Crock-pot issue

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iknow

Assistant Cook
Joined
Dec 11, 2013
Messages
3
Location
los angeles
I bought a CP a while back and i have used it 4 times. Chicken, pork and beef, twice with pork. Every time the same thing happens no matter what i put in it...water, chicken stock, beer. Every time the meat comes out tender, but it has a grainy texture that just ruin it for me. I have heard it's the liquid drawing moisture out of the meat. But if thats true why are there so m any crock pot recipes with liquid and none w/o, or at least none i see. What am i doing wrong? I use low hear and generally go 6-8 hours depending on how much weight and how well it seems to be done.
 
A guess on my part, based on what I have read and from my wife. The CP is cooking at to high a temperature. Not your fault, low temp on our CP will actually simmer to low boil the liquid which is something our previous CP did not do. So yeah, you are basically ending up with boiled meat.
 
I Agree

A guess on my part, based on what I have read and from my wife. The CP is cooking at to high a temperature. Not your fault, low temp on our CP will actually simmer to low boil the liquid which is something our previous CP did not do. So yeah, you are basically ending up with boiled meat.
My old 70's CP cooked wonderful stew, roast and chicken. The newer ones cook at a higher temperature for "safety" reasons.
 
Welcome to crock pot cooking. This is one reason I never use one. If i want braised meats, my ceramic dutch oven will do the trick.

You are not doing anything wrong. This is the result of braising slowly any piece of meat on low heat for long periods of time.

One thing I will say as advice. Make sure you brown the meat well before you put it into your crock pot. Make sure you preheat your crock pot too! This will provide color and caramelize the meat.
While this may not help you with your particular issue, it will most definitely make it taste much, much better.

Crock pots IMO are time savers. Nothing more.
 
Welcome to crock pot cooking. This is one reason I never use one. If i want braised meats, my ceramic dutch oven will do the trick.

You are not doing anything wrong. This is the result of braising slowly any piece of meat on low heat for long periods of time.

One thing I will say as advice. Make sure you brown the meat well before you put it into your crock pot. Make sure you preheat your crock pot too! This will provide color and caramelize the meat.
While this may not help you with your particular issue, it will most definitely make it taste much, much better.

Crock pots IMO are time savers. Nothing more.

I agree except that crockpots aren't really time savers. I can cook anything in a dutch oven faster that in a crockpot.

In iknow's case, the crockpot is likely drying out the protein. That's what crockpots do.
 
A guess on my part, based on what I have read and from my wife. The CP is cooking at to high a temperature. Not your fault, low temp on our CP will actually simmer to low boil the liquid which is something our previous CP did not do. So yeah, you are basically ending up with boiled meat.

I've noticed this as well. I've discontinued cooking chicken in the CP completely and have adapted those dishes back to dutch oven. Chicken seems to get a really weird texture. That's ironic since I adapted them from dutch oven TO CP initially.
 
I bought a CP a while back and i have used it 4 times. Chicken, pork and beef, twice with pork. Every time the same thing happens no matter what i put in it...water, chicken stock, beer. Every time the meat comes out tender, but it has a grainy texture that just ruin it for me. I have heard it's the liquid drawing moisture out of the meat. But if thats true why are there so m any crock pot recipes with liquid and none w/o, or at least none i see. What am i doing wrong? I use low hear and generally go 6-8 hours depending on how much weight and how well it seems to be done.

I'm not a fan of cooking with the CP either, but it does do a wonderful job on my http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f14/crock-pot-kalua-pig-65081.html
Because it uses no liquid I'm thinking your theory may be right.
 
I think people like the CP because they can put their dinner on and go to work and it's done when they get home. That's not advisable with a dutch oven. I use mine to keep food hot at a party, like pulled pork.
 
Ok, thanks all. But is there anything it's good for besides keeping things warm? I hate to toss it, and i gotta think it must be good for some sort of cooking use. Also, if it's because it's too hot, i wonder if you could put something like a wire ring around the edge before you put the ceramic pot in to raise it away from the heating element enough so it cooks at a lower temp.
 
Oh no, don't toss it! Have a look at the DC slow cooker thread under Soups and Stews. CPs are extremely useful. I've made lasagne, soups, stews, etc. that we love. The wire ring might be worth a shot.

An oldie but goody CP cookbook is "Fix It and Forget It" by Ranck and Good, it was on sale on Amazon yesterday for like 6 bucks.

You will find that some of us are pro, some are con CPs here! :)
 
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No, dawg is right. Don't throw it out. It could be kaput. Our old one would boil like crazy on low. We just bought a new one and when it's on low it just barely simmers. I make pulled pork in it that I have had a lot of compliments. And brisket.....don't get me started. Beef stew, goulash, chicken paprigash, jeez I could go on and on.
Check out crockpotladies.com. But I honestly think your CP is fubar'd.
 
I don't use mine a ton, but I wouldn't be without one.

I did a lot of research after breaking the liner of my old slow cooker. My research lead me to my current Hamilton Beach, which does cook a bit hotter than my old one, but doesn't boil my food. I read so many reviews about crock pots cooking so hot that things would just boil. Mine will simmer a bit around the edges on low.
 
Maybe I'm silly, but my main reason for not using a CP, is that I don't want something that gets hot operating when I'm not home.:ermm: I think our pugs would agree.
 
Maybe I'm silly, but my main reason for not using a CP, is that I don't want something that gets hot operating when I'm not home.:ermm: I think our pugs would agree.


My husband didn't want me using ours when we weren't home either. Now that I am retired and home most of the day, it's just as easy to cook in the oven rather than use the crockpot. But I have 3 of them.:LOL: I would use the crockpot if the food turned out exceptionally better.
 
Maybe I'm silly, but my main reason for not using a CP, is that I don't want something that gets hot operating when I'm not home.:ermm: I think our pugs would agree.

I'm not 100% comfortable with it either. When I do it, I put it on a non-combustible surface like my glass top stove.
 
One day last week we left the house and went to the store while I had stuffed cabbage cooking in the oven. We were gone about an hour. That's the first time we've done that.

I have heard of people putting their turkey in the oven at bedtime at 200 degrees and letting it cook while they slept. That totally scares me. Also, I don't know how well I would sleep smelling turkey cooking all night.
 
I will cook overnight, but won't leave the house when I have something in the crockpot or oven.

Love my crockpot, but it's best for soups, stews or pulled pork.
 
For the record, it's a brand new CP i've only used 4 times. It may not be good but i'm sure it's not broken. It does VERY SLIGHTLY boil when on low but it takes hours to get to that point and like i say it's a very slight boil. Like when water just starts to boil. The first few bubbles around the edge.

I guess i will try and dry cook something and see how that goes. Just add some onions or such and maybe a few tablespoons of olive oil to conduct the heat to it and keep it from burning. I really think it's the liquid that causes it like someone told me before. (liquid draws the fats and liquids out of the meat)
 
I don't think it's defective either. Nowadays, that's how all CPs are, running hot, unlike back in the good old days.

Play around with it, good luck!
 
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