Do you use a slow cooker?

[Pilotman]

11 minutes ago, faraday said:

Slow cookers have been available for more than 30 years.

 

 

now that is slow cooking ????

[cmrichsw]

On 10/5/2020 at 12:04 PM, scoupeo said:

just a new useless trend it seems, like bread machienes and other krap that chinese want to sell to the world.

 

what a sour puss you are

[cmrichsw]

On 10/5/2020 at 12:17 PM, Pilotman said:

now that is slow cooking ????

ya so what is your point just looking to post something???

[Pilotman]

5 minutes ago, cmrichsw said:

ya so what is your point just looking to post something???

duh, it was a joke.  Buck up mate. 

[champers]

After reading this thread and looking up recipes on that Internet thingy, I bought a slow cooker yesterday from Big C Extra, an Otto SC-207 with a capacity of 3.5 Litres for 499 Baht. It is a clay pot and lid that slots into a steel jacket c/w heating element. A simple English instruction leaflet and controls in English clinched the deal.

I made a simple beef stew today with chuck steak, potato, carrot and onion. I cut the meat into 2cm/1" pieces and was concerned with the very tough membrane/sinew round the meat, so sealed it in 2 batches in a frying pan. I used Bisto gravy powder for my gravy, about 1 1/2 dessert spoons plus a dollop of ketchup.

I cooked on slow for 10 hours and was out most of the day doing my 90 day report at immigration.

The result was a triumph: the meat meltingly tender and all sinew gone. The carrots I sliced too thin and they broke up in the gravy. The taters (skin on) and onion were just right. I made too much gravy so my stew was more like soup but no less delicious. I added garden peas at the end for a nice bit of green. Any other green veg would do. I have plenty left to heat up for another meal the day after tomorrow.

I will try pork goulash, chicken casserole, sausage casserole and other dishes in the future. So simple and hardly time consuming. I wish I had bought one years ago.

Edited October 28, 2020 by champers

[Andy from Kent]

On 8/6/2020 at 9:20 AM, Pilotman said:

I found that the flavours were too concentrated and no opportunity to adjust the various ingredients as it cooked. It also seemed to just 'boil' meat, which I found unappetising for all meat cuts and for chicken.    

 

"no opportunity to adjust the various ingredients as it cooked."

 

You're confusing a croak pot and a pressure cooker.    You can lift the lid of a croak pot at any time during the cooking process.

 

 

[Pilotman]

14 hours ago, Andy from Kent said:

 

"no opportunity to adjust the various ingredients as it cooked."

 

You're confusing a croak pot and a pressure cooker.    You can lift the lid of a croak pot at any time during the cooking process.

 

 

fair point.  I was actually referring to the selling point for slow cookers. that you can throw everything in it,  go to work for 8 hours and come home to as nice cooked meal. as opposed to cooking and  adjusting as you go, to get the right result.  I never found that to be so, but I know that many people swear by them. To me its like taking a sledge hammer to break a nut. No finesse whatsoever, and good cooking is all about finesse.   I didn't make that clear enough.   

[Andy from Kent]

3 hours ago, Pilotman said:

No finesse whatsoever, and good cooking is all about finesse.

 

 

[ravip]

On 8/5/2020 at 7:45 PM, jaiyenyen said:

 

I dont know about the cooker, but the food looks delicious... mmmm

[tonray]

I just got the bug yesterday to buy one of those digital pressure cookers..."Instant Pot" of course the real version can be had for about $100 bucks in the US (Amazon) but here triple at about $300 dollars. So of course looking for a knockoff from China...anyone have any recommendations ?

[actonion]

Cant't get much slower than 'Er indoors

[khunjeff]

On 10/28/2020 at 7:59 PM, Andy from Kent said:

 

"no opportunity to adjust the various ingredients as it cooked."

 

You're confusing a croak pot and a pressure cooker.    You can lift the lid of a croak pot at any time during the cooking process.

 

You can lift the lid, but doing so frequently can greatly increase the cooking time:

 

"Keep the lid on. Do not lift the lid or cover unnecessarily during the cooking cycle. Each time the lid is raised, the internal temperature drops 10 to 15 degrees and the cooking process is slowed by 30 minutes."

[1FinickyOne]

On 8/5/2020 at 8:40 PM, jaiyenyen said:

Prep the food, chuck it in the slow cooker

My wife is a fast cooker - can whip up a meal in minutes...

 

You lost me at 'prep the food' 

[1FinickyOne]

On 10/29/2020 at 10:38 AM, Pilotman said:

good cooking is all about finesse.

Yeah, I try and do ballet while my food cooks but it doesn't help.

[Bogbrush]

Whatever you do, please don’t reheat your meal in a slow cooker; the contents can ‘turn’ and become inedible and possibly poisonous for some reason. Rather tip into a saucepan and reheat on a stove or microwave.

[RocketDog]

 Recently I found pinto beans in a store and wished for a slow cooker. Didn't have one so I ended up with a saucepan on the low flame stove for several hours continually adding water. It took several hours. 

 

Then on a whim I dumped some beans and water in the rice cooker and let it go. Less than two hours later the beans were cooked and tender. Didn't even soak overnight like I did the first batch. 

