What's in Your Crock Pot

[Grange]

I've got a beef arm roast in the crock pot right now. I'm trying something a little different. I sauteed some onion, green pepper, and garlic in a tiny amount of bacon grease, browned the roast for a couple minutes on each side and used fresh cracked smoked black pepper. I then put the onions, green peppers and garlic in the crock pot with low sodium chicken stock and a bay leaf. I finally added the roast.

I'll be cooking up some brown rice and add in some carrots about an hour before eating and making some gravy after removing the roast.

[DasBlunt]

Korean Beef ribs, marinating now for tomorrow's crock pot.

[vinzclortho]

Important thread bump.


Also, a crock pot and some hand written recipes is a well-received Christmas gift. I included the Thai peanut chicken stew recipe from this thread which is s big hit at my house. It was the first meal my family in NY cooked with the crock pot I got them for Xmas. The fam loved the meal and are super stoked on crock pot cooking now!

Thanks to whoever it was that posted that recipe, I'm too lazy and sauced to use the search function and give proper credit where credit is due. Just live with the knowledge that you are totally fucking awesome. Whoever you are.

[vinzclortho]

back to the top says me.

[stuckathuntermtn]

So I cubed and browned some deer sirloin with some olive oil and Montreal Steak Seasoning.
Put it in the crockpot with potatoes, carrots, and onions.
The usually seasonings: bay leaves, oregano, pepper, cumin, Chalula hot sauce. You can pretty much use whatever you have lying around.
The kicker is red curry. And not just shitty grocery store curry that is mostly salt. Weird shit from Thailand. I get it at the Vietnam Noodle place on Stephens. I've tried the yellow, I've never had the red. Added some water, and depending on how much water the veggies put out, I may or may not have to add more. I'll add some thickener too.
I've been cooking with canned crushed tomatoes a lot, so I wanted to try without it. Less acidic, and there is nothing canned in what I'm making right now. Yogurt would probably be good too.
Oh, and I threw some beer in there, because, hey, why not.
It's on low to try not to overcook the deer. This is gonna take a while.

[Crock]

Crock's Crockpot TR

I've been trying to make a crockpot meal every sunday, so I have stuff to take to work for lunch with minimal effort.

This past sunday I made what I now am calling "Farmer's Stew" and it's one of the best stews I've ever had.

Ingredients:
1lb cubed stew beef
3/4 lb of bacon
1 lb of spicy italian venison sausage
carrots
celery
onion
green pepper
mushrooms
corn
sweet potatoes
yellow potatoes

I don't really measure with seasonings, I usually just grab from the pantry and guess, but from what I remember I used the following-
1/2 cup of pinot noir
2 beef bullion cubes
bay leaf
oregano
salt
pepper
cayenne
dill
minced garlic
cumin

The corn and carrots were frozen, and the rest of the veggies were freshly cut.


Cubed the beef and added it to the crock


I cooked the bacon and sausage in a cast iron skillet- last time I put bacon in a stew and didn't cook it first I wasn't happy with it.

This was venison sausage was given to me from someone who got it as a gift and doesn't like venison. It was so good I was tempted to just eat it and not put it in the stew.





In the end it was delicious

[Tye 1on]

bump/threaddrift...


any suggestions on make/model/size? Going to be buying one for the new house, with a half hour longer commute each way i really like the idea of dinner being about done when i walk in the door!

[Dantheman]

any suggestions on make/model/size?

+

250* Oven

=

Crock pot ownage

[Tye 1on]

250* Oven

=

Crock pot ownage

I'm sure you're right, but for some reason leaving the oven on all day long in an empty house bugs me a lot more than a countertop appliance...

[Dantheman]

Meh, I've made multiple batches of stock where I had a full pot in the oven at 250 for 36 hours and never had a problem. Sure, you wouldn't want to leave your oven at 500 all day while you're gone, but 250 is pretty mellow and I have more faith in my oven's wiring than a small appliance. If you happen to have a gas fired oven that would be more worrisome.

