How come slow cooker isnt as nice as pan soup/stew?

SkeeterUK

SkeeterUK

SkeeterUK

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Ive tried a few times. Made soup in a slow cooker crock pot, u know hoy in a bag of veg mix from tesco, some diced beef, a chopped onion, stuck in a sachet of beef casserole mix and filled it with hot water to cover it and cooked it on high once for 4 hours (wasnt soft enough with veg or meat) tried few hours longer was better. Tried 8 hrs on low, goes all dark and not very nice i think especially ruins the chopped onions and veg being very dark and extra soft which isnt what u want as u do want some texture of its original taste left.

Now if i stick it all in a big steal pan and cook it so it boils then reduce and simmer for a hour or hour and a half its delish, nice original color to the veg, the meat looks and tastes great not too soft that it melts away but just right. This time tho i use a stock cube instead of beef casserole mix.

Maybe its the mix causing it but i dunno i think the veg would be too soft if using slow cooker and lose its color compared to pan method.

Is it me do i just not do them right in a slow cooker i mean i can cook a roast or gammon in them just fine but anything with small bits of meat and veg it just doesnt taste as nice as it can be from doing it in a big pan.
 
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Ordered the 3.5L earlier today for £26 heh will let you know how i get on. What about less hours you said 8 try 4 or 5? Maybe slightly pre cook meat first then add the veg? It has to be the order you are doing it Crock Pot has good reviews hence why i gave in for one just for soup.

Ill probably buy another one just for curry with the saute stir function too. Oh and the Rice cooker too!
 
I asked this before and the general consensus was that you need to make sure you brown everything separately first. Which if you're making a good stew, you should anyway.

I inherited a slow cooker and have used it once so far. I did my usual beef shin and guinness stew (browning all the meat etc first as I usually would). I would usually cook it for 3+hrs in a Le Creuset, but this time I put it in the slow cooker for 6hrs and it was impeccable. The meat fell apart, all the flavours were there. The only mistake was too much liquid, as the slow cooker retains all of it.

The only other tip was to taste and re-season nearer the end, and possibly add herbs nearer the end too. :confused:

Chucking everything in raw is never going to work.
 
Scam said:
Chucking everything in raw is never going to work.
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This

Definitely brown meat first and after I fry any onion/garlic in the pan (after removing excess juices). My mum adds raw onions into her stews and they just turn to soggy mush and add little to her dishes.
 
I specifically bought a slow cooker that comes with a pan which can be used on the hob as well just so I can chuck everything in, brown it then stick it straight in the slow cooker. Doesn't get much simpler than that.

Prep it and brown everything the night before, flick the switch as you leave in the morning job done.
 
tom_e said:
I specifically bought a slow cooker that comes with a pan which can be used on the hob as well just so I can chuck everything in, brown it then stick it straight in the slow cooker. Doesn't get much simpler than that.

Prep it and brown everything the night before, flick the switch as you leave in the morning job done.
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I need this in my life
 
Skillmister said:
Browning is the key. Getting up at 7am to brown a pile of meat before work is interesting.
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If you're doing bolognese or ragu then personally I just whack the mince meat into the oven until browned a la Tom Kerridge. I find it's not only easier but it smells less and a bit more contained, particularly when doing a big batch.
Plus I find it absorbs the flavour much better.

You could have course prep everything the night before but even when I batch cook 10-20 portions (or more) it probably takes me 40 minutes in total (I get mince in oven at the start and by the time that's done I've prepped the other ingredients).

tom_e said:
I specifically bought a slow cooker that comes with a pan which can be used on the hob as well just so I can chuck everything in, brown it then stick it straight in the slow cooker. Doesn't get much simpler than that.

Prep it and brown everything the night before, flick the switch as you leave in the morning job done.
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Which did you get? Sounds good.
 
Morphy Richards Accents 48703 Sear and Stew Slow Cooker - Black

According to my Amazon email.
 
Meat isn't the issue I was talking about its darkens veg andthats too soft. Maybe its the soup mix causing it maybe I shouldn't do it on low for 7-8 hrs for the veg in it.
 
SkeeterUK said:
Meat isn't the issue I was talking about its darkens veg andthats too soft. Maybe its the soup mix causing it maybe I shouldn't do it on low for 7-8 hrs for the veg in it.
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Well what veg is it? Mixed veg doesn't sound great and there's no reason to be putting greens in a stew for example. The only veg that could go in a stew really is your carrot, onion, celery, leek, onions. They're good for flavour, but anything else will just be weird. If you want cabbage etc on the side then cook them when it's ready.

I suspect the instant casserole/soup mix is not designed to be cooked out for such a long period of time either. Those things are "cheats" for someone who thinks a stew takes 45mins to cook :) You should be using stock, or beer or wine (or both).

Why don't you just do something like this.
 
How does the browning in the oven work ? with 1KG of mince probably minimum for 10 portions, I would brown this on the hob in, say, a 10" pan base in probably four sessions (high heat, no added oil) turning once ... before or after sweating down any onions/celery in the same pan.
But in an oven would be dirtying additional pans and it is not going to be seared at as high a heat ?
 
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randomshenans said:
Slow cookers are **** compared to cooking in a normal way imo.
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It's really not if you do it right. Ironically, one of the most common issue with using slow cookers is that people overcook the meat and vegetables. Cook meat too long and it will go crumbly and stringy, and cook veg too long and it will go mushy.

However if you get it right (and with me it took a lot of trial and error and eventually ignoring the cooking times of recipes) then a slow cooker is capable of producing some truly mouth-watering dishes, I once made a Beef Bourgeoun that I swear is one of the best things I have ever tasted in my life, including any restaurants. Also, you can make some absolutely delicious curries where the flavour is incredibly rich because it has sat there delicately stewing for so long. The trick to those types of sauce-heavy dishes is starting with a thick sauce, as slow cookers retain the moisture and do not generally thicken well.

The important thing for me is to add the browned meat (along with the oil/fat from the pan used to sear it) after the sauce has already been bubbling for a couple of hours, I try never to cook it for longer than 5-6 hours for pork and chicken and 3-5 hours for beef and lamb (I find lamb is more resistant to slow cooking due to the increased fat) and 2-4 hours for fish. For vegetables it really depends on what you are cooking, thick-cut carrots can take 7+ hours whereas greens can take 4-5.

Slow cooking can be very off-putting to start with, but with practise the results are worth it. :)
 
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Glaucus said:
At least 10portions from 1kg, what are you stingy.
"Pleases sir, I want some more"
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heh :D

To be fair, I made approx 21 portions (7x 750ml tubs - each feeds 2 adults, 2 young kids) of chilli con carne from 1kg mince (plus about 130g bacon) earlier this week.
 
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