Slow cooker time question - Discuss Cooking

giggler · 08-10-2008, 05:09 PM

I'm new to slow cooking and seem to be drastically over-cooking my meals.

My cooker is a Corningware oval unit that I think is fairly new.

I put veggies on bottom, various meats on top, spices and some liquid..

turn on low. It seems to take 1 hour to come up to heat, small bubbles at the edge of liquid, top too hot to keep your hand on...

after like 3 hours I usually check the meat and by then it's just "falling apart"...

I find the meat way over done, dry and all the spice flavors are gone away, though the house smells wonderful.

I mean if after 1 hour it is all ready at what I would call a "slow simmer", I would normally only stew a chicken for like maybe 1 hour or pork ribs for say maybe 2 hours if on my stove.

My gosh, I see recipes that say "low for 8 hours"! there'd be nothing left!

I have a meat thermometer, next time I will start measuring the meat temp.

Any help?

Thanks, Eric Austin Tx.

kitchenelf · 08-10-2008, 05:30 PM

Could be your unit is faulty. A hunk of meat at my house takes about 8 hours to cook. Yes, it is falling apart but it is JUICY! I'm not a fan of roasts that only slice - that happens say after 5 or so hours.

A slow simmer after 1 hour is fine. Turn it down to low. It still should take a chicken longer than 1 hour. Maybe that can be your guage? Try a whole chicken next.

GB · 08-10-2008, 05:32 PM

I am not a fan of chicken in a slow cooker. I find mine always overcooks.

kitchenelf · 08-10-2008, 06:10 PM

If I do bone-in thighs it's not so bad GB. Even a whole chicken isn't so bad. The steam really helps keep it moist. I use a broth/soy sauce/honey type mixture versus a creamy base for a whole chicken.