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Slow Cookers


doojable
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  • 2 weeks later...

I have a slow cooker that has only 3 settings...low, high, warm. I wish I had the kind with a larger range of temps. I like to cook a whole chicken in my slow cooker. I will put it in and cover with salt, pepper, onion powder, then mix up some cream of mushroom soup with chicken stock and pour over it so it doesn't dry out. It comes out tender and yummy. Tastes great with rice.

I have also put chicken breasts in (frozen works great) and poured campbells cheesy soup mixed with a little chicken stock over the top of the chicken and cooked those on low but they don't take as long.

I love using my slow cooker although I don't like the sodium in the soups and so far that's the best thing I've found to pour over stuff to keep it from drying out or sticking to the inside of the pot, besides just using plain water.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Wow, all these recipes soud great!

I like to make split pea soup in the crock pot.

I put in a bag of split peas, a ham hock, or ham bone, or chopped ham in, cut up carrots, celery, and onions, a little old bay seasoning, thyme, vegie salt, and few dashes of tobasco sauce, and then add water till it's about 3 inches from the top.  It makes the best soup!

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  • 2 months later...

OK I went and bought a 6 qt programable crock pot. I figure it will be real helpful for those evenings when I come in from work and we have just a short time before we head back out the door for a rehearsal or a meet.

Anyone got any great recipes (please mention how big your crock pot is so that I can adjust accordingly.)

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My recipes don't really have measurements, per se... but this one is good if you like sauerkraut.

Into your crock pot put a pork roast - whatever size you need. Then dump in enough sauerkraut to feed your gang. Then pour a can of french onion soup on top. Cook on low for the whole day. It's good if you add caraway seeds to it, too, and maybe some thinly sliced apples.

Here's another one:

Put all of these things into the crock pot and cook on low: Chicken breasts (as many as it takes to feed your people) two cans of italian stewed tomatoes with juice, and 8 ounces of mushrooms (whole is fine). Add the tomatoes last. Cook for the whole day. It comes out like a stew... pretty close to Chicken Cacciatore.

And another one that's REALLY SIMPLE:

Chicken breasts, a can of decent prepared spaghetti sauce. Cook on medium for a couple of hours until the chicken is done. Shred up the chicken and then serve on pasta. My husband loves this one.

I am a huge fan of slow cookers. As I remember more recipes, I will let you know!!

Oh, wait!! One hint for slow cooking meat - as long as it's not a terribly horrible cut, the less liquid used with it, the better. The crock pot lid will make a sufficient seal to allow it to cook in its own juices, much like a roasting bag. I have found this actually makes a more tender roast than adding a ton of liquid...

Edited by JavaJane
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Thanks! I'll use my own spaghetti sauce after I make it for spaghetti.

The girls want to know if I can make spaghetti sauce in the crock pot - I think I can but not with sausage and meatballs..I'd imagine the grease would be horrible

have you ever tried it?

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Thanks! I'll use my own spaghetti sauce after I make it for spaghetti.

The girls want to know if I can make spaghetti sauce in the crock pot - I think I can but not with sausage and meatballs..I'd imagine the grease would be horrible

have you ever tried it?

One of my best friends in high school made meat sauce in the crock pot... it was a littlegreasy but it was yummy good. I still crave it sometimes. If you cook the meat beforehand and drain it, it cuts down on the grease a lot. Although it seams to defeat the purpose a little bit.

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Interesting this subject just came back up...

Just last weekend I had pulled out the slow cooker and was getting ready to slow cook a pork roast to make pulled pork. I put the stoneware in the cooker, turned on the heat and added my ingredients. About an hour later I heard this awful hissing noise. I checked the cooker and the crock was cracked - almost in two! The thing was less than 3 months old!

Ever have this happen?

The last one I had was almost 10 years old when it gave up the ghost - and it had quite a busy life. I bet had used this one maybe 10 times.... :(

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Interesting this subject just came back up...

Just last weekend I had pulled out the slow cooker and was getting ready to slow cook a pork roast to make pulled pork. I put the stoneware in the cooker, turned on the heat and added my ingredients. About an hour later I heard this awful hissing noise. I checked the cooker and the crock was cracked - almost in two! The thing was less than 3 months old!

Ever have this happen?

