A slow cooker can be your friend or your foe. These countertop devices cook your food at a controlled heat for a long period, resulting in maximum flavour for minimum effort. There's no need to worry about your dinner drying out, either. Slow cookers lock in moisture, resulting in tender roasts, stews and soups, every time. These gadgets not only save you time, they also save you money - modern slow cookers consume as little as 150 watts per hour at a low setting. That's less than €0.07 per hour of cooking.
Choose the right model for you
Slow cookers tend to come in two sizes in Ireland, a 3.5 litre and a 6.5 litre. If you have a small family of two to three, then the 3.5 litre cooker will suit you. For larger families, always look for a 6.5 litre capacity. Slow cookers with a searing option will mean less washing up, and an indicator light is always handy, because it means that you will never make the mistake of thinking that you've turned on your slow cooker, without actually doing it. The controls you absolutely need are 'high' and 'low' - a 'warm' setting is desirable but not essential.
Preparation is key
The thing that most of us get excited about when it comes to using our slow cooker is the lack of time we need to spend actively cooking. For lots of dishes you can just throw all of the raw ingredients into the cooker, stir and off you go, but if you have a little extra time you can sear the meat before you add it to the pot and make sure that all ingredients are cut into uniform sizes.
Slow cooker beef stew. Click for recipe.Get scientific about your liquid
Slow cookers have tight-fitting lids, which means they create rather than evaporate liquid in the cooking. A slow cooker does not need any liquid added at the beginning of the cooking process, because it will generate steam, which will become liquid in the bowl. For recipes that use liquid, and have not been written specifically for a slow cooker it make sense to reduce the amount of liquid by half.
Be aware of cooking times
Do not lift the lid of your slow cooker during the cooking because the heat will escape and you will need to add 20 minutes each time to the cooking time. A recipe that takes 45 minutes on a hob will take 2-3 hours on the high setting and 6-8 hours on low. Be sure to find out how long your cooker takes to heat up and add that to the final cooking time.
Choose cheap cuts
Budget friendly meat cuts like chicken thighs, pork shoulder and housekeeper's cut are the perfect pieces to cook in the slow cooker. Leaner cuts of meat run the risk of drying out in the cooking. Ask your butcher to recommend the best cut of meat for your budget and trim off excess fat before cooking.
Thicken at the end
Sauces in the slow cooker will not thicken as easily as sauces cooked on a stovetop, so it is always a good idea to thicken at the end, either with flour or cornflour mixed with water to a paste and stirred in during the last 30 minutes.
Slow cooker sausage stew
recipe by:Derval O'Rourke
This recipe is inspired by my constant desire to make really easy dinners that are toddler friendly
Servings
4
Preparation Time
10 mins
Cooking Time
4 hours 0 mins
Total Time
4 hours 10 mins
Course
Main
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
12 good quality sausages
2 carrots, roughly chopped
4 celery sticks, roughly chopped
1 large onion, roughly chopped
1.5 litres beef stock
1 tin of tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
6 sprigs fresh thyme
3 large sprigs of fresh rosemary
Method
Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat.
Add the sausages and cook until lightly brown on all sides.
Remove the sausage from the pan and chop into bite sized pieces.
Place all the ingredients into the slow cooker.
Turn it on to high and cook for 4 hours.
If you are out for the day you can pop this on low for around 8- 10 hours.
This is also a good recipe to do over night.
I suggest serving this with potatoes.
Originally published on October 12, 2021.
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