friend of family does this he uses a tall chair to sit in while he washes dishes and cooks at the stove
Mostly good tips but I can't agree with some of these and I've been cooking with a crockpot, the same one actually, for 15 years. I can't say that I've ever used any other kind of dairy product in my crockpot but I use creamed soup with meat allll the time. It goes in with the meat and it all cooks for sometimes up to 10 hours. Never has it come out any less than delicious. Also, I don't get to cook as much as I'd like to so I buy a lot of frozen veggies and never have they taken any longer to cook in my crockpot and in fact come out perfectly cooked. Finally, never have I greased my crockpot. It may help to keep food from sticking but it will also add some oil to whatever you put in there. As far as clean up I have found my crockpot one of the easiest things to clean, even when food gets stuck on. A little soap and water and a rag and anything stuck on comes right off.
I use aluminum foil instead of the lid when it comes to cooking chili or spaghetti sauce with meatballs. I'll cook it half way on high then turn to low. It's comparable to a stovetop pot without the lid. This way you don't have condensation to water down the chili or spaghetti sauce.
"it takes about 30 min to get back home cooking temp, every time you open that lid." Also- " remember to add cream or any dairy products at the end of the process. And cook for the last 30 minutes."
Wife puts frozen roast in the slow cooker before she leaves for work. 9 hours late is is ready to go. Now she only puts meat in the cooker, no veggies. We'll steam those later.
I make chicken & dumplings in mine I just add the dumplings at the last 30 minutes,i make pinto beans for 8hrs with a beef broth, jalapenos,onions,& garlic,butternut squash & pumpkin soup cooks great in my slow cooker I have the crockpot brand
+Vera Wroe sure 2cups chicken broth low sodium,3medium sized boneless skinless chicken breasts chopped,1onion chopped(optional) black pepper to taste,&2tablespoons poultry seasoning,then I let that cook over night 8hrs then about the last 30minutes or so I make the dumplings as follows & add them to the slow cooker,about a cup of self rising flour,1tablespoon of grease or cooking oil,i put about a cup of milk &add a little as needed it's easier to add milk than take away,so you might need more then black pepper to taste mix very well together you could at this point roll the batter out onto a floured surface & cut out the dumplings you may need a little more flour as you'll want your batter a little dry & not sticky but I usually just make drop dumplings by just spooning them into the chicken & broth mixture with a tablespoon usually covers the chicken broth mixture depending on how many dumplings you drop in,once you get them into the mixture usually takes about 30minutes when no longer doughy I hope this helps & you enjoy this simple recipe the chicken cooks overnight so I don't cook it beforehand I'm not a professional cook by the way the chicken broth mixture will thicken slightly with the dumpling mixture you may have to adjust the flavors to suit your taste but it's fairly easy but keep in mind I'm not a professional cook
I use a 50-year-old thermostatic cooker that gets up to temperature quickly, so peeking or cooking frozen food isn't a problem. The only disadvantage is that I need to check it until it reaches the exact slow-burble that I usually want. And it's stainless steel, so cleanup is always easy.
It's the second best way to cook pork. As you know, with pork there's a fine line between done and dry. The best way is breaded pork chops. The second best way is to marinade it in the fridge overnight, then slow cook it on low all day. The third best option is to deep fry it. But nobody seems to do that anymore, for some reason or another. Edit: it's not the slow cooking that makes it tender. It's the acidic liquids in it. That's why slow cooking in acidic juices like tomato, apple, vinegar, or pineapple. It's the hot acid bath that breaks down the proteins that make the meat tough. You can cook something in a ph neutral liquid all day and still end up with a tough piece of meat.
I use a steel wool pad to clean my slow cooker. Cleans up in a snap and there are no stains in it. It looks brand new for years. Beans are a culprit to leave stains on the crock. But the steel wool soap pad gets it off every time. DO NOT PUT VEGGIES ON THE BOTTOM! They will over cook. The meat needs to go first, and the veggies about an hour before you are done. Unless you like brown over cooked and mushy potatoes and carrots that don't even resemble a carrot anymore!
I normally buy Shin of Beef and cook for a good 8 hours, I sear the meat before cooking and put a layer of rough chopped Carrots, Onions, A med Peeled rough Diced Potato the help thicken the sauce. Half a Tea Spoon of Marmite add loads of flavour and Marmite haters do not taste it as Marmite? About 2 hours before I want to serve the meal I will remove the meat and use a Stick Blender to make the sauce with the vegetables, Then return the meat and put in fresh Vegetables unless I am going to cook them separately.
