Message Boards

Hi Livewire,
that is exactly what I wanted, thank you.
I have ordered some recipes books on Amazon but while waiting for them I would like to get started with the slow cooker, I never stick exactly to any recipe - but with a new piece of equipment its nice to have some idea what to do!

Hello janer1 -

I have a Murphy Richards 3.5 litre. In the booklet the times are given cooking on Medium for the 3.5 and the 6.5 litre (both take the same amount of time). The conversions given are as follows:-

Medium 4/6hours = Low 6/8hours = High 3/4hours
Medium 6/8hours = Low 8/10hours = High 5/6hours
Medium 8/10hours= Low 10/12 hours= High 7/8hours

It also states that the cooking times are for guidelines only and may vary depending on food type and personal taste.

Hope you find this helpful.

hi,
most of the slow cooker recipes I have seen say cook for x number of hours on medium. My ten pound tesco slow cooker comes with no instructions at all - and only two settings - low and high. Could anyone tell me how long to extend cooking times for the low setting?
Thanks

hi, just bought a slow cooker, this is my first meal. here goes, shin beef or you could use sausages, onions mushrooms peppers cook for about 6 hours i suppose, then 40 mnutes before serving, i'm gonna add a creamy pepper sauce mix( schwartz) let that thicken up, then serve it with mash and veg, will let you know how it turned out!!!

I have just bought a slow cooker after going to my friends house for dinner she made us spaghetti bolognese, I tried it myself today and it is lovely. Here is my recipe. I hope you like it.

I used 2lbs mince (going to freeze some after for quick dinners), 1 dollop lea and perins garlic sauce (chefs helper), 1 dollop lea and perrins wouchester sauce ( I have prob spelt that wrong oh well ), sprinkle of herbs de provence, two drops tobasco, 2 beef oxo stock cubes, 1 large onion.

I brown the mince before hand. I start with mince and crumble the two beef oxo cubes over the mince, stir then add the dollop of garlic, dollop of wouchester sauce, herbs de provence and tobasco. cook until mince is all browned.

add chopped large onion to the slow cooker, then mince, then I add one jar dolmio(extra spicy) and then add one jar of dolmio roasted onion & garlic. I cooked it for 6-7 hours on low, serve with fresh egg spaghetti and garlic bread. yum yum.

Hi....my mum is thinking about buying a slow cooker and I said I'd google for recipes and there are some great ideas here....so I thought I'd add mine. This is the only thing I have cooked in mine and I'll be able to branch out now. A pound of stewing steak, seasoned, floured & browned, then chucked into the cooker with a can of guiness, spoonful of treacle, juice of half an orange, a load of mushrooms and dried prunes, cooked all day. With some horseradish mash - yum!

Hey There.

I have just borrowed a slow cooker from my mother in law... I have a Lamb shoulder (bone in) to cook in there, I dont want it to have too many fussy components... Can i just put the lamb in on its own or with an onion and leave it on slow cook??
(have no idea!)

Hi Everyone. I have just moved house and the cooker i have is electric and the socket for electric cookers is over the other side of the kitchen without a place for the cooker to stand! i now have to buy a gas cooker!!!! i have decided to dig out my slow cooker whilst we wait for the delivery of our gas cooker. I have heard that i need to brown the meat first and wondered how i will be able to do this without a cooker? i have a steamer anmd a microwave so can anyone help me out with some family meals i can make with these 3 items! Thank you all, you will be saving our waistlines from takeaways!

Hi Has anybody any good weight watchers slow cooker recipes....please

hi
wanting to buy Morphy Richards 3setting slow cooker, 6.5L or 3.5L do you think, only two of us. daughter in Australia has a slow cooker so it will be great to exchange recipes - we will both be novices - any great tested ones.

hi snowlight, thanks, i will try that. I will also try roasting chicken, which i thought wouldnt work in a slow cooker.

Hi there SUUE. For beef, yes add about 1/2 litre of boiling liquid, anything ,stock, wine and a little water, water with stock cube, enough so it comes up to between third to halfway up the beef. I always buy pot roast for the slow cooker. It comes out nice and tender. When you have cooked it leave it in the slow cooker in the liquid until cold. This way the juices will go back into the beef. Don't waste money buying a roasting joint. Hope this helps you.

Can someone tell me where I went wrong with my slow cooker. I bought a slow cooker afew weeks ago and cooked a joint of beef on its own, on the slow cook setting, went out for the day for 8 hours, came home and the beef was burst and nearly on fire. Is my slow cooker faulty or did i need to add liquid.

