Slow Cooker/Crock Pot: Recipes and Techniques

[helenjp]

carefully seasoned stews

...I agree, and was too grumpy to finish my sentence in my first post - braising yes, stews no. I suspect slow cookers just don't deliver enough heat. Perhaps the "bed of sauteed vegetables" approach works because the meat juices permeate the vegetables directly and undiluted, or perhaps it's just easier for the slow cooker to reach a decent heat for a longer period?

What about the opposite approach, freshening up a slow-cooked dish with a quickly fried mix of flavorful vegetables/herbs, or fresh herbs/lemon juice/ tomatoes/spices etc just before serving? Slow cookers are just too convenient to give up on!

Slow cookers make wonderful "simmered" fish dishes - creamy texture without the fish breaking up.

Could be just a case of rose-tinted spectacles, but I actually look forward to getting back to NZ and hauling out the slow cooker! I think of them more as slow-steamers than slow-stew machines.

[andiesenji]

I have several crockpot or slow cookers from the very cheap to the fairly expensive and use them often.

There are several excellent cookbooks on the subject but there is also a vast resource of recipes on the internet. Crockpot recipes! and more crockpot recipes

I actually do some advance work on some things, just to develop the flavor tha Paula notes is often lacking. Also with very fatty meats, doing some rapid pre-cooking and fat removal makes for a better end result.

In my freezer I have several "pre-cooked" small roasts - seasoned, wrapped in foil and cooked in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes to develop flavor and carmelization.

These are cooled rapidly, sealed in a ziploc bag or a vacuum bag and frozen -identified by meat type, seasoning and date.

When I am going to use them in the crockpot I take them out of the freezer the night before and leave them in the refrigerator. In the morning the foil-wrapped package goes onto a sheet pan and into the oven for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the size.

In the meantime I have already added the prepped vegetables (usually done the prior evening) and other ingredients to the crockpot and turned it on high.

I then remove the foil and add the meat, either whole or in pieces to the crockpot, cover, making sure there is some room between the top of the food and the lid and that the lid fits fairly tightly.

If I have some time, I leave it on high until I am ready to leave for work, then reduce to low (I leave my keys next to the cooker so I will remember) and go off to work.

Chicken or turkey can be browned in a skilled the evening prior and held in the fridge overnight to give additional flavor to the dish.

It is also ideal for preparing braciola which can be prepared and browned the evening before then placed into the crockpot to cook all day. This recipe works beautifully. in the crockpot.

[jayt90]

The large oval Rival that I got recently seems to heat with a collar of coils around the side. If my stew or braise is small, barely reaching the middle of the side, it seems to overheat, and reach simmering point too soon, even on the lowest setting. If the liquid comes all the way up, it works as expected.

I haven't had it (Rival) very long, but I think I have much better control with LC or earthenware, but of course I can't leave the house for a long period...

[mixmaster b]

Here are the things I've noticed make a braise from the crock pot work:

- Use a typical (cheap) braising cut so you get lots of body in the sauce. You can ruin a lean roast in the crock pot. Good bets are pork shoulder roasts, beef short ribs, etc.

- Brown the heck out of the meat before you put in in the pot. I usually brown the meat in cast iron and deglaze the pan with some wine and/or brandy and add that to the crock pot. Water or stock is fine as well, though the best results I've gad from the crock pot have been with red wine.

- Use whole herbs and spices wrapped up in cheesecloth and tied. I notice that chopped or ground herbs loose their flavor after a while.

- Don't use too much liquid--fill the pot up so that about 1/3 or 1/2 of the roast is exposed.

- You can add veggies like new potatoes, small carrots, pearl onions, or shallots. Add them to the bottom of the pot before you add the meat.

- When the cooking is finished remove the meat, strain the sauce, and reduce it a bit on the top of the stove. Add a nice chunk of butter at the end. Fish all the meat and vegies out of the pot and arrange on a platter or plates, then spoon the sauce over all.

I normally do all the prep work the night before and put the ceramic pot in the fridge overnight. The next morning it goes on low for the day. If I have time I will let it cool, and refigerate the whole thing overnight again. That way the fat comes to the top and is easily removed, plus the extra day allows all the flavors to combine even more.

As for recipes, there is a great shortribs in red wine recipe on epicurious that is easy to convert. There were a bunch of Bittman reciped on the NYT site, and those looked great, but that was a while back. Also pork shoulder in Herndez green chili sauce, as instucted by Jaymes inthis threadis so good and ridiculously easy.

I also use it for beans (just cook in unsalted water until they are almsot done, then strain and finish on the stove or use in salads, soups, etc.) and for large batches of carmelized onions.

Happy crocking.

[Blondelle]

Anyone get a chance to play with All-Clad's Slow Cooker yet? How do you like it compared to the less expensive ones on the market? What did you cook in it? Any comments on it?

[SethG]

You mean this, right?

I don't own this product, but my reaction is "why?" Why would you pay twice the price of a Rival (or more) for an All-Clad slow cooker that appears to work exactly the same way as all the other slow cookers?