I said it way back in this thread and I'll repeat it again, crock pots have nothing on big heavy pots and pressure cookers. You can't brown in a crock pot, and browning is crucial to developing real flavor. So, if you want to brown meat and saute veggies you have to do it in a separate pan and your "one pot" meal no longer is.

[Rip'nStick]

+

250* Oven

=

Crock pot ownage

Do tell. Seems like it wouldn't be very efficient either...

^^^
Ok, that makes a little sense. Still seems like a lot of energy wasted keeping an oven on all day. And I wouldn't worry about the wiring on the crock pot, but I do worry about my gas oven on all day.

[Dantheman]

Yeah, never having owned a gas oven the gas issue slipped my mind. Electric is no worries though. As far as efficiency, ovens are really well insulated (especially self-cleaning ovens) and keeping one at 250 doesn't take much energy.

[Spats]

If you have a gas oven, be sure to have a carbon monoxide alarm...especially when cooking low and slow.

I'm not worrying about wasting energy when it's 15 degrees outside.

Smart people realize that you can take the ceramic pot out of a crock pot and use it in the oven. Smarter people replace the plastic knob on the lid with a ceramic knob so that the entire thing is oven-safe.

[farmer]

just got a slow cooker yesterday. Wall mart had a 5qt one on for $9, so I really had no choice but to buy it.
Currently cooking pulled pork using my grandma's recipe:

1 pork roast
Bottle of Root Beer
Bottle of BBQ Sauce

Put pork in slow cooker. Almost cover with root beer. Set on low for a while.

When cooked to the point that two forks easily pull it apart, drain root beer and shred the pork with two forks. Put back in slow cooker and add BBQ sauce. mix it up and let it re-heat.

[Tye 1on]

Quote Originally Posted by skibee

I do a yummy Peanut stew... veggie if you want it or add a bunch of browned chicken bits:

1 can black beans (drained)
1 can corn
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can coconut milk
1 cup peanut butter
some chopped up green peppers
some chopped up carrots
some chopped up onions
couple-a-cloves of galric
cyanne pepper (1-2 tsp)
1 tsp cinnemin
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ginger
2 tsp chilli pepper
1 package chicken broth / boulion cube or some such

I think thats it, sick it in the pot, turn it on and go skiing.

be sure there is enough liquid to cover everything... usually not a problem with the coconut milk... but add water if you need to.

have a yummy ski season!!


So whipped this up this morning, with a couple variations, and it was yummy as hell! Added green curry instead of spices and a few jalapeno's/diced, 3 ts thai red peppers, and finished with some cashews, thanks again!

[Pegleg]

[B]Smart people realize that you can take the ceramic pot out of a crock pot and use it in the oven. Smarter people replace the plastic knob on the lid with a ceramic knob so that the entire thing is oven-safe.

And super-smart, and wealthy, people buy the All-Clad slow cooker that has a cast iron insert (instead of ceramic). You can brown in it on the stovetop, deglaze, then pop it into the appliance and let it go from there. No idea why other manufacturers haven't caught on and done this. (It also eliminates the common problem of a cracked crock.)

But being neither super-smart, nor wealthy, I can't afford one. So I end up browning in a saute pan on the stove, then dumping into the crockpot to cook. I have a gas oven and don't like the idea of leaving it on all day if I'm not there, which is why I like the crockpot.

[Pegleg]

BTW, if anyone ever tells you that you can roast a whole chicken in a crock pot... you can't. You can cook a whole chicken, and it comes out nice and tender, but it doesn't "roast" - the skin will never crisp and it will never get that awesome deep, roasty flavor that a chicken roasted in a nice hot oven gets from the Maillard reaction taking place all over it. I had to try it after reading about it, but I think the people who claim it was the "best roast chicken I've ever had!" must have never had a good roast chicken.

[MakersTeleMark]

Skip all the fancy my lou and roast your chicken in the oven, it doesn't take that long (under an hour), and skip to my lou my daisy and skip the all clad cast iron crock, and just god damn figure out what your tools are for fools. Cheap crock for slow cook, deep dish ceramic or SS for braising, cast iron for yer bacon.

How hard do you really want to make dinner?