The last one I had was almost 10 years old when it gave up the ghost - and it had quite a busy life. I bet had used this one maybe 10 times.... :(

Yes. I have had it happen with a crock pot less than 3 months old. It cracked right in two. I have no idea how or why.

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The local PBS station a while back was featuring live demonstrations of favorite crock pot recipies, I think it was durring a donation drive.  Anyway, the recipies are all

 listed on this website:

http://www.glendaskitchen.com/crockpot/categories.htm

I saw a few of the recipies demonstrated, they were the liquid lasagna, spinach casserole, and the Sauerbraten, and they looked really good.  

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  • 2 months later...

Hi Paw,

I think there are a couple of reasons for the browning. First is visual appeal. I don't think you'll get that lovely browning from a slow cooker. Next is flavor. By browning you release some of the sugars that produce carmalization which provides more flavor. If you dredge the meat in a little flour prior to browning it will help convert the liquid in the slow cooker into a more gravy like consistency. I think I'm making myself hungry!

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Pot Roast --

Does anyone have a good recipe for pot roast in the slow cooker?

I'm going to brown the outside first on high heat and then let cook for hours -- but I'm mainly looking for a sauce to add. I'm considering some water, Worchestire, a little vinegar? Anyone have ideas?

I'll add potatos and carrots about half way through.

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I have a recipe for Italian Pot Roast in a crock pot - but it's a home and I'm at work. This uses tomato sauce and beef bullion (I think) My grandmother made it when I was a kid - but I was going to try this and see how it goes in a crock pot.

If you go to Allrecipes.com they and type in "Crockpot Pot Roast" I bet you'll get some good ideas. Please share your findings! ;)

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Italian-Style Roast

Ingredients:

1- 6 oz can tomato paste

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 pkg dry onion soup mix

2 tsp fresh oregano, chopped

2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped

1 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 lbs chuck roast, trimmed of any excess fat

1 - 16 oz can tomatoes, drained and chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 medium carrots, chopped

1 medium potato, chopped

1 large celery stalk, sliced

2 bay leaves

Directions:

In a small mixing bowl, combine the tomato paste, garlic, onion soup mix, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper. Rub this mixture all over the chuck roast and place the roast in the stoneware. Add the remaining ingredients and any leftover tomato sauce. Cover and cook on Low 8 to 10 hours or on High 4 to 5 hours. Makes 6 servings. You may double all the ingredients for a 5, 6, or 7-quart slow cooker.

This recipe is from www.crock-pot.com

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Hey everyone. Okay -- I'm finally making the pot roast (haha) and I'm trying this recipe. So far, so good (except for the roux -- some of the flour chunked, I think the pan was still too hot -- I WILL get this roux business down one day!) But, it still looks good. Nothing major.

I transferred the meat to the slow cooker to simmer for hours (vs. the dutch oven). Oh and mine is a round roast I cut into three sections and I didn't have fresh herbs so I just mixed in some dried rosemarry and thyme.

I'll let you know how it turns out! I'm debating the parsnips he adds (hubby is potato man). We'll see.

P.S. I will try Dooj's recipe next time I cook pot roast which will be in a few weeks as hubby is a meat man.

Edited by Outfield
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Outfiled,

Do you make a roux for your pot roast? How'd it turn out?

Here's my favorite recipe for slow cooker pot roast:

POT ROAST A LA SLOW COOKER

INGREDIENTS

2-4 pounds chuck roast

¼ cup flour

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

2 Tb oil

1/2 packet dry onion soup mix

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

Dash Worcestershire sauce

1 cup water

2-4 cloves garlic, sliced or minced

3 carrots, chopped or bag baby carrots

1 onion, chopped or bag frozen pearl onion

3 potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 stalk celery, chopped

DIRECTIONS

Take the chuck roast and season with salt and pepper to taste, dust with flour, and brown on all sides in a large skillet with 2 Tb oil over high heat.

Place in the slow cooker and add the rest of the ingredients to the slow cooker.

Cover and cook on low setting for 7 to 10 hours

Variations: for a richer gravy add a second can of cream of mushroom soup, and/or sliced mushrooms, more garlic, parsley, a little herbs de provence goes well with this recipe too. .

Can be cooked on high for 5 hours except add the vegetables only at the last hour of cooking otherwise they will melt into the sauce.

Enjoy!

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