The slow cooker is a simple device. I'd buy a Rival-- the brand is time-tested and reliable. I own one and I'm happy with it.

[Chris Amirault]

I don't own this product, but my reaction is "why?"  Why would you pay twice the price of a Rival (or more) for an All-Clad slow cooker that appears to work exactly the same way as all the other slow cookers?

The slow cooker is a simple device.  I'd buy a Rival-- the brand is time-tested and reliable.  I own one and I'm happy with it.

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I agree with Seth -- and I'll add that a trip to yard sales, Savers, or the Salvation Army would be likely to turn up a sturdy old model for $5....

[MicBacchus]

I've looked at this one too. The salesperson said it's programmable for up to twenty-something hours; the others are just for 8-10. I leave at 6 AM, and we don't eat until around 7 PM. That looked like it would be ideal for me but the pricetag --- aarrrgh!!

[fiftydollars]

I sometimes  use a slow cooker for duck confit and stock.

Many carefully seasoned  stews cooked in the crockpotr never seem to deliver the deep flavors of oven or stove top braises. It all ends up tasteless and monotonous, no matter the flavoring.

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I cannot quite understand how my crockpot can magically make different foods taste a whole lot the same. But I have managed to make chicken taste like beef with ease and convenience.

A while back I bought a fancy-pants slow cooker and I disastrously tried a coq au vin that tasted remarkably similar to the horrendous boeuf bourguignon that followed it.

Now, let's not necessarily get into exactly why it wasn't a good idea to try either of these recipes in this device. And I agree that these dishes have enough similarity to make this a very bad example of the magical qualities I allege. But I have made both of these recipes before and they are certainly not the same. There is just something about the slow cooker that gave both dishes a unique quality that I later started detecting in almost everything that went in there.

I couldn't finish either stew, but I have difficulty throwing away food, so I sealed them up and froze them for posterity. (I find it's a good way for me to express my penchant for procrastination with food and non-renewable resources... why throw away today what I can keep and throw away tomorrow? ...or next year when I finally concede that what was bland and ill-colored when it was freshly-prepared will not improve with an investment of time and electricity) Now, as far as recipes go, freezing bland, mediocre food is generally a fail-safe way of pushing it to the very limits of edibility, and this was no exception. The stews became painfully worse and I believe they have haunted my slow cooker. Somehow every thing I have cooked in them since has, at the very least, had flavors reminiscent of the red wine stews.

[Anna N]

I sometimes  use a slow cooker for duck confit and stock.

Many carefully seasoned  stews cooked in the crockpotr never seem to deliver the deep flavors of oven or stove top braises. It all ends up tasteless and monotonous, no matter the flavoring.

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I cannot quite understand how my crockpot can magically make different foods taste a whole lot the same. But I have managed to make chicken taste like beef with ease and convenience.

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This is one reason that I almost never use my crock pot - it seemed that, no matter the recipe, one dish tasted pretty much the same as another.

[BarbaraY]

I sometimes  use a slow cooker for duck confit and stock.

Many carefully seasoned  stews cooked in the crockpotr never seem to deliver the deep flavors of oven or stove top braises. It all ends up tasteless and monotonous, no matter the flavoring.

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I cannot quite understand how my crockpot can magically make different foods taste a whole lot the same. But I have managed to make chicken taste like beef with ease and convenience.

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This is one reason that I almost never use my crock pot - it seemed that, no matter the recipe, one dish tasted pretty much the same as another.

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My reasoning, too. I bought a crockpot when they first became popular in the 70's. Found that everything I cooked had a nasty off taste that was unidentifiable. I gave the thing away.

[Smithy]

I find it's a good way for me to express my penchant for procrastination with food and non-renewable resources... why throw away today what I can keep and throw away tomorrow?

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That could be a wonderful tag line!

Since taking the braising class and learning about tagines I find myself less inclined to use our slow cooker, but that device is my husband's specialty because of its convenience and simplicity. I can do better ribs than his by browning them first and taking those extra steps he isn't willing to take, and those steps (rather than the equipment) may explain the differences in flavor and quality. Having said that, I'll also say that he makes darned good ribs and pork shoulder in our crock pot. We've never noticed everything tasting the same from one dish to the next.

Now that I think of it, we almost exclusively cook pork in the crock pot. Maybe I'd sing a different tune if I tried chicken in it.

[CurlySue]

I'm having guests for dinner tomorrow and will be getting home late so I want to do as much ahead of time as possible. I hate serving re-heated mashed potatoes but I'll make them tonight and just warm them tomorrow if I have to, but I was really hoping to cook them in the crock pot while I was gone during the day tomorrow then just mash them when I get home. My problem is that I usually steam or boil potatoes for mashed potatoes, so I don't know if cooking them in the crock pot during the day will work, and if so, how exactly do I do it? In water? Just a little water? Completely submerged? No water at all?

Any thoughts?