ANDREW CULLEN what is marmite? I've never heard of that. I love to cook, and enjoy using different things to season my food. I'd love to use a new seasoning. I live in the US, is marmite something from another country?
Marmite is a yeast extract. A spoonful will add a lot of _umami_ to a pot of stew or soup. Vegemite is a very similar product. They're not exactly common in the US, but they can be found (or, of course, ordered from Amazon). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmite
Here's something to try if you want to "kazz-up" your morning toast. Before you spread orange marmalade on the toast spread a little Marmite on first. (don't over do it just a thin smear is all you need) Try it you might get 'hooked' on it. Tastes really good !!
Shin of beef is the tastiest part of the animal. I use it to make chilli, and wow, it's quite delicious, but it needs long cooking time, and your 8 hours is about right. Lots of garlic, and put the cooked sauce in the fridge overnight. It always tastes much nicer the following day, and freezes well. I always have portions in my freezer for the weekends when I can't be bothered to cook. Bon appetit.
I once used a $42 prime roast in my crock pot . Put it in covered it with plenty of water , and cooked it on high 24hrs or so . The added onions carrots , and potato's with salt and pepper and bay leaves with the rest of my seasoning . It turned out so tender it would fall apart with just using the ladle I used . It was simply PERFECT ! I ate off that thing for about a week . lol SO I kinda disagree about the not using a prime cut of meat in a crockpot .
I added red wine to a savoury casserole but as you said, it did not cook out properly and I ended up with a very "winey" casserole. It was so alcoholic tasting I ditched it for the magpies and crows to eat. Your other hints were very useful, thank you! I learned a lot.
I strongly disagree with advice no 1 and 2 and the last tip. First of all in some cases you shouldn't open slow cooker (eg. when you have one big piece of meat) but when you making a soup or chilli (something liquid-ish) it can help you release some steam from the dish. Second of all, cheap cuts are always cheap cuts. It make a big difference between using shoulder and using brisket, and even bigger if it is organic meat from local butcher or cheapest piece from sale shelf in a supermarket. Lastly I would never cook something in plastic for 8 hours as that is not healthy at all!
dont just use cheap meat... some meats dont break down in a slow cooker, they tighten and shrink... not breakdown and become tender. just ask the butcher what cut you should use... grabbing the cheapest one isnt a good idea.
Jonathon Doesworth Depends on the cut. Minced or ground meats which are usually not too lean have enough gelatin and fat to give body and richness to its sauce. Cuts suitable for stewing will cope too. Just ask a butcher or Google them.
Jonathon - When buying cheap cuts of meat make sure they have quite a lot of fat running through the muscle. This will melt and keep the meat tender especially when cooked slowly. If the meat is seered (sealed) it will contain the "fat" and, again, keeps the meat tender.
The heat is in the ceramic and in the liquid around the meat. The small amount of air above the food will not impact your dish unless you leave the lid off for a long time.
Taking a peek is not a problem. You will not loose all your heat. And lining you slow cooker ceramic pot is stupid. It will clean with no problem because of the low heat. The dishwasher is your friend.
How bout adding too much liquid... For example i went to make beef stew and added about a cup of chicken stock.. It turned it into soup. The next time didn't add any liquid at all and a little flour slurry and it came out perfect.
I use slow cooker liners sometimes. I don’t need to use lots of elbow grease to clean my crock pots. I use steam and soaking. Some dishes come off real easy and liners aren’t needed. Others make it worth it to use the liners. Take food out, put some hot, soapy water in while it cools down. Toss that water out and spray it down. Get the bottom clean. Put new cold water in and warm it back up, but on warm or low. The steam will help get the leftover food soft and not hardened, stuck on. Add some more soap and wipe it down the sides. Don’t touch the crockpot if it’s too hot. Use a sponge or just the very top. Let out water as you go down, so it stays submerged until ready to wipe it. Hope this helps for those times you forget or run out. 🙂
I've found that fresh raw carrots & potatoes don't cook all the way through, no matter how long it's timed, so I boil mine first for 15 min or so to pre soften them. Works great. Pressure cooker is best for potatoes.
