I REALLY wish I liked Slow Cooker Meals

[Gossie]

My daughter-in-law makes her chili in the crockpot. But I figure if I'm cooking the onions and the meat, then I might as well finish the chili on the stove. It only takes about half an hour to get a pretty tasty chili anyway. My family loves it, and that is what is important.

 

[Cordel]

Hmm, I am with those who just don't see the point, and no one has really answered the question, why? I also found the timing was not great. Getting up an hour or two early to cut up veggies and meat, while getting ready for work and getting kids off to school was just not fun. Now I am retired, but wondering if I should give my daughter a slow cooker. How do you organize your time so getting those meals going, and delicious works?

 

[Caine]

How do you organize your time so getting those meals going, and delicious works?

You do all the preparation the night before, put it all into the crock, put the lid on, and place the crock in the refrigerator. In the morning you remove the crock from the fridge, put it into the metal pot, turn it on low, and go to work. When you get home, dinner is served.

 

[Cordel]

I will pass that on. I didn't get one for daughter, but her in-laws gave her one for Christmas. I'm thinking if she put the stuff in the fridge in a separate container, and then poured it into the crock pot, it would heat up faster. Does the meat come out a little soggy by the time the veggies are cooked? Do you put the meat on the top or the bottom?

 

[Mark J]

The slow cooker does somethings better than others. Personally I have not had great success with beef or pork but have had great success with lamb, seafood, cajun dishes, soup, etc.

A couple tricks I have learned (sorry some mentioned already):

1) browning on the stove top is a must for many things. Sometimes I brown half the onions and the other half go straight in. This gives them slightly different tastes and adds to the complexity.....or so I tell my guests (serve enough wine before dinner and they will happily agree).
2) add some ingredients at different times. Example if I want a mushroom flavor in the broth/sauce I cut some up fine and place them in at the begining of cooking but if I want whole mushrooms or large chunks I add them only for the last hour. Corn is the last 30 minutes.
3) Add extra spices. No matter what you use for other methods of cooking add extra in a slow cooker. Then taste once about 30 minutes prior to serving and add additional spices as needed.....this includes fresh garlic.
4) Vent for the last 30 minutes to an hour. Since a slow cooker draws the water out of the cells of the tissue/veggie it basically dilutes the dish. By placing a tooth pick to lift up part of the lid a tiny bit you can vent the slow cooker to reduce water content and increase the flavor intensity.
5) Vodka....it isn't just for breakfast anymore! A little bit of alcohol helps to bring out flavors that are not water or fat soluble. Obviously I do not use vodka on dishes that call for wine or beer but often will throw in a shot for a recipe that does not call for it. FYI, Guiness beer is made for cooking lamb!

Best of luck and enjoy,

Mark J.

 

[HeatherW]

I really like my slow cooker, but I have found that most recipes for them don't seem to have been very well tested. In a lot of instances I have to tweak them to achieve good results.

 

[xmascarol1]

crockpot cooking

I love slow cookers! One of our favorite comfort foods is country spare ribs which I cover with homemade sauerkraut and stuff a few potatoes in under the sauerkraut. Cook on low for 6 or 7 hours.
Another thing we love is just to put in a chicken and let it cook all day. It falls off the bone, the broth is plentiful and we just spoon it over rice and serve the chicken up . Sometimes I just like to have unadulterated tastes of the original food. Last month I bought a small bone in ham and cooked that all day. I baked up a butternut squash and boiled up some red skins. Served it all with some fresh steamed spinach. One of the best meals this winter. We had plenty of ham left over for pea soup, ham and scalloped potatoes, ham spread and a couple of omelets.