I can tell you that the rice pudding is really excellent. When my gas cooker expired(!) I decided to try a slow cooker instead and it is one the best buys I've made. Because nothing dries out in a slow cooker, you don't lose as much when cooking in a conventional oven. The rice pudding used to dry out in my oven, but in the slow cooker I get a lot of portions from the same recipe. I haven't tried cooking chicken without liquid but that sounds like a good idea, the meat really comes out tender in a casserole. The other advantage is that you get a lot of liquid from cooking so there isn't any need to make a separate sauce with ingredients outside of the slow cooker. You can just use the liquid from the cooking and make a really tasty sauce - I usually add soured cream to make it creamy and even more tasty.
PS: Us gents can cook very easily using the slow cooker!!!

Snowlight, like the curry recipe, will use my stewing steak for that.... also like the beef in wine posted by mcnamara...

Thank you Snowlight. Very informative.

If you cook the rice pud without sugar, then after it has cooked and you are ready to serve, add granulated sweetener instead of the sugar and it will give you a lower calorie rice pud. Rice pudding made in a steamer is also very good. And if you use sterilized milk you can lower or even omit the 40g of butter.

Beef curry - Fry 2 medium, sliced apples with 2 large chopped onions in a pan until soft. Coat 700g beef in 3 tblsp. flour and fry until lightly browned. Stir in 400ml of stock and bring to a simmer. Add 3 tsp curry powder,75g sultanas(optional) 3 tblsp mango chutney 200g tinned chopped tomatoes and 2 tblsp. lemon juice. Transfer to the slow cooker and cook for approx 4-7 hours. At the end of the cooking time it may be necessary to thicken the curry with a little cornflour mixed with a little water. After putting the cornflour mix in the pot put the lid on and leave a little longer for the cornflour to cook out or transfer to a pan to put on the hob or a dish to use in the microwave, to thicken.

Chicken, pork and lamb - Just put the joints in the slow cooker as is put the lid on set to low overnight. Then in the morning just give it a boost on high for an hour (whilst you are in the house). Roasts lovely. I put a boned and rolled shoulder of lamb in and next to that I put 4 chicken thighs, overnight on low, boosted power in the morning for an hour. Cooked 2 meals at the same time. Juices come from the meat eventually plus the steam generates liquid. When the pot is cool enough to handle, pour out the stock into a dish or jug and let set (in the fridge when it has cooled), take off the fat from the top and you also have your stock for gravy etc.

rice pudding. 4.5ltr slow cooker.butter the inside of the crockpot first, put 150g pudding rice,40g butter(diced or grated if really chilled)150g sugar and 1 and a half litres milk, pinch nutmeg, mix well,cook for 3 - 4 hour on medium, i havent tried this one yet but it looks good--imagine it makes a LOT of rice pudding so i think id half this .

beef in red wine.(4.5litre cooker) Fry 2 lge chopped onions til soft in tbspn oil,add 1.5kg cubed stewing beef or steak,and brown .add 2 crushed garlic cloves(not essential if you dont like garlic)10 chopped tomatoes(i always use a couple oflarge cans)800g mushrooms(nice to use whole small ones)1 litre red wine,salt and pepper,bay leaf if you have one and bring to a simmer ,transfer to slow cooker pot and cook 4-8 hours on medium.remove bay leaf and add some chopped parsley to serve-lovely with mashed potatoes. if you dont want to use all that wine just substitute half with beef stock

oriental honeyed pork, this is a really tasty slow cooker recipe.(amounts are for 4.5 litre cooker) cube 1kg pork fillet &toss in seasoned flour/cornflour(or iv done it with up to 6 -8 pork chops),heat oil in a pan,&fry 1 lge chopped onion & 2 crushed garlic cloves,add pork & lightly brown,add 2 chopped green peppers,8 chopped mushrooms,6 chopped tomatoes(or a can)and a big tin pineapple pieces.(keep the juice).In a jug measure 1 litre chicken stock,5 tbspns honey,3 tbspns soy sauce,mix & pour over pork in pan,blend 5 tbspns cornflour with the pineapple juice and add this to pork pan,bring to boil then transfer all this to your slow cooker and cook on medium for 5-8 hours.this sounds a bit faffy but its not ,sometimes i prepare everything the night before ready to just bring to boil in the morning,switch on and go to work.serve with rice or new potatoes and green veg.

Wow that lamb shank one sounds good. Think I'll get the ol' slow cooker out and give it a go!

Soon as Livtoots. Got a busy day today will do tomorrow.

Lamb shanks easy and resonably cheap
you need the shanks some garlic, redcurrent jelly and some stock, seasoning and chuck it all in leave it overnight or all day and then served with brie mash
delish

Snowlight, Have purchased some stewing beef - could you please send me a recipe using that when you have some time.....many thanks

Livtoots

I didn't know you could cook chicken, pork or lamb without liquid. I also have a Morphy Richards slow cooker - what setting do you put them on and how long do you cook them for? Many thanks.