I've got a crockpot! What now?

Cafe Society
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I was inspired by this thread to get my crockpot out of the cupboard for the first time in more than a year. I got a piece of brisket as recommended further up the thread, cooked it all day with a can of tomatoes, onions and some stock and red wine. It smelt heavenly. Only problem was when I got it out of the pot, it had shrunk! Oh boy had it shrunk. The original piece of brisket barely fit in the pot, being about 6in long by 4in by 4in. What came out was about 5x3x2! Where had it gone???

Tasted ok though and it was nice and tender, but I was disappointed in the shrinkage. If I had expected to feed a family on it, there would have been a real problem, as I will probably only get about 2 meals from it. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

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Well, yes - when I made corned beef and cabbage the corned beef shrank to somewhere between 2/3 and 1/2 original size. Meat does tend to shrink when cooked for long periods of time, and the longer the simmer the smaller the brisket.

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That’s mostly the fat and collagen rendering (as well as a decent amount of water loss). Perfectly normal and to be expected if you cook food low and slow. Whenever I barbecue pork shoulder on the smoker, something like a 10-pound shoulder will end up as 6 pounds when it’s done.

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I cooked a 2.75-pound bottom round roast in BBQ sauce a week ago – got six meals out of it, then froze the other half for some other time. Those six meals were sandwiches, of course…

125

I love my crock pot. But, I leave for work at 7:30 a.m. and want dinner at 6:30 p.m, and I’ve found I can’t start a meal before work and come home to anything other than mush. Even a thick chuck pot roast starts to shred after 12 hours, and that’s not what I want. Rice and pasta also need babysitting rather than a “one-pot, all-day” routine.

That said, I use my crock pot to make overnight stock, and lots of weekend meals. Here’s what I’m making tomorrow:

Pork in Mustard Sauce

4 thick pork chops
1 can reduced-fat cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1 clove garlic, minced
2 or 3 potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
1 onion, sliced
salt and pepper

Brown pork chops on both sides. Combine all other ingredients in crock pot. Place chops on top. Cook on low 8 hours.

I found it on crock-pot.com

Sounds tasty.

126

Have you thought about plugging your crockpot into a wall outlet timer? You could set it to come on at 10:30 a.m. or whenever you want.

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Report back. We need to know if it’s a keeper.

128

That’s been my experience as well. If you cook something very lean, you won’t see as much shrinkage.

Oh, I forgot, if you use the rendered beef or chicken or pork fat to make gravy, it’s equal parts of fat and flour, and then enough liquid to get it to the right consistency, just like you’d use butter. I melt the fat in the pan, sprinkle on the flour, stir and stir, let the flour brown, and then add the liquid. Season (usually salt and pepper) to taste. If you want to cook minced onions or mushrooms or celery or a combination in the melted fat before adding the flour, be my guest.

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This. Also note, while you’re browning the flour, there’s a trade-off between browning and thickening: the browner you get it, the less the thickening. But this, clearly, calls for plenty of practice and serving up meals with gravy as often as possible.

You’d use the same gravy-making technique with an actual roast, with the added bonus of dislodging any burnt crunchy bits in the roasting tin while you were at it. This not only adds character to the gravy but makes the tin easier to wash, which is as clear a win-win situation as you could ask for.

130

Question about liquids:

I’m making chicken thighs today. I quartered a couple of onions, threw in some celery, and put the chicken on top. I then poured on a can of chicken broth and about a half cup or so of cooking wine. The liquid level is below the chicken at this point, which just doesn’t seem right to me – but I’m obviously still a newbie with this.

Do I need to add another can of broth? Need answer … um, within the next couple of hours, I guess …

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No need to add more broth. Did you brown the thighs first? That will increase the flavor substantially.

Think of a crock pot as an exceptionally slow braiser. The liquid needs to be there, but you don’t need to submerge the meat.

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I’ll second that. No need for more broth at all. The slowcooker will make sure that your thighs are tender and flavorful, and you’ll probably have a lot of liquid when they’re done. In fact, you’ll probably have a great start on chicken’n’dumplings, though you will have to put the meat and liquid into a pan on top of the stove.