 

[expatgirl]

Pinto beans are wonderful in a crockpot..........as you really shouldn't add salt until they're finished (makes them tough otherwise) it's perfect when you get home from work and then flavor them up---of course I do cook them with a ham bone if I have one or a ham hock or two...........bake that iron skillet pan of cornbread and you're ready to invite Scarlett O'Hara by

 

[Quint]

Well I was hoping for the magic answer because I have the same opinion as the OP. Although I find meats/roast to come out incredibly tender I find them dry and tasteless. I think basically everything comes out over cooked. I'm going to try some of the suggestions mentioned here for adding things later in the cooking process but then it ends up being a weekend meal, when I have time to oven/stovetop cook anyway. Obviously if I want a meal ready when I come home from work it all has to go in in the morning.

 

[Calya]

I agree. I just don't enjoy the slow cooker meals as much either.

 

[quicksilver]

I'm with ya' all. I got rid of my crockpot (avacado color from the 70's) when I move here in '99.
I have a small one I use to make pork & saurkraut and stew.
Beside which, I don't like leaving electric heating type things on when I'm not home. I know, I know, I'm a putz. But I got putzy after house was hit by lightning.
I'd rather be putzy than sorry!​

 

[Maverick2272]

Love my slow cooker. I can only say if it comes out over cooked, then well it was overcooked! Just because it is a slow cooker doesn't mean it can't be overcooked just like any other method out there.
I don't prep anything before putting it in the pot, just put it all in and let it go. I do everything from Chicken, beef or pork roasts, stews, soups, bbq country style ribs, pork chops, etc in it.
I don't have any recipe books for slow cookers, I thought I had one around here somewhere but can't find it. I took some recipes from online and used them as suggestions or idea or bases for making my own recipes.
I use my family as my judges, and so far they leave no leftovers behind!!

 

[xmascarol1]

I find it interesting that you say your meats come out dry. What are you cooking for meats. As I mentioned above, chicken ends up in pure delicious broth, bone-in ham has plenty of juice which exudes out and the ribs I do are also juicy, I haven't had that experience. Try putting in tomatoes and rice with pork chops and appropriate seasonings. Or sauerkraut on top of your short ribs.

 

[expatgirl]

I like knowing that I have some company here.........I would just rather sit with a book and stir my stews, etc., of course I don't work at a job 8-10 hours a day either......but I have to say that a slow cooker does make the best beans ever but they still need looking after as far as liquids are concerned dep. upon the beans themselves......and I usually end up adding more liquid as the day goes on.....

 

[Max Sutton]

Love my crockpot!

I love my crockpot!

I brown meats before I add them to my crockpot.

I add a second helping of all the spices, herbs, and seasonings at the very end and stir them in well. What a difference that makes in the taste.

I usually only make soups and stews in my crockpot. I always put the veggies in the bottom with the meat on top.

 

[PytnPlace]

Reading over this old post since it was bumped up. I do appreciate your suggestions, believe me, I knew all the tricks and I've tried them all. . . types of meat to use, browning, seasoning, length of cooking times, etc. I still have my crockpots. I do use them to stew a chicken, cook beans and serve soups, chili etc when I'm having a casual party. I remain befuddled as to why things taste so much better to be when they are cooked on the stovetop or braised in the oven.

 

[elaine l]

I know that I liked my 70's era crockpot a lot better than the one I replaced it with. I think it cooks hotter than the other which defeats the purpose for me to use it while at work.

 

[babetoo]

over the years i have made many things in the crockpot. my family gobbled them up. if i am having a lot of people then i use my large one. ribs, roast, chops, etc come out great . i do not like chicken in crock-pot unless i am just cooking it to put in something else, all chopped up. also i do not care for game hens in crock-pot. don't like the texture i guess.

i made lots of soups in crock-pot. i am here all day so can keep an eye on it. i check it toward the end about an hour out . sometimes times it is done in less time, then i just put on warm.

i bought a little one for cooking just for my self. it has no real setting for low. wish it did, things done to fast, not really enough times for tastes to meld.

oh well, that's what makes the world go around.

 

[Jeekinz]

A recent episode of Americas Test Kitchen showed a few slow cooker tips.

1) Brown everything in a pan stovetop first.
2)Use chuck, not round. You only need to brown half of the meat.
3)Nearly double the amount of spices including garlic. The potency will deteriorate over long cooking times.