It's from the Latin word for grasses (herbae), where the H is silent. Likewise, herbivore, herbal and herbaceous all have silent H's. Although I've been told that in the UK, the word has been Germanicized and they pronounce the 'h'. But at that point... might as well pronounce it 'Kräuter"
I have had a stove top pressure cooker for over 50 yrs.Learned as a child how to cook with a pressure cooker. I now have 3 electric pressure cookers and 1 stove top. A slow cooker is like a pressure cooker, just a little fancier. Pressure makes great meals. Love mine.
Oops! I meant to refer to my slow cookers, not my pressure cookers. Love my slow cookers. I have a 6 qt and a 4 qt and use them several times a month. There is only me in my house so I use the smaller appliances. I cook every night and use my confidence appliances every chance I can.
How do we add more top up hot liquid? Sear the outside of the chicken too. And in the juices do the vegetables as well. Root veggies need a bit longer. Herbs? Use both, and add extra 20 minutes before the end. Dry herbs can be ground in a coffee grinder to bring out the flavour. Meat (cubed) in a marinade can be added 20 to 30 minutes before the end and cooked just through. The meat will taste better. The basics of cooking. Obtain the finest ingredients. Use high quality cooking oils. Not spray on stuff. Many of the ingredients used in slow cookers can be prepared and frozen. Extra chicken legs on the Barbie. Then frozen in a good stock. Or a chopped up Cosco roasted chicken. Left overs, frozen, Use them up in a slow cooker when you are busy and do not have time for the preparation. Frozen food can be added but they will need extra time, as the lady said. Have extra stock, and keep adding to the pot to top up the liquid level. Thankyou for this video. Kind regards and greetings from Africa
Great tips, though try and avoid using the slow cooker bags. Single use plastics can be great for certain people ( for example disabled and elderly people) but those bags take decades to break down into toxic molecules. Also, just not sure I like the idea of my food being cooked in plastic like that.
I’ve cooked chicken legs with skin on, quartered potatoes, cut carrots, .... mix with olive oil, herbs and a little garlic powder. Turned out great. Even produced a little liquid for gravy.
Yeah, I realized with with a pork roast I made over the weekend. It wasn't bad, but as I was eating it I was thinking of the wasted opportunities to make it better before I tossed everything in. I dredged the roast in flour and browned it like I always do, but I was thinking I could've like drizzled some olive oil and seasonings over my vegetables and partially roasted them. And then it probably wouldn't have tasted so under-seasoned at the end. A couple extra steps of prep and I might've really had something special. I made some meat sauce in it a few months ago and TOOK my time and doctored up every part of it before I added it to the slow-cooker, and it was EXCELLENT.
It does make things much easier, depending on what you’re making. Things can cook onto the dish pretty firmly and can be a real pain in the ass to clean. There’s nothing wrong with using a liner, why not make life easier? You’re already making things easier by using the slow cooker to begin with.
Matrim42 theres nothing wrong with unnecessarily using more plastic for what amounts to laziness? Are you actually being serious?? Are you not aware of what we’re doing to our planet? If not, I suggest doing some research.
Phil D Consumer plastic cooker liners is utterly negligible environmentally. Hell, all consumer plastic use combined is still a minority of plastic pollution. You want to rail against plastic use? Well, I hope you don’t eat seafood. Commercial fishing is responsible for 85% of plastic pollution, my dude.
Matrim42 this “it’s you not me” attitude, plus “this doesn’t add much” is exactly why we’re in this situation. Because any one thing doesn’t add much but every piece of plastic made has an effect in multiple ways. The first thing that should go is the stuff we do out of laziness. A good example was free plastic bags in the U.K. I hope you see the light sometime before it’s too late. Bye.
You can lift the lid (if you must, like to add other ingredients), you just have to allow more time for it to come back to cooking temp before you serve the meal. You do not need to allow 30 minutes for it to reheat. You shouldn't need that much time even if you're using a very old slow cooker. You can cook frozen meat and poultry in the slow cooker; you just have to allow enough time for them to defrost and cook to a safe temperature, like overnight if the recipe calls for it. It certainly can be done. I got a box of those slow cooker liners when Reynolds made them available. I hate them. I never use them. I know how to wash dishes, and I don't need a ton of oil or cooking spray (which isn't healthy) to make my crock pot easier to wash. People who don't sear their meat make me very, very sad, for they do not know the error of their ways.
