General Chat

Dordi, I must be getting old. Picked one up cheap in Tescos, its amazing. Shove all your ingredients and stock in and 8 hours later its done! Would be great for people on their own as well, you can make enough for 2 meals. If anyone has got any ideas I'd love to hear them, Ive only done sausage casserole. Got flu at the minute, hope youre all keeping toasty warm it'll be cold tonight.

If you go on the general board and put slow cookers in the search bar you'll come up with quite a few recipes and tips on there.

My daughter has asked for a slow cooker as her christmas prezzie this year , do they cost a lot to run ?

HI
LOVE MINE
OK FAV AT THE MOMENT
BRAISING BEEF OR STEWING STEAK
DICED.ONION, & MUSHROOMS
TIN RED WINE SAUCE
STILTON CHEESE
PUT ALL IN SLOW COOKER EXCEPT FOR
STILTON,,DURING COOKING TIME
CRUMBLE STILTON IN TO OWN TASTE,

www.slowcookerrecipes.org.uk/ -

Annx

Amanda they are supposed to cost as much as a light bulb. Not checked it out though.

Tonight Romany star we had a half shoulder. make cuts in the fat side, insert slivers of garlic and fry off the outside of the meat, remove from pan, fry sliced onion to taste, add a quarter of a lemon thinly sliced then stir in 3/4 pint of stock and a tablespoon og honey, any sort.. I used a packet lamb casserole stock plus red wine. Place two sprigs of Rosemary in the bottom of the slow cooker with the meat on top then pour over the sauce and onions, add a handful of sultanas (supposed to have dates in but I didn't have any), put 3 sprigs of Rosemsry on top of meat and cook on high for 7-8 hours. I actually turned it down to medium for the last 2 hours, I think it depends how hot your cooker gets. The meat falls off the bone like lamb shank or lamb Kleftico. I served it with jacket potatoes and sweet corn.

Thank you Ann in Glos .....that sounds reasonable : )

Thankyou for replying ladies. Ann, Ive copied that down, have never tried Rosemary before but I think I need to bite the bullet and do something different. Thanks for mentioning turning the heat down for the last 2 hours. Amanda to be honest Ive never thought about the cost. But I think its worth ot as she can make a meal to cover two days, and they're so compact to store away. I wouldnt imagine theyre expensive to run but Im not sure. Dizzi, that sounds yummy! Im a huge cheese fan so I'll copy this one down as well. Am off for a bath then bed so goodnight all. (No doubt will end up online in bed though!).

Hello Romany , my daughter has her electric on a pay card thingy and I've has visions of her electric running out half way through cooking ...lol
But if it's as economical to run as Ann says it will probably be ok .

Lol Amanda, it'll keep her fit running down to the shop! We used to have those, but a couple of winters ago I was forgetting to top the things up and it drove me mad rushing out in the cold so I switched to a normal meter. You get a discount if you pay by direct debit, she might find it cheaper?

just wait till you cook a gammon joint in it,,shop bought best ham has nothing on it.

I do stews in mine but find the dumplings take a bit longer to cook,,,,,, and often cook rice.,

If you have a blender,,,cook veg in stock all day if you want and hey presto,,soup home made with crusty bread,

Ive tried a steamed steak pudding in mine,it came out not too. bad at all.

Romany .... years ago I used to have a 50p meter for my electric ( those where the days ....lol ) I was quite good at keeping it topped up but on occasion had to send the kids out round to neighbours houses trying to swap a £1 for two 50ps .....lol
It annoys me that the pay as you go sort of electric / gas is considerably dearer than a quarterly payment : (( But I don't think my daughter could adjust her payment methods as she is used to doing it this way .

To me, the invention of the slow-cooker, is the best thing since sliced bread. I cannot extol their virtues enough. An absolute boon, and now particularly at this time of the year with the weather being what it is.
I had the same one for years, and cooked things such as porridge over night, boiled beetroot - no more cooker splashes, roast joints of meat - no added fat please,just lightley grease the base, rice puddings, stews and soups, just to name a few.
I never noticed any significant increase in electricity use. Remember, though they are on a long time, but on a very low heat, thus anything cooked is lovely and tender. They are ideal for working mums as they can be switched on in the morning before going to work, and then you come into a lovely heart-warming meal, aswell as the delicious aromas as you come in the door. Mine would have been the one thing, after the kids, dogs and OH I would have saved in a flood.LOL
Now, I have progressed to an Aga cooker, kindly bought by the OH as a pick me up, for me. But, it does have a 'bottom oven' which runs like a slow cooker, and I utilise this the same as I would a slow cooker, using a Le Crueset cast iorn cooking pot.
Take care all
Julia in Derbyshire

Romanystar. Please note I left out the tablespoon of honey from the recipe. I have now added it.

RS an easy one is, chopped mushrooms in first, lay on chicken thighs, pour over any cook in sauce, we like either the mushroom or the Korma with chicken, towards the end add a small tin of petit pois. cook on low for about 10 hours (doesn't matter if you leave it longer and I prefer the filletted thighs but either will do). Serve with rice.

I EVEN USE MINE IN THE CARAVAN

good idea for a carvan Dizzi I would think.

I believe our one, Tesco's 3 1/2 litre,
runs on about 100 watts on high,
I must be impatient cos ive never cooked anything for longer than about 6-7 hours..
I usually set it up over night on a timer to start around 6 am........and its usually done for one pm

Bob

as you say the meat just falls off the bone.....

Romany, Get yourself a "Faster Chef" :o)>.**M**.