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Nope, didn’t. The appeal of the slow cooker to me is, frankly, that it requires so little futzing around like that. I’m a perfectly competent cook – actually, I’m a pretty good cook – but I get absolutely zero pleasure from it as an activity. If this doesn’t turn out, I’ll consider doing it next time. (Got a huge package of thighs and froze it in two batches, so this is the first of two meals with them.)

I’m not a dumpling kind of gal (see above on “as little futzing around as possible”). Right now the plan is to add carrots about four hours out, then frozen spinach about an hour out. When it’s time to eat, I’ll either reduce the liquid or add cornstarch to thicken it, and serve the whole shebang over rice.

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Call for chicken leg recipes!

I love chicken legs - the dark meat is my favorite part, forget those *blech *insipid chicken breasts, I want something with flavor! Anyhow, anyone got some favorites?

Normally I’m comfortable improvising in cooking, but I’m still learning the ins and outs of slow cooking, so I’d like to do some more “from recipe” dinners before I get wildly creative on my own.

Um… I’m allergic to tomatoes, which means no ketchup or BBQ sauce, either, so recipes without those, or suggestions for substitutes much appreciated. In fact, I’d love some suggestions on substituting other things for tomatoes, ketchup, and BBQ sauce since they’re so darn common and having to avoid them is annoying!

I’m trying to find something with chicken legs, maybe dried fruit (cranberries, apricots, dates, raisins, mixed fruit, whatever) and a sauce that’s not too heavy, but really any suggestions would be wonderful, and even if I can’t use something maybe someone else will like it. (Sharing is wonderful, isn’t it?)

But, mostly, I’m looking for chicken leg recipes. 'Cause I love chicken legs, and they’re cheap. And I can use the leftover bones to make broth, too, right?

135

What I mentioned just upthread turned out pretty well: Eight hours before dinner, quarter two small onions, put them in the bottom; take a few stalks of celery, put them on the onions; add 5-6 chicken thighs. Pour on a can of chicken broth and a half cup or cup of white wine. (More wine and less broth if you go that way.) Cook on low. Three hours before dinner, add about a third of a pound mini carrots (or similarly sized pieces of normal carrots). An hour before dinner, add a 10-oz. package of frozen spinach.

At dinnertime: Make rice. Remove and discard the celery and onions. Ladle off the liquid and boil it down on the stovetop (reduce by about half). Remove skin and bones from chicken, shred, and return to carrot-spinach glop, stir.

To serve: Bed of rice, spoon on chicken-carrot-spinach glop, drizzle on the reduced broth.

136

My mother’s Crockpot Roast Beef recipe (tried this on Tueday… It was good.)

1- 10 oz. can cream of mushroom soup
1- 12 oz. can Coke
1 packet onion soup mix
3 - 4 lb roast

Brown roast and put in Crockpot. (I lined the bottom with rough chopped onions first, but you don’t have to.)
Mix soup and Coke and pour over roast.
Sprinkle onion soup mix over everything.
(I also threw in some more mushrooms at this point, fresh or canned… Mmmm mushrooms!)

Cook on Hi for 5 hours or Low for 8.

When finished, remove roast to cutting board. Add a good sized dollop of sour cream to thicken gravy. Serve with mashed or baked potatoes.

137

I just posted this elsewhere so I’m pasting it here…

Steel cut oatmeal in the crockpot.

I use a double boiler/bain-marie method because if you put the oatmeal right into the crockpot, it will stick and burn. I also like it a little more flavorful than just using water so I use apple juice.

I put 1 cup of oats, 3 cups of unsweetened apple juice and 1 cup of non fat milk (or 1/3 cup oats, 1 cup apple juice, 1/3 cup milk if it’s just one serving. I cup of oats makes quite a bit) into a bowl that is resistant to high heat. Then to add a little more taste and sweetness I throw in a few candy redhots for a cinnamon flavor. I set the bowl into the crockpot and then pour water around the bowl. Put the lid on and then cook overnight on low. It takes less than five minutes to set up at night and by the time I wake up they’re perfect.

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Oh, I have another question!

When recipes as for wine, what can be substituted? I have no wine, and since my only income for two months has been food stamps buying wine is a little impractical right now (food stamps emphatically do not cover alcoholic beverages). Can I substitute grape juice? Water? Add more broth?

139

You can just add more broth. Sometimes you can substitute apple juice or white grape, if the recipe called for a sweet wine.

140

I always use apple juice - unfiltered if I’m not feeling cheap.