roo2
in
what_a_crock
10+ hour cooking time?
Hi all! I'm new, and looking for help.
I've been unemployed for several years, and I generally spend several hours daily preparing dinner. This means my husband and I are both pretty spoiled when it comes to having good dinners. But I just took a temporary job that may turn into something permanent, and after only two days at work I'm seeing that dinner will be suffering if I don't get crafty. I have an old Rival crock pot that's about 15 years old, but worked just fine the last time I used it (about a year or two ago) and so I started looking for slow cooker recipes to help me out. The problem is that I leave the house at 7:45AM and don't return until 5:45 - 6:20, depending upon which bus I catch. So I need recipes that cook 10+ hours without any stirring or adding ingredients or doing anything to the food (and preferably don't involve getting up extra early to brown the meat or anything like that). I've found some recipes (yep, I checked the memories section here), but they appear to be mostly bean recipes and soups. That's fine, but I think it might get old pretty quickly. I'm wondering if it's possible to adapt some (non-soup) recipes that call for 6-8 hour cooking times so that they can cook 10-11 hours without tasting bad? I assume this would work best with fattier meats, since they wouldn't dry out as much as lean cuts. Would simply adding some extra liquid work, or would that have side effects I'm not aware of? I'm also guessing that soups and stews that call for 8 hour cooking times would be okay with some extra liquid and a longer cooking time, depending upon the veggies used.
Does anyone have any advice on what happens when you cook food longer in your slow cooker? And any recipe recommendations? My husband and I generally like food that's very flavorful, although not necessarily hot and spicy. I cook lots of Indian and Thai food normally, and I prefer to avoid things like the old dependable condensed cream of mushroom soup and use mostly fresh veggies and herbs.
I'm also considering getting a programmable slow cooker if this does turn into a permanent position. That way I can put the stuff in there and tell it to start cooking in an hour and have it shut itself off after the cooking time is over. However, I've been looking at the reviews on Amazon and a lot of people say they don't like their new pro0programmable slow cookers - most seem to get too hot, which would obviously be a major problem in my situation. I don't want to come home to find the house full of smoke. Any opinions on the programmable ones or recommendations for which ones are good (or should be avoided)?
Any help or suggestions would be very appreciated.
I've been unemployed for several years, and I generally spend several hours daily preparing dinner. This means my husband and I are both pretty spoiled when it comes to having good dinners. But I just took a temporary job that may turn into something permanent, and after only two days at work I'm seeing that dinner will be suffering if I don't get crafty. I have an old Rival crock pot that's about 15 years old, but worked just fine the last time I used it (about a year or two ago) and so I started looking for slow cooker recipes to help me out. The problem is that I leave the house at 7:45AM and don't return until 5:45 - 6:20, depending upon which bus I catch. So I need recipes that cook 10+ hours without any stirring or adding ingredients or doing anything to the food (and preferably don't involve getting up extra early to brown the meat or anything like that). I've found some recipes (yep, I checked the memories section here), but they appear to be mostly bean recipes and soups. That's fine, but I think it might get old pretty quickly. I'm wondering if it's possible to adapt some (non-soup) recipes that call for 6-8 hour cooking times so that they can cook 10-11 hours without tasting bad? I assume this would work best with fattier meats, since they wouldn't dry out as much as lean cuts. Would simply adding some extra liquid work, or would that have side effects I'm not aware of? I'm also guessing that soups and stews that call for 8 hour cooking times would be okay with some extra liquid and a longer cooking time, depending upon the veggies used.
Does anyone have any advice on what happens when you cook food longer in your slow cooker? And any recipe recommendations? My husband and I generally like food that's very flavorful, although not necessarily hot and spicy. I cook lots of Indian and Thai food normally, and I prefer to avoid things like the old dependable condensed cream of mushroom soup and use mostly fresh veggies and herbs.
I'm also considering getting a programmable slow cooker if this does turn into a permanent position. That way I can put the stuff in there and tell it to start cooking in an hour and have it shut itself off after the cooking time is over. However, I've been looking at the reviews on Amazon and a lot of people say they don't like their new pro0programmable slow cookers - most seem to get too hot, which would obviously be a major problem in my situation. I don't want to come home to find the house full of smoke. Any opinions on the programmable ones or recommendations for which ones are good (or should be avoided)?
Any help or suggestions would be very appreciated.