Slow Cooker Lovers?

[quote]Yogi wrote:
I don’t know why you guys would ever slow cook chicken breast. Thighs are a much better option in the slow cooker[/quote]

Some of us are just born to run free man.

  1. I eat pork

  2. my main sources of protein are salmon and chicken breasts, I eat both of them daily usually so it just made sense to throw them in the cooker.

I buy a lot of pork burritos PWO. I really want to start making them at home instead of pissing away $10 several times a week. Pork shoulder will be my next try. Will be going grocery shopping this weekend.

[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:
OK, maybe I’m being too pedantic about the chicken breast. It doesn’t need to go into a slow cooker for 4 hours. [/quote]

Sorry, forgot to mention I put them in frozen…hence the cooking time.

[quote]therajraj wrote:

  1. I eat pork

  2. my main sources of protein are salmon and chicken breasts, I eat both of them daily usually so it just made sense to throw them in the cooker.

I buy a lot of pork burritos PWO. I really want to start making them at home instead of pissing away $10 several times a week. Pork shoulder will be my next try. Will be going grocery shopping this weekend.[/quote]

Once you cook the pork shoulder you’re going to realize why your chicken breasts didn’t come out well. You’re going to love it.

Brown the shoulder, season it, shred it at the end. If you’re going to add a sauce, don’t add it all at the beginning - you may want to skim off some of the rendered fat and that’s difficult if you have all your sauce in there already.

[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:

  1. I eat pork

  2. my main sources of protein are salmon and chicken breasts, I eat both of them daily usually so it just made sense to throw them in the cooker.

I buy a lot of pork burritos PWO. I really want to start making them at home instead of pissing away $10 several times a week. Pork shoulder will be my next try. Will be going grocery shopping this weekend.[/quote]

Once you cook the pork shoulder you’re going to realize why your chicken breasts didn’t come out well. You’re going to love it.

Brown the shoulder, season it, shred it at the end. If you’re going to add a sauce, don’t add it all at the beginning - you may want to skim off some of the rendered fat and that’s difficult if you have all your sauce in there already.
[/quote]

what would you season it with?

If you’re going for burritos: chili, onion, garlic (fresh and/or powder), cumin, Cayenne, paprika…

[quote]1 Man Island wrote:
If you’re going for burritos: chili, onion, garlic (fresh and/or powder), cumin, Cayenne, paprika…[/quote]

yep.

I like to add some oil to make a thick paste and rub it all over the meat before it goes in the slow cooker.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking you need to cover the meat in liquid, even if the recipe says you do. You’re not trying to boil the meat, the liquid is simply there to facilitate the transfer of the heat and keep all the good bits from burning to the bottom of the slow cooker.

The pic is pork belly on frisee with a walnut and fennel salad.


This is the same pork belly, you can see how it’s not completely submerged.

One more. I don’t have a pic of the “before” but these are short ribs that I browned then placed in the slow cooker two ribs deep. The braising liquid came up about a third of the way on the first rib.

The fattier the meat, the more your going to want to skim some of the grease off otherwise your food is going to sit in an oil bath.

Saw this thread last night and it made me want to break out the slow cooker. Gonna make it a staple this winter. Went out last night and picked up an inside roast and some root veggies.

Salt n pepper, browned it all over in the cast iron, then threw it in the slow cooker with some beef broth, spices and veggies. Cooked on low for 6 hours.

After my workout and epsom bath it was all ready to go. Used some of the broth to cook some brown rice. Shredded the roast and threw it on the rice with some of the veggies and broth. Squirt of ketchup. Consuming as I type. Perfect with some 40 Creek for the Leafs/Pens game. Go Leafs Go.

I’m also reliant on slowcooker meals, ‘pot roast’ and ‘chili’ recipes are some of the classics.

Underrated uses are for cooking greens (chard, kale, collared, ham) and superlean cuts in general (ie. even london broil becomes edible)

[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:
Don’t use water as your braising liquid, use stock, broth, wine, or beer. Salt at the end; as the liquid evaporates the salt will become concentrated.[/quote]

Worth re-posting

Pangy can I come to your house for dinner sometime? I’ll bring rum and whatever illegal drugs you happen to indulge in?

[quote]Yogi wrote:
Pangy can I come to your house for dinner sometime? I’ll bring rum and whatever illegal drugs you happen to indulge in?[/quote]

If you ever find yourself in Chicago, let me know. We’ll go train, then come back to my place for a meal of braised protein and copious amounts of alcohol.

[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:

[quote]Yogi wrote:
Pangy can I come to your house for dinner sometime? I’ll bring rum and whatever illegal drugs you happen to indulge in?[/quote]

If you ever find yourself in Chicago, let me know. We’ll go train, then come back to my place for a meal of braised protein and copious amounts of alcohol.[/quote]

yeeha, that sounds like a plan to me


Pulled Pork turned out great.

rubbed it wit spice then stewed it in BBQ sauce and vegetable broth

After pulling it apart.

Next time I’m not going to use BBQ sauce since it’s a lot of sugar. But man did that ever taste good.

There ya go!

on a slighty related note: anyone ever used a pressure cooker? How do they compare to slow cookers? As I understand it, they’re like a “fast” slow cooker, if that makes sense…

yes finally a thread on slow cookers haha! i really like the slow cooker. Have one recipe in my training log for cordon bleu that comes out well in the slow cooker and is low carb.

Also, like making stews/soups. recently made a chicken/bacon chowder that is low carb and f**kin awesome. if anyone is interested i’ll post it.

anyone have any good beef stew recipes? feel like mine is too complicated