Slow Cooker general?

What's a good slow cooker to get

There are some really nice ones from Crock Pot and Cuisinart, but if your budget is more in the $50 or less there are some good ones in Kambrook, Russell Hobbs and Sunbeam that'll do fine.

Cool, thanks.

Any starting point for things to do with a slow cooker? Recipes and things

Carnitas, pot roasts, and curry are what I usually make in mine. Oh, and I did bread pudding one time too, wasnt bad.

First of all, you definitely want the pork shoulder. It's fattier and does better in the slow cooker because of that. Second, pulled pork is best with a vinegar-based sauce, and a little vinegar cooked into it too. Third, where's your slaw my dude? You want a nice slightly sweet slaw that's light on the mayo, or better yet some Lexington-style barbecue slaw that uses ketchup instead of mayo.

>t. NCfag

brisket + 1-2 packets of powdered italian dressing mix = addictive, easy italian beef recipe

The last two things I made in my slow cooker were this Italian beef and beef stroganoff, for which I put a chuck roast in with mushrooms, cream cheese, heavy cream, butter, spices, and onions and left cooking a long time. Whisked in some dissolved corn starch one hour before serving.

Other good ideas are pulled pork which you mentioned, chili, and stew.
I used to work at a place that cooked whole chickens with a crockpot. You oil up the chicken and the ceramic pot without letting oil pool up anywhere, just a coating, add spices and salt and let cook 4 hours. It was really good when I worked there and the skin got crispy but I've not been able to replicate it since.

>These vegetables just fell into it this way

This is the work of some photo op turd who probably cooked some sub tier shit.

Good advice user, I'm not from the US so I don't know any truly awesome recipes yet. Would using apple civer vinegar and cooking the pork fat side down help?

Just about any roast or stew you can imagine can be done, curries are good too. I've done coq au vin and chilli as well with good results.
I just got hold of a recipe for peanut butter brownies that I'll post a bit later if this thread is still going.

I made some fantastic French dip in a slow cooker once. Got the recipe from one of those cancerous Facebook videos, but it turned out great anyway.

>I'm not from the US so I don't know any truly awesome recipes yet
In that case I'm going to hit you with some links here. You're definitely on the right track with the apple cider vinegar. epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/north-carolina-pulled-pork-242247 This recipe is pretty great, but it's mainly for actually making the pulled pork the traditional way by smoking it on a grill. It works just fine in a slow cooker too though, just do the dry rub like the recipe tells you, then sear the meat on a skillet before putting it in the slow cooker with a little cider vinegar and water or stock. A few dashes of liquid smoke can give it that real barbecue taste. Throwing some onions and apples in like you had in your recipe is a great idea actually, I'll have to try it.

Now you have a choice to make, which style of sauce do you want? There are two in North Carolina: Eastern Carolina style and Western Carolina style. Eastern style sauce is a thin vinegar based sauce that is spicy and tangy, owing to the majority of it being cider vinegar. Western style sauce is also vinegar-heavy, but includes ketchup to thicken it slightly and make it a little sweeter. I will leave it up to you, but my preference is for the Eastern style sauce.

Eastern: allrecipes.com/recipe/58486/eastern-north-carolina-bbq-sauce/ (just replace the 1 cup of white vinegar with a second cup of cider vinegar though, I don't know why this recipe tells you to use white vinegar.)

Western: epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/vinegar-sauce-242391

Finally, you must make your slaw. This dressing of fresh cabbage and carrot adds crisp contrast to the sandwich when spooned on top of the meat before capping it off with the toasted bun. allrecipes.com/recipe/214982/red-bbq-slaw/

Good luck my friend, and may good barbecue come to you this 4th of July. God bless America.

My dad used to put venison roasts in the slow cooker with a packet of dry Italian dressing seasoning, a jar of pepperoncini (liquid + peppers), a few cloves of garlic, and a couple pats of butter. Always turned out amazing, we served it on hoagie rolls with provolone or mozzarella.

SOUTH CAROLINA BEST BARBECUE
NORTH CAROLINIANS GET FUCKED

I've had some of your mustard-sauced pulled pork before, it was pretty good. However I still maintain that them's fightin' words and that I would strike you upon the face were I not such a gentleman.

>Full of shit, should've seared first.

It Seals In The Juices™.

I'm not sure if it really does that or not, but what I do know searing does is build flavor and texture through Maillard reactions.

Retards that can't cook general?

Go away

Good one:

Pea and Ham soup
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
1x 2 to 2.5lb smoked pork hock or ham bone
1lb green split peas, yellow split peas or 'blue boilers'.

