I brown my meat before slow cooking, to develop flavor, but I do it on my gas grill instead in a pan. It is faster, less clean up, and it turns on the flavor for beef chuck roast or pork shoulder. Just cut your meat into chunks large enough (2"x2" or so) so they don’t fall through the grill.
That’s one of my two main uses for my crockpot (although I usually use brisket instead of pork shoulder).
The other is, some sort of roast (usually tri-tip), with carrots, potatoes, green beans, beef broth, and tomato sauce.
When you guys talk about “shredding” do you mean just like taking a couple of forks and pulling it apart or something more involved?
I ALWAYS use the bags. I think a crockpot is a huge PITA to clean. Just lift out the bag and throw it away. I’ve never had one break and to me the cost is negligible.
The crockpot liner bag and non-stick foil-- the two greatest culinary inventions of the 21st century.
Oh yeah, I use the bags (when I remember to put one in). If I don’t I end up soaking the damn crock in the sink for 3 or 4 days because I don’t want to deal with it. I always have an issue disposing of the leftover juices/fat since you can’t pour it down the drain. I save all of our used plastic jars and containers from milkbone snacks and such so I can just lift the bag right out and tuck it in a vessel and seal it up so it doesn’t leak in the trash. When I take the bag out, sometimes there is a tiny bit of leaked liquid on the bottom, but I can put the crock right into the dishwasher without scrubbing.
Moe, Pinterest is a place to put all the great ideas you find on the web. Kinda like bookmarks, but in my opinion, better. As long as there is a photo on the page, you can “Pin It” onto a virtual bulletin board. I can organize and more importantly find what I’m looking for, and also get great sources of inspiration for various projects. There is a Pin It Java script that you can add to your bookmarks bar in Chrome. I use it to pin things that don’t have a pin button already.
I thought of another place I check for crocking recipes -A Year of Slow Cooking. It’s a blog about a lady’s quest to use her slow cooker every day for a year.
Yes. A couple of forks will do it.
I don’t know what bags you speak of but I’ve never had a problem cleaning a crock pot. Don’t let it get dry while cooking.
Of course, I’ve always used it for slow cooking so the recipes are liquid friendly. I love the juices that come out of the pot.
Cheap piece of beef, chuck or something
Liptons or generic baggie of onion soup mix
Beer to cover
Cook all day
Insanely good-make a gravy from the liquid, enjoy.
We like this so much I freeze the extra liquid to make gravy for other things.
or tongs if you want to pull and relocate to a plate directly.
Can you really make a cheesecake in a crockpot?
FWIW this is my go to for pot lucks.
Get a box of Caroll Shelby’s chili mix.*
Use 2 Lbs of ground beef (course grind if you can find it)
add 1 Lb of ground pork.
Brown in a skillet
Throw into crock pot along with the rest of the ingredients per the instruction on the box.
Let cook for 4 hours or so.
Enjoy.
*Yeah I know this isn’t real good homemade chili. I never said it was. This is a quick can be mostly made at work dish for a pot luck. People love it and I get raves every time. Go figure.
Two jars of Marsala sauce + a couple of boneless, skinless chicken breasts = some good and easy chicken Marsala.
Here’s my crockpot chili recipe, if anyone wants to give it a shot:
2 ½ lb. stew meat or ground chuck
1 lb. ground pork
1 lb. chopped bacon
3 large jalapenos, seeded, chopped large
3 habaneros, seeded, chopped fine
3 serranos, seeded, chopped medium
1 cup finely chopped onion
5 garlic cloves
8 oz. tomato sauce
1 cup water
5 bottles Shiner Bock
1 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons instant beef bouillon
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons oregano
3 tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground coriander
2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
2 tablespoons orange peel
12 oz. chopped tomatoes
2 teaspoons masa
1 teaspoon warm water
Brown the bacon, then add the peppers and onion. Stir until onions are translucent, then drain and add to crockpot. Brown half of the stew meat and half of the pork, then add to the crockpot. Repeat with the rest of the meat.
Add the garlic, tomato sauce, water, 2 bottles of beer, brown sugar, and the rest of the spices to the crockpot, then cook on low for 24 hours. Replace lost liquid with the remaining bottles of beer.
At 12 hours, add the chopped tomatoes.
20 minutes before serving, add the masa to thicken.
And the very first Crockpot Chile con Carne a la Moe is underway.