[PearlJam09]

Made some awesome pulled chicken on Monday night. Still enjoying it.

6 Chicken Breasts
Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce
Worcestershire
Oil
Vinegar
Brown Sugar
Assorted Spices (crushed red pepper, cayenne, paprika, etc)

Leave for 5 hours on high, shred, eat.

[bagtagley]

Made some awesome pulled chicken on Monday night. Still enjoying it.

6 Chicken Breasts
Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce
Worcestershire
Oil
Vinegar
Brown Sugar
Assorted Spices (crushed red pepper, cayenne, paprika, etc)

Leave for 5 hours on high, shred, eat.

I do this one pretty often when I can't come up with anything to cook. I prefer thighs, personally. And, if you don't have the time or tools, 45 minutes to an hour on the stove, covered at low/med heat, and it'll pull pretty well.

I'm with Dan on the french oven. Super versatile and makes a great crock. Did some boeuf bourguignon ala JC in it just last weekend.

[Crock]

I've got a nice venison roast sitting in the freezer- any advice from the maggot collective? I want to do this right!

[Danno]

I made some crocked chicken thighs this weekend. 4lbs thighs (skin removed), browned in a pan and then into the crock. Bunch of garlic, sauteed a little in the pan, then deglaze the pan with some red wine vinegar (any liquid would do, this is just what I had). In the crock, with some crushed red pepper, a 28oz can of crushed tomatoes, some tomato paste, some chopped kalamata olives, and a little basil. 4 hours on high. When done, I added some more chopped olives, and some capers, and some chopped parsley, served over rice.

Was super easy to make, made 6 hearty servings (more servings if smaller portions), and was super cheap, maybe $10 for the whole thing.

[MuleSkinner]

I do this one pretty often when I can't come up with anything to cook. I prefer thighs, personally. And, if you don't have the time or tools, 45 minutes to an hour on the stove, covered at low/med heat, and it'll pull pretty well.

I'm with Dan on the french oven. Super versatile and makes a great crock. Did some boeuf bourguignon ala JC in it just last weekend.

I did something very similar Sunday and have been eating it all week for lunch - damn good.

1 and 1/2 lbs. skinned and deboned chicken thighs
1 T olive oil
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T cider vinegar
1 T yellow mustard
1 tsp ground red pepper
1/2 tsp garlic salt

Brown chicken for four minutes on each side in one tablespoon of hot oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Remove from heat and place in a slow cooker.

Combine ketchup and next six ingredients. Pour over chicken.

Cover and cook on high for one hour. Reduce heat to low, and cook five to six hours.

Remove chicken from sauce and then shred it into a large bowl, using your hands. Stir shredded chicken into the sauce. Spoon mixture onto buns, serve over a salad, or coleslaw.

Also made a chile verde type dish the week before that was super easy and tasty:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cubed
2 jars salsa verde
1 (4 ounce) can diced jalapeno peppers - I also added a few fresh jalapenos
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes

Heat the oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat.

Add the onion and garlic; cook and stir until fragrant.

Add the cubed pork, and cook until browned on the outside.

Transfer the pork, onions, and garlic to a slow cooker, and stir in the salsa verde, jalapeno peppers, and tomatoes.

Cover, and cook on High for 3 hours. Reduce the setting to Low, and cook for 4 to 5 more hours - I cooked on low for 7 and it was great.

I served it over brown rice but next time might try the tortilla / topping route.

[Danno]

Cover and cook on high for one hour. Reduce heat to low, and cook five to six hours.

Can someone explain this type of direction? Why does this matter? I see this kind of stuff and wonder what difference it would make if I cooked on low for 7 hours? I am really curious as to the cooking science reason, I am sure that it would be fine if I cooked on low for 7 hours.

[irul&ublo]

I said it way back in this thread and I'll repeat it again, crock pots have nothing on big heavy pots and pressure cookers. You can't brown in a crock pot, and browning is crucial to developing real flavor. So, if you want to brown meat and saute veggies you have to do it in a separate pan and your "one pot" meal no longer is.

There are slow cookers that will also brown. The insert can be used on the stove.