[Jensen]

I'd be afraid that they'd turn to mush.

[divalasvegas]

I'm having guests for dinner tomorrow and will be getting home late so I want to do as much ahead of time as possible.  I hate serving re-heated mashed potatoes but I'll make them tonight and just warm them tomorrow if I have to, but I was really hoping to cook them in the crock pot while I was gone during the day tomorrow then just mash them when I get home.  My problem is that I usually steam or boil potatoes for mashed potatoes, so I don't know if cooking them in the crock pot during the day will work, and if so, how exactly do I do it?  In water?  Just a little water?  Completely submerged?  No water at all?

Any thoughts?

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Hi CurlySue. My experience with doing this did not turn out well. Years ago, I was cooking beef stew in a crock pot for the first time. I asked a friend of mine for advice on how to get the best results. Among some of her suggestions she said to make sure I DID NOT put in the potatoes, that the meat and other vegetables would be fine. I can't remember if I decided to ignore her advice or just forgot, but I included potatoes. Well, they turned out horrible with a unpleasant mealy texture. They were inedible as a matter of fact and I had to fish them out and discard them. I can't imagine that they would fare any better if you cooked them alone.

Hope this helps.

[CurlySue]

Hmmmm.... bummer. Ok, well better that I know it doesn't work than to experiment on my guests! I guess I'll just make it tonight and set it in the crock pot to warm tomorrow? I'll have to put it on a timer though because I can't imagine mashed potatoes sitting at warm for 11 hours is a good thing... Or should I just leave them refrigerated and nuke them before dinner?

[Really Nice!]

They don't cook very well. I made a stew with russet potatoes. Six hours later they were still as hard as they were in their raw state.

Nuke them before dinner.

[divalasvegas]

Hmmmm.... bummer.  Ok, well better that I know it doesn't work than to experiment on my guests!  I guess I'll just make it tonight and set it in the crock pot to warm tomorrow?  I'll have to put it on a timer though because I can't imagine mashed potatoes sitting at warm for 11 hours is a good thing...  Or should I just leave them refrigerated and nuke them before dinner?

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You know, I must admit that I pretty much hate the texture/results of any nuked food. I would mash the potatoes in advance and keep them refrigerated in an ovenproof dish--Pyrex or whatever--and then take them out and reheat in a real oven on a low temperature (don't put the dish in ice cold, though, let it sit out for a while). I know this sounds cumbersome, but to me the flavor and texture of the final results would be well worth it.

Good luck.

[CurlySue]

Ok, thanks for the help everyone!

I'm not a great cook, but when I do cook I at least like it to be as good as possible. I hate gummy mashed potatoes!!

[jgm]

One possibility to consider is to peel the potatoes in the morning before you leave for work, and cut them into whatever size chunks you always do, and put them in a bowl of water in the fridge. They can go on the stove first thing, and be cooking while you do other things, and your final task could be to take them through the final steps. I know quite a few people who do this, and they report that it works well. Some just leave the potatoes in the cooking vessel on the stove, without refrigeration, but I'm not comfortable doing that.

[TPO]

I have heard that you can wrap whole potatoes in foil and bake them in the Crock Pot all day but I have not tried this.

I put potatoes in my stew and they come out good, but they taste like stew potatoes. I would not want to mash them and eat them alone, so I don't think cooking the potatoes in the Crock Pot all day would be a good idea.

I have made mashed potatoes ahead of time and reheated them in the oven (regular, not microwave) and they turned out good.

[daniellewiley]

My mother-in-law always reheats her mashed potatoes in a crockpot. I don't know about 11 hours, but they are typically in there for a long time.

Like at least six hours.

[Jensen]

What if you were to make the mashed potatoes in advance and, when you get home, take the chill off in the microwave. Then scoop them out into blobs (I'm sure there's a fancier-sounding word than that but blobs works too), brush them with a little melted butter or olive oil, and then run them under the broiler.

It'd be a little more time-consuming than just nuking the mash but still not too bad.

(You could even mix in some chopped green onions and grated cheese before broiling, if you wanted.)

[CurlySue]

I did end up making them last night and was considering nuking them tonight until they're mostly warm, then throwing them in the oven finish them off. I'm going to be adding bleu cheese to them and I figured I'll nuke them, add the cheese, put them in a casserole and finish off in the oven for an hour or so. We'll see...

[Mar Calpena]

After hearing from some American friends about the advantages of a crockpot (apparently it's simply a matter of dumping everything in, going to work and having a complete meal afterwards) I succumbed and I've just paid for one from Ebay. Slow cookers aren't used in Spain, where I live, but there is definitely a long tradition of slow cooking.

Trouble is, I've been looking for slow cooker / crockpot recipes on the web and mostly they seem to be bland casseroles made out of canned soup and chunks of meat. Is any of you giving this appliance a more gourmety type of treatment? Could anyone give me some tips on what I can do with the my new kitchen toy?

Thanks a lot,

Mar

Edited September 19, 2005 by Mar Calpena (log)