The magic of slow cooker!

[mikolaj87]

Hi guys,

I would like to share my new discovery... a slow cooker.
Honestly this magnificent device makes my lunch/dinner on daily basis!
And it's so simple/cheap and whats most important tasty!

So thanks to it I can stick to my reasonably healthy diet and save some cash.

And honestly if you can grab some cheap meat and drop some onions, carrots, parsnips and boil everything in a pint of stock just in 8-12h you have your meal ready.

Many people will ask about sides to the stew/casserole or whatever you plan to cook. The answer is simple I'm adding potato's and cook them with all the meal together. I'm very tempted to add some rice as an experiment but I'll try it some other day.

Well any way, now since I managed to shout out how happy with my slow cooker I'm, maybe some other guys want to share their opinions, experiences?

[Dooms]

I used to love my slow cooker a couple years ago but never got round to getting a new one when it died on me. Funny you should post this today as I was looking at them on Amazon earlier and its coming to Winter & slow cooker food gets even better when its cold outside

[Agent]

Sorry to go all geeky, but what's the energy consumption like on these? If it's on 8-12 hours, I'd hope it would be reasonably low.

The misses keeps bugging me to get one, but I'm not sure it would make much of a difference to us.

[scaryjim]

If you love your slow cooker, you might like this thread:

http://forums.hexus.net/kitchen-cook...r-recipes.html

Lots of slow cooking enthusiasts at Hexus

[mikolaj87]

Depends how big and fancy slow cooker you will get. I have a cheap one 4.5l in capacity and power consumption of 150-200w. So a quick calculation:

1KW/h costs on avarage 13p
lets say that slow cooker power consumption is 200 Watts and it is on for 10 hour.

10h x 200w = 2KW = 26 p

So cooking one meal cost you 26p. That isn't to bad .
Also power consumption is lower as slow cooker is not on all the time as it ties to keep temperature on same level so it is on and off and as mentioned earlier, there are some energy efficient slow cookers, some guys mentioned about 50watts units.

I hope that I managed to answer your question.

Ohhh to be honest you also have to add some extra energy to this calculation as you have to fry meat for few minutes first but if you do soup than you don't care .

Sorry to go all geeky, but what's the energy consumption like on these? If it's on 8-12 hours, I'd hope it would be reasonably low.

The misses keeps bugging me to get one, but I'm not sure it would make much of a difference to us.

[mikolaj87]

Thx a lot, I'll definitely go through it this weekend!!!!

[scaryjim]

Sorry to go all geeky, but what's the energy consumption like on these? If it's on 8-12 hours, I'd hope it would be reasonably low.

Seems (unsurprisingly) to vary by capacity - small ones are ~ 200W, larger ones about 300W.

That's compared to a conventional oven at around 2.4kW

So probably a comparable total energy consumption when cooking a full meal.

[snedger]

Got a bit distracted trying to source a new induction hob, after my current one decided to start cooking on full power all the time.
Was trying to find one that had many power levels so that I could use it for sous vide cooking.
Instead I found a combi sous vide cooker + slow cooker on Lakeland.
http://www.lakeland.co.uk/17886/Lake...e-Multi-Cooker
Already have a slow cooker, but it is a cheap sous vide cooker....
And I've just learned about the existence of ceramic far infra red hobs - the word induction appears in the name of the product, but 'tis false.
Check out http://www.yesskg.com/en/ - the product descriptions are amusing and sometimes a bit disturbing.

[deejayburnout]

My wife makes awesome soup in the slow cooker. Only down side is that my farts smell from all that veg.

Great to come home and all I can smell is food cooking in the slow cooker.

[mikolaj87]

Hahaha this is so true. If you cook in slow cooker the smell is all around your flat. Few times at night I woke up and munch a fair bit of food that suppose to cook for next few hours :-P

[Spreadie]

My slow cooker gets plenty of use - twice last week alone. More so in the winter months, but it is used all year round. I love making curries and spag bol in there, and they are perfect for cooking brisket or making soups and casseroles.

[Lil-Diabo]

Have any of you had success in making pulled pork with a slow cooker?
I'm thinking of giving it a shot, with some recipes I googled

[Moby-Dick]

Yep - its very easy

get the right cut of meat if you can - ideally a bone in shoulder. mix up a good rub and use plenty of it - add it into the slow cooker and leave it low and slow over night.

[GeorgeStorm]

I'd never considered one before, partially because I assumed they would be expensive.

This might encourage me to try some of the cuts that I wouldnt be sure how to cook properly, since I could just leave it cooking whilst at work kind of thing...

Is it really as simple as shoving some meat, veg, herbs/spices (if wanted) and some water then leaving it? (for a basic meal)

For example I can imagine cooking stuff like chicken thighs could be nice and easy with one, whereas otherwise I find them more difficult (compared to breasts) if cooking in a pan, and I rarely use the oven for things like that.

[Butuz]

Yes I am a slow cooker newbie too but I might buy one. It is very appealing to be able to leave stuff cooking and I really need to eat more veg. So roll up roll up post your best slowcooker recipies / cuts / guides help a poor malnourished Butuz fatten up a bit this winter

Butuz

[shaithis]

Is it really as simple as shoving some meat, veg, herbs/spices (if wanted) and some water then leaving it? (for a basic meal)

Correct, although the water amount you will have to be very careful with......not much moistures should escape the cooking process, meaning it will be pretty much as wet as it was when you put it in. Many people will put way too much water in at the beginning expecting it to evaporate.

Yes I am a slow cooker newbie too but I might buy one. It is very appealing to be able to leave stuff cooking and I really need to eat more veg. So roll up roll up post your best slowcooker recipies / cuts / guides help a poor malnourished Butuz fatten up a bit this winter

My favourites are bolognaise sauce (browned-off beef, tomato puree, onion, celery, carrot and red wine with some salt and pepper - do not use herbs!) and the star of slow-cookers, the stew (beef, onion, potato, carrot, swede, cabbage, pearl barley, split lentils and some curry powder)

I have tried curries but (IMO) they don't work. Seems you need oil to make the flavours infuse properly.