My niece said to her mother once, "Nothing but evil comes out of that thing" when referring to a slow cooker and I am starting to wonder if she is right!
I'd heard such great things about slow cookers that I decided to buy one. I bought a great big 5 litre type that would be big enough to fit lamb shanks in and to serve a big crowd of people.
First attempt:
Grey meat and blood stains on the potatoes. I cooked it over night and Mr Foodie Teacher said he woke up at 3.00 am and the smell of a casserole cooking at that hour made him want to be sick and he couldn't get back to sleep. It tasted OK but there is no way I could serve up grey meat to anyone so into the bin it went :(.
Second attempt: Family all afraid of what colour the meat was going to be this time. I cooked it during the day this time to avoid making Mr Foodie Teacher sick again. The colour looked much better this time around - added more beef stock and gravy type ingredients and left out the potatoes. Taste was OK but to be honest, it's not the falling apart, beautifully tender meat I get when I use my cast iron casserole dish (and that cooks quicker too).
Third attempt: Any suggestions???
I haven't really tried using a slow cooker myself, but my mom loves it and I know she cuts the meat up in 1-inch squares first and cooks it all on high for the first 5 hours. Ive been interested in getting myself one for slowcooked beans though :)
ReplyDeleteI've done lamb shanks in my crock pot very successfully - but I always brown the meat and vegetables first, put them into the crockpot; then deglaze the pan I browned the meat in with some wine, stock, and tin of tomatoes, scraping up all the browned bits from the pan. Add any herbs or seasonings, then tip everything into the crockpot. Cook on low for about 5 hours. Think it must be ok, because my partner begs me to make it on a regular basis.
ReplyDeleteHope it works for you.
Sue