What you eatin' there then?

[Stevo985]

Need the help of the VT cooking elite.

 

Recently started using a slow cooker. It's brilliant, we've made some really nice meals in it, especially some Vegan stuff this month.

The problem I have is it's always so watery when it's cooked. My theory is that it's the steam that builds up, so i thought if I took the lid off for the last hour of cooking it would help. But it doesn't seem to make a difference.

We've got round it by simmering off the whole thing once it's cooked. Plonk it in a massive pan and simmer for 1 minutes and get it to the right consistency. 

But I feel like I shouldn't have to do that. Is there anything I'm obviously doing wrong that's causing it? or an easy way to remedy it?

[mottaloo]

1 hour ago, Stevo985 said:

Need the help of the VT cooking elite.

 

Recently started using a slow cooker. It's brilliant, we've made some really nice meals in it, especially some Vegan stuff this month.

The problem I have is it's always so watery when it's cooked. My theory is that it's the steam that builds up, so i thought if I took the lid off for the last hour of cooking it would help. But it doesn't seem to make a difference.

We've got round it by simmering off the whole thing once it's cooked. Plonk it in a massive pan and simmer for 1 minutes and get it to the right consistency. 

But I feel like I shouldn't have to do that. Is there anything I'm obviously doing wrong that's causing it? or an easy way to remedy it?

I've found this too. If i prep a curry and chuck it in the cooker and the liquid/sauce doesn't even cover the meat then i used to top it up and by the time it was ready, the sauce was too thin. So when I prep one now, i deliberately put in less sauce, tinned tomatoes or whatever. Stir in some cornflour before you chuck it all in the cooker too. I think Sainsburys sell a "sauce thickener" by name.

It's hit and miss sometimes but keep persevering and you'll crack it.

[Stevo985]

I've heard about adding cornflour so may try that. Or another thickener.

To be fair simmering it works fine. Maybe it burns off some of the flavour but everything we've made tastes great. But every time I pour it into a pan and simmer it I'm thinking "I shouldn't have to do this!"

[mottaloo]

7 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

I've heard about adding cornflour so may try that. Or another thickener.

To be fair simmering it works fine. Maybe it burns off some of the flavour but everything we've made tastes great. But every time I pour it into a pan and simmer it I'm thinking "I shouldn't have to do this!"

I know what you mean. I see the slow cooker as a means to bung stuff in for up to 8 hours and forget about it, but i think it's main advantage being that it can make even the most ordinary cut of meat so tender.

Not sure it works for qourn though !

[Stevo985]

I bet it's amazing for meat!

Not tried it with Quorn, I doubt it would have the same effect!
But with veggie chillis and curries it's been amazing so far

[maqroll]

Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Fresh bakery white bread

Habanero pepper aioli

Provolone

Pickle Chips

[mikeyp102]

2 hours ago, Stevo985 said:

I've heard about adding cornflour so may try that. Or another thickener.

To be fair simmering it works fine. Maybe it burns off some of the flavour but everything we've made tastes great. But every time I pour it into a pan and simmer it I'm thinking "I shouldn't have to do this!"

Cornflour is very helpful, but don’t just chuck it in. You’ll either have to make a paste out of it first (mix with a little water in a bowl/cup), or dip the meat into so it’s stuck to the meat. If you just add it to the sauce it won’t mix during the cooking process. 

Another alternative is adding a sauce, so for a casserole I squirted in some “Guinness flavoured” bbq sauce (any ketchup style sauce would work). It thickens it up and adds a bit more flavour to it.

[villa4europe]

you'll see it referred to as a "slurry" you definitely have to mix it with water first or you will get lumps, its better than flour, doesnt flavour the food as much 

used it a lot in cooking chinese food, when you get a take away and the chicken always seems a bit weird and almost slimy thats usually because they dust it in corn starch before frying it to stop it from burning

I will be using it tonight, orange chicken, fry the chicken (normally, i dont use a red hot wok so wont burn the meat) soy sauce, garlic, bit of chilli, teaspoon of hoi sin, load of orange juice, thicken it with corn starch, if you can be bothered to batter your chicken first you've basically just made panda express, you can do exactly the same with lemon too

[Stevo985]

Would you chuck the cornflour/water mixture in at the start with everything else or add it closer to the end?

[villa4europe]

at the end just as a thickener 

and give it a chance too, easy to do too much

[mottaloo]

Yeah I should've said about mixing the cornflour with water and THEN adding it to the dish. As I found out myself once, I chucked some in whilst it bubbled away in the slow cooker and the lumps did my head in.

 

Ya lives and learns, I guess

[Stevo985]

Cheers guys

[peterms]

On 17/01/2019 at 14:26, Stevo985 said:

But I feel like I shouldn't have to do that. Is there anything I'm obviously doing wrong that's causing it? or an easy way to remedy it?

Have you tried adding much less liquid than the recipe says?  As you say, the steam can't escape.  And if you're doing vegan stuff, well veg are largely water, so long slow cooking will mean they give up more water than quicker cooking methods, so you need less added liquid.  If you think about cooking things in a foil parcel, you won't add any liquid at all, just oil the foil to prevent the food sticking, and it cooks in its own juice.  The same idea should apply to a slow cooker - though it's not something I use, so can't speak from experience.

[Stevo985]

9 minutes ago, peterms said:

Have you tried adding much less liquid than the recipe says?  As you say, the steam can't escape.  And if you're doing vegan stuff, well veg are largely water, so long slow cooking will mean they give up more water than quicker cooking methods, so you need less added liquid.  If you think about cooking things in a foil parcel, you won't add any liquid at all, just oil the foil to prevent the food sticking, and it cooks in its own juice.  The same idea should apply to a slow cooker - though it's not something I use, so can't speak from experience.

Yeah I thought about that, but there's hardly any liquid in most of the recipes

[Xela]

Buttermilk pancakes, syrup and crispy bacon for brekkie earlier. 

Lovely. 

[fightoffyour]

On 17/01/2019 at 14:26, Stevo985 said:

Need the help of the VT cooking elite.

 

Recently started using a slow cooker. It's brilliant, we've made some really nice meals in it, especially some Vegan stuff this month.

The problem I have is it's always so watery when it's cooked. My theory is that it's the steam that builds up, so i thought if I took the lid off for the last hour of cooking it would help. But it doesn't seem to make a difference.

We've got round it by simmering off the whole thing once it's cooked. Plonk it in a massive pan and simmer for 1 minutes and get it to the right consistency. 

But I feel like I shouldn't have to do that. Is there anything I'm obviously doing wrong that's causing it? or an easy way to remedy it?

You could also just add in some pearl barley or lentils or tiny pasta things, whichever best suits the dish, and let that absorb some of the cooking liquid and thereby thicken it. For a casserole in a slow cooker I’m always using pearl barley, for a curry I’d go with lentils and goulash some csipetke.

[theboyangel]

Doing Fabada today, a Spanish stew of belly pork, chorizo, morcilla sausage (their black pudding) and butterbeans. 

It’s delicious and perfect for a miserable drizzly afternoon! 

[mottaloo]

1 hour ago, Xela said:

Buttermilk pancakes, syrup and crispy bacon for brekkie earlier. 

Lovely. 

Homemade or where did you pick that up from ? Sounds great 

[Xela]

4 hours ago, mottaloo said:

Homemade or where did you pick that up from ? Sounds great 

Renato Lounge in Mere Green. 

[mjmooney]

Chicken liver parfait with onion marmalade, fillet steak (medium rare) w/salad & fries, bottle of Côtes du Rhone, chocolate and pistachio delice, coffee. Birthday blowout. Burp.