 

Problem solved. 

 

Still I will buy a slow cooker next time I see one for stews. Cooking slow over flames is a loser. Too much moisture lost and pan cleanup is a mess from M burned spots. 

[scubascuba3]

4 hours ago, tonray said:

I just got the bug yesterday to buy one of those digital pressure cookers..."Instant Pot" of course the real version can be had for about $100 bucks in the US (Amazon) but here triple at about $300 dollars. So of course looking for a knockoff from China...anyone have any recommendations ?

Just get a 300 baht slow cooker on Lazada, maybe Otto which I have, very popular

[scubascuba3]

2 minutes ago, RocketDog said:

 

 

Then on a whim I dumped some beans and water in the rice cooker and let it go. Less than two hours later the beans were cooked and tender. Didn't even soak overnight like I did the first batch. 

 

That is a good idea, so you added the dry beans to the rice cooker with the usual rice and water and came out OK? 

[CLW]

9 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

That is a good idea, so you added the dry beans to the rice cooker with the usual rice and water and came out OK? 

For cooking with the rice together you have to soak the beans before. Otherwise the rice is mush before the beans even start to get soft.

[tonray]

12 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Just get a 300 baht slow cooker on Lazada, maybe Otto which I have, very popular

I might just do that.  My Otto toaster  oven has been going strong for 4 years now. 

[RocketDog]

46 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

That is a good idea, so you added the dry beans to the rice cooker with the usual rice and water and came out OK? 

To be honest I just tossed in about a cup of dried beans and 2-3 cups of water not expecting much success. No rice at all. I just wanted tender beans. 

 

The cooker did its normal few minutes of cooking and then went to the warm stage. I  checked it a few times testing the beans but never added more water. I noticed that the water always seemed to be boiling and frothing unlike normal rice cooking. 

 

I guess the closed cooker acted as a erzatz pressure cooker. In a couple of hours the beans were done and I cleaned the cooker before the wife found out I had sacrilegiously abused it.  It was just so easy and foolproof I will always cook beans this way. 

 

I added some bacon for flavor, onions, TVP nuggets, soy sauce, garlic and chowed down. Together with rice it's a great high protein meal. With the TVP you don't even need the rice. I get quite enough rice in my wife's cooking thank you very much! 

 

I'll pay more attention to the water /bean ratio next time but suspect 2:1 is about right for dried beans without much water left over. 

[StevieAus]

On 9/29/2020 at 5:29 PM, Monkeyrobot said:

I use mine for Lamb shanks and Beef Stroganoff, slow cookers are good for cheaper cuts of meat.

I don’t know if lamb shanks are still considered a cheap cut of meat years ago I used to buy them in Australia for my dogs then they became trendy and the price increased dramatically.

You can get some decent size ones from Makro my wife slow cooks with a Thai red curry sauce, delicious.

[alacrity]

On 9/30/2020 at 9:19 AM, NanLaew said:

If your lamb shanks are turning into soup, then you're doing it all wrong.

That would be because they used a slow cooker then.

They're okay for finishing stuff off and to be honest some veggie food is better finished that way. Trouble with meats is they need to be seared first (requiring a high temperature) to retain a semblance of flavor when cooked.

 

Preheat a grill or oven to 325 or more and put in seasoned meat at room temperature. Cook for 30 minutes and then turn off the heat. 4 or 5 hours later you've got a tasty and tender meal. Any longer and it's a cold cut.

[3NUMBAS]

too slow for me so gave up,on beef it takes years to cook a meal. irish stew must take years to cook

[DJ54]

Where can you buy black eyed peas? I’ve not seen at VM or BC. 

[james.d]

16 hours ago, DJ54 said:

Where can you buy black eyed peas? I’ve not seen at VM or BC. 

Lazada have them.

[KhunFred]

I used them frequently in the USA, but have not been able to find one at Big C.  Not much demand???

[khunjeff]

19 hours ago, DJ54 said:

Where can you buy black eyed peas? I’ve not seen at VM or BC. 

Foodland and Villa sometimes have them, but it seems fairly random as to whether they're in stock. Ditto for lentils.

[jaiyenyen]

 

Screenshot of Big C Online, taken today. I've got the Hanabishi, It's basic but works very well.

Edited November 1, 2020 by jaiyenyen

[xylophone]

4 hours ago, KhunFred said:

I used them frequently in the USA, but have not been able to find one at Big C.  Not much demand???

I bought a Philips rice/slow cooker (multifunction) here about 12 years ago and it's still going strong, and just yesterday I made a boeuf bourguignon and it was great although I did alter the recipe slightly.

 

I put all the stuff together at around 2 or 3 PM, set the timer and went out and it's all finished by the time I come home around 6 PM.

 

I did a fillet of pork the other day and cooked it for 3 hours in a barbecue type sauce along with a bit of soy sauce and honey and it was delicious, so much so that I was going to eat half and freeze half for later, but my hunger (and its deliciousness) got the better of me and I couldn't stop eating it.

 

I do cook the occasional batch of rice in it, but as a slow cooker it is just great.

 

Mind you they have come down in price somewhat although the multifunction ones are just a little bit more expensive.