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Slow Cooker Ideas Needed |
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#1 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Cambuslang, Scotland
Posts: 12,074
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Slow Cooker Ideas Needed
Hi all,
I was given a slow cooker for a wedding present and need some ideas to make in it. I am on a limited budget so looking for cheap and cheerful ideas. Thanks. |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Wagner
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I do a spag bol in the slow cooker that comes out really nice.
I brown onions and mince, then add it to the slow cooker with passata (tinned tomatoes would do) chopped garlic, beef stock and whatever herbs I have (oregano, basil etc.) I do similar for a nice chilly too, I just add more beef stock, exclude the oregano and basil, and add chilli powder, a fresh chilli or two, chilli powder and kidney beans. If I get a cheap mince, I tend to rinse it in cold water after browning to get rid of some of the fat. I usually use about half a 500g pack for each meal and that does more than large enough portions for two. |
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#3 |
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Cambuslang, Scotland
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I'll try them soon, thanks!
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#4 |
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Guest
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 9,415
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What's the best slow cooker to buy?
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#5 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: In my Opinion
Posts: 10,057
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Quote:
What's the best slow cooker to buy?
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#6 |
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Guest
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 9,415
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Quote:
I'm looking to purchase one too. Has anyone bought Morrisons or Asda's own brands as they're reasonable priced right now and if they do the job, why not?
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#7 |
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Sitting at my PC
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Quote:
Hi all,
I was given a slow cooker for a wedding present and need some ideas to make in it. I am on a limited budget so looking for cheap and cheerful ideas. Thanks. |
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#8 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Up North
Posts: 58,791
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Quote:
I do a spag bol in the slow cooker that comes out really nice.
I brown onions and mince, then add it to the slow cooker with passata (tinned tomatoes would do) chopped garlic, beef stock and whatever herbs I have (oregano, basil etc.) I do similar for a nice chilly too, I just add more beef stock, exclude the oregano and basil, and add chilli powder, a fresh chilli or two, chilli powder and kidney beans. If I get a cheap mince, I tend to rinse it in cold water after browning to get rid of some of the fat. I usually use about half a 500g pack for each meal and that does more than large enough portions for two. Just not sure why you would exclude the oregano. It is very prevalent in Mexican cooking.
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#9 |
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Wagner
Posts: 4,632
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Quote:
All sounds good
Just not sure why you would exclude the oregano. It is very prevalent in Mexican cooking. |
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#10 |
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Join Date: May 2005
Location: At home, on my computer!
Posts: 5,442
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I love my slow cooker. I've got a cheap and cheerful one (I think it was £10 in Tesco about 4 or 5 years ago) and it does the job perfectly.
Chicken casserole is easy - I use chicken thighs or drumsticks (which are cheaper and breast and are much tastier in a casserole). Chop up whatever veg you like (I use carrots,celery, potatoes, turnips, mushrooms and onions), put in the bottom of the slow cooker, sprinkle on some flour or thickener, brown the chicken and put on top of the veg. Add chicken stock and a spoon of soy sauce. I cook it on low all day. Yummy, and because I put potatoes in the stew, there's no need to cook any on the side (although I do like to make yorkshire puds with it) Also, when Co-Op have large gammon joints for half price (£5 for a large joint), I just wipe it off and cook it in the slow cooker with either half a can of cider or a small carton of pineapple juice, or a can of full fat coke. A large joint easily lasts me a week, kept in the fridge. I'm very tempted to have a go at spare ribs in the slow cooker, because I bet they'll turn out really succulent. I just need to find a good spare rib sauce recipe. The most important thing to remember is that, if you're cooking veg, this has to be put at the bottom of the slow cooker as it takes longer to cook than the meat. |
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#11 |
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Cambuslang, Scotland
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Well I used it the other day, I put veg, sausages, potatoes and gravy in it, and it was yummy!