Browned about 2 lbs of ground beef/pork with a few diced onions and 3 minced garlic cloves. Drained the fat and put that into the pot along with 2 cans of red kidney beans (ummm… the 2 cans had dates on them from 2011 and 2012, they’re probably ok though, no?), 2 cans of chopped tomatoes and one thing of tomato sauce, a chile con carne spice packet (but it’s only for 200g of ground meat, about 1/5th of what I used, so quite inadequate), salt, pepper, cumin, cane sugar, and some really hot mango habanero sauce (fresh habaneros or any type of hot pepper isn’t so easy to come by in Germany).
It actually filled my pot pretty much to the top, leaving about an inch. Is this bad?
I have it on high since I started it a bit later than I expected. It’s almost 5pm here. But actually I typically have dinner around 2am these days. Should I use “auto”?
Should I stir it at any point?
I have cocoa. Should I add some?
Should I add any other veggies? I have fresh mushrooms, red peppers, and canned corn.
Every time you open the lid, you have to add to the cooking time. You shouldn’t need to stir except at the beginning before you start the cooking and at the end when it’s done. Don’t hover. It’ll do it’s thing all on it’s own.
As for the cocoa/veggies question, that’s all up to you. I don’t mind a little bit of unsweetened cocoa in my chili, but I generally don’t do it. Fresh peppers also aren’t necessary in a chili, but they can be a nice touch. As for the other veggies, that’s all really up to you. The classic, most basic chili (Texas red) starts with beef, dried red chile peppers, cumin, salt, and garlic and a liquid (could be water, could be beef broth, could be beer, could be a mix of these). That, if you know what you’re doing, can make a pretty damned good bowl of chili.
But most people build a bit from there. The next set of ingredients to consider are onions, tomatoes, and beans. In terms of spicing, a little bit of oregano or Mexican oregano is good, and black pepper, of course, but a lot of spices work well with chili if handled correctly: cinnamon, allspice, onion powder, garlic powder, cocoa, paprika, etc. Typically, though, I would concentrate around the cumin and chile pepper flavors, then the garlic and onion. I might do a touch of allspice as a “wildcard”, but, unless I’m doing Cincinnati style chili, I usually don’t go too deep into the spice playbook. A beef bouillon cube/stock cube/Goya Sazon (Goya probably not available where you’re at, but one of those Maggi or Knorr flavor cubes will work fine) also is a nice touch to boost the flavors.
After that, veggies tend to be controversial. (To be fair, chili in general is playfully controversial. Beans or no beans being one of the biggest arguments. Even tomatoes are debated in some circles.) Beyond the vegetables already mentioned (tomatoes, onions, garlic), I would say the next most popular is fresh chile peppers, then maybe corn. Bell peppers don’t seem like too much a stretch to me. Stuff like celery and carrots and the such, and you’re starting to stray a bit from your typical chili territory. If you’re adding peas and green beans, you’re in whacko land. 
Anyhow, beyond that, how liquid a chili is varies quite considerably. The more Texas style versions tend to be on the drier side, but with a reasonable amount of liquid (if, as it seems, you’re in Germany, I’d say kind of on the level of an Ungarisches Gulasch. In fact, Texas style chili is not dissimilar to Hungarian goulash.) Midwest versions can get quite soupy or even sauce-like (in the case of Cincinnati chili).
Also, what kind of meat you use can vary. Beef is traditional, but how it is processed will vary from cook to cook. Some are fine with just regular ground beef. Others insist on a coarser grind called a “chili grind.” Some prefer to hand chop the meat. Some like a mix of these textures. Also, it is not uncommon for folks to add fresh sausages as part of the meat mixture. Italian sausage (which in the US is a fresh pork sausage spiked with fennel seed and hot chiles if you buy the hot variety) is pretty common. Some people also like fresh Mexican chorizo (not to be confused with the cured Spanish variety), which is a fresh sausage flavored with chile peppers, cinnamon, garlic, etc.
Also, some people like to thicken it at the end. Masa harina (a type of corn flour made from hominy) is popular. So are crushed nacho/tortilla chips (similar result to masa). Or even saltine crackers.
It’s probably okay but you’re right on the edge. You’re generally better off filling it less.
My guiding principle has always been that it’s my chili and I can put anything I want in it. So I know corn isn’t “authentic” but I like it.
That’s what they’re built for, otherwise what’s the use of having one. If you are going to babysit it all day, you may as well use a regular pot/Dutch oven.
I do corn when I’m doing the more soupy Midwestern style of chili. I like the texture and sweetness it adds.