Slow Cooker - not impressed. doing it wrong?

[waggy]

..ok how many now want to start up teh slow cooker? i am tempted to drive i and get a nice roast for pulled BBQ sandwiches.

to bad its 11 and by the time i got back would be 12. sigh i don't like eating late at night. bummer.

 

[Veevester]

Yeah, I haven't used my slow cooker in a couple years (it just doesn't seem worth it when you live alone), but suddenly I am dying to use it!!!! I'll have to invite some people over for dinner. Thanks for the inspiration!

 

[SlitheryDee]

I always leave mine on the lowest setting for 8-9 hours. Everything cooks well in that amount of time. The best part of meat from a slow cooker is how it practically melts in your mouth when cooked properly. I also use a lot of seasoning. A quick recipe for slow-cooker venison is to dump a couple pounds of meat, couple bags of frozen vegetables, and a couple pouches of standard beef stew seasoning into the cooker. Put in enough water to get within 1-1.5 inches of the top, turn it on low and eat it the next day. Them's good eats.

 

[Nintendesert]

My wife giggles every time I say it.

You're a lucky man. :thumbsup:

 

[waggy]

hmm found enough stuff to make jambalaya. though useing spicy sausage and chicken. should be done in time for dinner!

 

[lozina]

Yeah, I haven't used my slow cooker in a couple years (it just doesn't seem worth it when you live alone), but suddenly I am dying to use it!!!! I'll have to invite some people over for dinner. Thanks for the inspiration!

lol, my pleasure

I cant wait to try it again now with this new knowledge!

 

[TXHokie]

..ok how many now want to start up teh slow cooker? i am tempted to drive i and get a nice roast for pulled BBQ sandwiches.

to bad its 11 and by the time i got back would be 12. sigh i don't like eating late at night. bummer.

This was the last thing I cooked last week:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-pulled-pork/

mmm..mmm...good

 

[Howard]

You overcooked your pork. It should be internal at ~135.

Not true. Tender cuts, cooked via dry methods, follow that rule of thumb quite well for medium rare. However, tougher cuts meant for wet cooking need to spend time at elevated temperatures in order to convert the collagen into gelatin so that they become tender and start to fall apart. This, practically speaking, happens at 160F minimum, and the higher you go, the less time you need to tenderize thoroughly. At the same time, you lose more and more moisture as you go hotter, so you have to find a good balance between time and juiciness.

See more here: http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/03/the-food-lab-ramen-edition-how-to-make-chashu-pork-belly.html

EDIT: Here's the other thing: modern slow cookers don't really go "low" even on the low setting. Have you tried measuring the temperature of the vessel in its lowest setting? If it's any higher than 165F, you'll get suboptimal results.

 

[Kelvrick]

I like to add various liquids to my crockpot. I've had different beers, ginger ale apple cider...

 

[Red Squirrel]

Don't cook till it gets a certain temperature, cook till it gets at a certain time. They're called slow cookers for a reason. 4-8 hours is typical for a cook time.

This reminds me I need to use mine more, I always forget I have one. Makes me nervous leaving an appliance on all day while I'm at work though... but I do have a monitored fire alarm so I probably should not need to worry.