I am wondering though if I can put chicken in it and just a jar of chicken tonight sauce with it? Its a 2L slow cooker, how much would I need? Thanks. |
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#12 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 21,646
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Quote:
Chicken casserole is easy - I use chicken thighs or drumsticks (which are cheaper and breast and are much tastier in a casserole). Chop up whatever veg you like (I use carrots,celery, potatoes, turnips, mushrooms and onions), put in the bottom of the slow cooker, sprinkle on some flour or thickener, brown the chicken and put on top of the veg. Add chicken stock and a spoon of soy sauce. I cook it on low all day. Yummy, and because I put potatoes in the stew, there's no need to cook any on the side (although I do like to make yorkshire puds with it)
I just made it up on the spot, using fresh vegetables and potatoes I already had, chicken stock plus a carton of passata, a couple of cans of butter beans, some herbs and a bit of soy sauce, and some lentils to give it a bit more body - no flour. It was delicious. The only downside was that the chicken so entirely separated from the bones that although I could easily fish out the large ones, there were some small ones lurking that were quite hard to find. Not quite sure what the answer to that is! |
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#13 |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland
Posts: 4,011
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I got one for free from Staples - they had this thing going where you could get a Russell Hobs slow cooker if you order more than £30 of their stuff... Did it, but now I've no idea what to do with it - cooking food for 8h isn't really my thing - now looking to stick it on ebay.
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#14 |
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Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 2,579
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As stupid as it sounds, if you don't have much time to cook then a slow cooker is perfect. I love putting mine on before work and coming home to a house full of lovely smells!
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#15 |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland
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Browning meat first thing in the morning isn't ideal for me. Is it ok to do it the night before? Then it has to sit around for ages to cool enough to put in the fridge. How do you overcome this?
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#16 |
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,832
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I do the bulk of our sunday lunch in the slow cooker
Joint, potatoes and carrots go in the slow cooker saturday night Sunday morning I do part boil some more potatos in the micro - then stick them and the parsnips in the Halogen Oven Fast, energy efficient, and hassle free way of doing a sunday lunch |
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#17 |
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Join Date: Mar 2010
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I flung a piece of brisket in the other day, on its own, and it came out wonderful, like slow braised steak
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#18 |
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 5,111
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I usually would brown it the night before and just stick it in a bowl with cling over it and straight in the fridge. Don't really worry about letting it cool before I put it in the fridge...don't believe it makes much difference TBH.
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#19 |
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Join Date: Jan 2008
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I usually would brown it the night before and just stick it in a bowl with cling over it and straight in the fridge. Don't really worry about letting it cool before I put it in the fridge...don't believe it makes much difference TBH.
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#20 |
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Join Date: Aug 2009
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I never part cook meat then leave it for a period of time before completing the cooking process, having heard that any bacteria present will multiply rapidly in such conditions.
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#21 |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland
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I was actually looking into this issue recently and the general consensus is that you are quite right - you don't need to let food cool before refrigerating. Indeed, a lot of people say that it's best not to, as you then avoid too much of the 'danger zone' time, when food is at a temperature when bacteria multiplies. The only issue is that you might lower the fridge's temperature to an unsafe level - but I would have thought you need an awful lot of hot food for that to happen to any significant degree.
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I never part cook meat then leave it for a period of time before completing the cooking process, having heard that any bacteria present will multiply rapidly in such conditions.
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It's absolutely fine to do so. The bacteria will be killed off during the rest of the cooking. And it won't mulitply in the first place if the part-cooked meat is left in the fridge.
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#22 |
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Join Date: Apr 2008
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I usually would brown it the night before and just stick it in a bowl with cling over it and straight in the fridge. Don't really worry about letting it cool before I put it in the fridge...don't believe it makes much difference TBH.
.I worry about warm food in a refridgerator bringing up the temperature of the other food in there but I guess I worry too much about it. |
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#23 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
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The only issue is that you might lower the fridge's temperature to an unsafe level - but I would have thought you need an awful lot of hot food for that to happen to any significant degree.
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And as you say, you'd need to have a fridge full of hot food to drop the temperature drastically...
But yes, you'd need a fair amount of hot food to do that for long enough to be a concern. In the case of fully cooked food, I'd leave it out to cool down for a while (heat loss is faster the hotter it is) before putting it in the fridge, but if I was just browning the outside I'd stick it in straight away (not that I've ever done that). For one thing, it won't be hot all the way through, so there's less heat to lose, and for another, you don't want it left warm when there are still bacteria inside that could multiply. The point about killing bacteria during final cooking is true, but living bacteria can produce toxins that might not be broken down by cooking. Otherwise, why bother refrigerating it at all? Which brings me to another interesting point about slow cooking - don't ever be tempted to slow cook raw kidney beans. The slow cooking can actually make the toxins more potent! |
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#24 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland
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Er, I think you both mean "raise the temperature"...
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#25 |
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 5,111
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Quote:
I think you both mean "raise the temperature"...
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Just not sure why you would exclude the oregano. It is very prevalent in Mexican cooking.