So I Just Bought A Slow Cooker!!

$loth said:
This sounds awesome! I'll be giving that a go soon.

I bought some diced shoulder pork (450g, £2) and pork livers (1/2kg, £1) to make a pork and tomato casserole, i've never cooked with pork liver but will be interesting to try.
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Personally, I hate liver other than when it's flash fried. It just gets rubbery and gritty if its over cooked/cooked for a long time imo.
 
delta0 said:
There is more than one way to make pulled pork. You don't have to have a slow cooker. This is a good recipe. http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/tv-show-recipes/sunday-brunch-recipes/cajun-pulled-pork-recipe Change it to a BBQ version with a marinade and some cider.
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True, but I find it's far tastier when done in a slow cooker (plus you can gtfo for a while and just leave it - I wouldn't be as comfortable leaving my oven on while I'm at work for 9 hours).

I only ever opt to do pulled pork in a slow cooker or if it's summer, in my Weber Smoky Mountain with some good ol' lumps of hickory!

Voltar said:
Sensational. Thanks DcD. You are a national treasure and belong on the fourth plinth at Trafalgar Square.
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Glad you enjoyed it mate. :)
 
The oven method is only really good for the weekend. Having tried it, it is spot on as the slow cooker is. The best bit about the slow cooker is leaving it. Many are programmable now which means it is even easier.
 
I can do {insert recipe here} in an oven too, but my oven pulls 2000 Watts whereas my slow cooker pulls 250. Yep I need to run the slow cooker for at least twice as long, but - you do the maths.

Cheap cuts of meat, cheap to run, lower bills, still excellent food.
 
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I love my slow cooker and have had one for a few years. I usually make up whatever I am cooking the night before, then put the ceramic pot, with lid, in the fridge with my car keys on top.

This makes sure I don't drive off and forget to put the pot in the heater part and switch it on.
 
Cooking just for myself and possibly one other person. I'm happy to eat leftovers for a day or two though. :)

I got the argos one today, though its still in its box untouched. If I can't find a better one by morning, then I'll use it tomorrow.

Trying to look around for something tasty and cheap to make (most recipes seem to require loads of herbs etc which I don't have.)
 
Lt_Red said:
Shoulder of Lamb - cheap as chips and soo good.

Brown the shoulder off in a frying pan first making sure its well browned all over, set aside.

Chop some onions and garlic, carrot and very thinly chop some celery and anything else you have in the fridge, throw it into the frying pan and it will deglaze all the sticky burnt lamb bit from the bottom pan, fry for a few seconds until it lifts all the stuff off. Add a tablespoon of tomato puree and stur, add two tablespoons of plain flour and stur till coated then chuck it all in the slow cooker. Put the lamb on top.

Put a little red wine into the frying pan and cook briskly to cook off the booze, throw that over the lamb then add enough chicken or lamb stock to cover the veg and come up to the base of the joint. Add a bit of rosemary and a couple of bay leaves. Lid on, cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 6-8 hours or until the meat is falling apart.

You can serve it as is but if you wanna posh it up, get the meat out and leave to rest in a warm place, pass the liquid through a sieve and taste it - season - discard the veg. If the liquid is too thin mix a little cornflour with a little water and stick it in to thicken - cook it down a little and there's your gravy.

Serve with whatever you like.

You can do exactly the same with lamb shanks but use a little more liquid so they are at least half submerged.

You can also vary this by using chopped tomatoes, chili, tumeric, curry powder etc for a morrocan type dish
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I'm going to try this. :D

I've got a 3.5l slow cooker which I'm guessing is appropriate? What size is shoulder of lamb? (I've never cooked lamb before) Or are the sizes all roughly the same?

When you say garlic is this the actual root or is it powdered? (Never used garlic before :o)

So to summarise veg: onions, garlic and celery?

Chicken and lamb stock is like oxo cubes and boiling water?
 
please never use garlic powder, the real stuff is lovely, crush it with a little salt and add it to the stock. If you ask the butcher and tell him the size of your pot he will suggest the size of meat, but Id suggest about 1.5kg. I tend to stay away from too many stock cubes as itll turn out too salty. As for thickening the sauce, you can make a roux or I tend to pop a potato in the pot towards the end, the starch thickens it up nicely.


rotters
 
well, I've gone with the pulled pork. followed dcds and having rubbed it last night (hey hey hey), stuck with with the sauce earlier at 11:30am.

Will be back tonight about 8 so it should be ready soon after? (I stuck it on low)
 
rotters said:
please never use garlic powder, the real stuff is lovely, crush it with a little salt and add it to the stock. If you ask the butcher and tell him the size of your pot he will suggest the size of meat, but Id suggest about 1.5kg. I tend to stay away from too many stock cubes as itll turn out too salty. As for thickening the sauce, you can make a roux or I tend to pop a potato in the pot towards the end, the starch thickens it up nicely.


rotters
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There's nothing wrong with garlic powder. However, you don't use it in the same way as fresh garlic or to achieve the same flavour.

I only converted to using it (mostly in rubs) in the past year and I've found it to be great for tons of things. Obviously I still use 'proper' garlic for a lot of stuff though.
 
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