slow cooker recipes

I find it better to brown any meat you're using before you put it in the slow cooker, maybe coating it in seasoned flour first. Browning adds to the richness of the sauce and the flour will thicken it. I did beef short ribs with red wine and beef stock on a bed of vegetables on Friday. Left it on low for about six hours and then reheated it the next day when my son came to lunch. Both the ribs and the sauce were delicious, the meat falling off the bones. They are a godsend for cheaper cuts like ox tail and brisket. I think there was a recent thread on here where lots of lovely recipes cropped up. Try a search. Hope you enjoy making the most of it!

I agree with Greyduster, prior browning is a good idea. Also, don't add too much liquid: it doesn't dry out. if you google recipes for a slow cooker you will get a few ideas. You will have a menu leaflet with your cooker and I have been given a cookbook for slow cookers. All those are more than enough for me. I'm sure you could do soup, but encouraged by a recent GN link on soup makers I succumbed and bought one of those. Yesterday's lentil and bacon soup was delicious and, more to the point, quick. Each piece of equipment has its advantage - slow cooker for things you can leave for hours and forget, and soup maker for a quick meal. Tho it only does soup of course ! Good luck with your cooker. I wouldn't be without mine. When I worked I was greeted by that wonderful aroma when I put the key in the door and it was an instant feast. Yummy.

I've just made 2litres of stock from the bone from the new year ham. Can anyone recommend a slightly different recipe for soup? I usually have a vast range for chicken stock but little for a ham bone.

Have you made pea and ham soup? It's delicious

I used my slow cooker this year to cook a Christmas pudding I made. It is only the second time I have ever made a Christmas pudding. It cooked overnight in the slow cooker and was a big success.

Lentil soup!

I have done my Christmas pudding in the slow cooker for years, saves cooker space.

The joy of the new slow cookers is that you don't have to heat up the cooker first or make sure the food is hot before putting it in. I do a Thai beef stew which is delicious.
I agree it's best to brown the meat first to enhance the taste.

There are some good slow cooker books available from Amazon quite cheaply.

Although I love my slow cooker, I still make soup on the hob, just made a batch of pea and ham with the last of the gammon, will be making lentil and bacon tomorrow, both freeze well.

Galen. Was that lentil soup or lentil soup ?

soup made with the ham bone stock, leeks a couple of carrots and red lentils! Serve with homemade crusty bread (sourdough is good) and lashings of good Welsh salted butter.

I have a big slow cooker, too large for the two of us but brilliant when the hoards descend. Tesco's have smaller ones for £17, so bought one with my coupons (effectively it's half price in their sale).
I wonder if you can cook fish in one?

Why not?

I got one, and I had really wanted it, but I have only used it once. There doesn't seem much point in doing vegetables in it, except perhaps pulses, and you are warned off fish understandably, as long slow cooking would ruin it. So really, I am watching this thread, too, for ideas. Coincidentally, I did get a cheap cut of meat this week for making stock and was just thinking of doing that in the slow cooker, to get it out of hibernation.

The six-hour cooking time stumps me. If I put it on before I go to work, it's finished around mid-afternoon, and if I put it on before I go to bed, it's finished halfway through the night.

Just put it on the low setting and most things will happily sit for the day. I put a piece of brisket on first thing with no liquid at all and in 8 hours it is delicious and wonderful gravy. A large piece of gammon is the same although I do put water in that. Casseroles on the lowest setting can also be left all day and slow roast lamb and rolled pork shoulder are delicious although I finish those in a hot oven to crisp up and release the last fat.

You can cook just about any main ingredient in a slow cooker, including fish, which simply needs a bit less time than, say, brisket. Bouillabaisse is delicious and so, too, is any whole fish, such as trout, snapper, sea bream or sea bass. Other delicate dishes, such as baked custards, vegetable timbales and roulades also work well in a slow cooker. Don't forget that you can stand covered ramekins, cups or other small dishes on a trivet to steam them.

Greyduster No doubt you followed the manufacturer's handbook but it is worth pointing out that you should never reheat food in a slow cooker (even if it has been cooked in the slow cooker first).

I got my slow cooker free with a catalogue about 40 years ago and am still using it, although food sticks to the bottom a bit now and I have to stir it.

One of my favourites is to cook beef, carrots and onions in the slow cooker, transfer to a pyrex dish, add a suet pastry crust and put it in the oven.

I love liver but usually fry it quickly in seasoned flour. Somebody gave me some frozen liver ( too much for 1 person) is it possible to cook it in the slow cooker then freeze the remainder in single portions? Recipes please!!!

Rice pudding with sultanas is lovely done in slow cooker

Ive got a Wonderbag and I love it. Google it to find out more about them. Lovely ethical company helping African communities.

It's a slow cooker using no electricity, and yes it really works!

This is the old hay box brought into the 21st century.

It sounds very like the old haybox - boil up stew, vover and put into a box of hay to cook all day.

Also very like the way my mother and grandmother cooked ham when the electricity meter gobbled shillings as though they were sweeties - put ham into the copper with an onion or two and some peppercorns, cover with water and boil up, then turn off heat and cover the copper with all the old blankets, coats and eiderdowns in the house and leave overnight. They did have to clean out the copper thoroughly first, or the ham had a faint taste of soap.

Did they wash nappies in the copper Elegran?!

My grandmother had no babies in the house when I remember this, and my mother used to take her ham there (we had no separate copper) However, I wouldn't be surprised if it had been used to wash nappies in the past - granny was very keen on cleanliness and would have boiled up anything boilable. "Soap and water don't cost much!" was her comment on anyone who looked a bit grubby, and if she washed your face for you, it felt as though she was washing down to the bone.