1. Using a sharp paring knife, cut the skin on the hock/ham bone into 1/2" squares without removing it.
2. Lightly sautee onion and garlic.
3. Place onion and garlic in slow cooker with hock/ham bone. Cover (barely) with water. Add bay leaves, and a couple of black peppercorns if desired.
4. Cook on high overnight to develop a stock.
5. Using tongs, remove bones from pot (the flesh will come off as you lift them out, and if you scored the skin correctly, it'll break up into little curly skin bits).
6. Rinse and pick peas then add to pot.
7. Cover and cook on high until peas soften and start to break down. Season to taste and serve with buttered toast.

Suggested seasonings: Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, oyster sauce (if you really want to boost the umami). You can also add chorizo, kielbasa or other tasty smoked meats at stage 6 if you like a meatier dish.

I make this about once a fortnight during winter (as it currently is in the southern hemisphere).

Ham bone makes a sweeter, lighter flavoured soup. Smoked hock is heavier in flavour but sometimes needs a hand.

As promised, here's the peanut butter brownie recipe for slow cookers:

>PEANUT BUTTER SLOW COOKER BROWNIE

Ingredients:
-1/4 cup plain flour
-1/4 cup cacao powder
-1 tsp baking soda
-200g / 7oz dark cooking choc or couveture choc
-3/4 cup sugar
-3 eggs
-1/2 cup peanut butter
-1/2 cup chopped peanuts

Method:
1- Grease the slow cooker and line it with a layer of wax paper, set it on low
2- Melt chocolate and butter in a glass bowl over a saucepan or in a double boiler
3- Add sugar while the mixture is still warm and after cooling, whisk in the 3 eggs.
4- combine flour, baking soda and cacao in a bowl, add to the chocolate/butter mix until just combined
5- Fold in the peanuts and peanut butter until marbled through the mix and pour into the slow cooker
6- Cook on low for 3 hours with the lid on, remove and slice when cooled.

Consider adding liqueurs to the mix or sprinkling on chocolate buttons or rough chopped chocolate bars of choice for extra decadence.

Nice tips user, the eastern sauce sounds pretty good with the pork, and the slaw ingredients are in season and real tasty this time of year (I even have a row of cabbages in the garden at the moment!)
Happy Independance to you and yours user, fireworks are illegal here, so please go blow something up for me eh?

it doesn't

the browning just makes the meat taste better

Wrong season for stews, no?

There's more than one hemisphere, user. It's winter in the Southern one.

That sounds pretty amazing user! By Italian dressing, do you mean a mix of herbs or something else?

Some people have busy lives and don't have much time to cook most nights of the week. Hands off cooking in large batch amounts is very appealing and that's why slow cookers are popular.
If you're cooking more than twice a week, you're making life a lot harder than it needs to be.

Again, those ingredients are in season and winter is just getting truly cold here, so that sounds like an awesome recipe.
Would you add worcestshire or stout to a soup like that? I'd be tempted, but would probably just serve it as is with crusty bread and maybe a bit of HP sauce.
Thanks for sharing user, I'm adding this to my recipe archive!

Like those cucks even have the interwebs user

>do you mean a mix of herbs or something else?

It's a packet you buy at the supermarket to make your own "italian salad dressing". think of it as the kool-aid of the dressing world.

>>Some people have busy lives and don't have much time to cook most nights of the week
I own my own business and I also work full time. I cook every day. It' not hard, you just have to prioritize. I know that many people think that their endless facebooking is more important than cooking, but it's not.

>>cooking in large batch amounts is very appealing and that's why slow cookers are popular.

Absoloutely. But you don't need a slow cooker to do that. And a dutch oven or just a standard pot usually does a better job anyway, since you can brown the food directly in it.

>>Would you add worcestshire or stout to a soup like that?
IMO worcestershire is a good match for red meats like lamb, beef, etc. Not a good match for pork. Cider would be good, as would most beers as long as they're not too dark or heavy.

Venisonroaster here, this is the stuff I'm talking about.

>Some people have busy lives and don't have much time to cook most nights of the week. Hands off cooking in large batch amounts is very appealing and that's why slow cookers are popular.
>If you're cooking more than twice a week, you're making life a lot harder than it needs to be.

Christ almighty you're even stupider than I'd realised at first.

Please leave and come back only after scrounging together enough points to form a 3 digit IQ. Nothing personnel, kid.

I wouldn't add stout to the soup, although I'd have it on the side. Worcestershire is good but only in small amounts. HP would work. Oyster sauce goes really well in it if it's not quite savoury enough. I've even used chipotle in adobo a couple of times.

Uncle and I made a beef soup. It's pretty light, but tastes great and fills you up. Feel free to change the recipe.

Short beef ribs. Try to make them decently lean, and get big ass pieces. I'd say 1-3 for each person you want to serve.

Unsalted beef stock, bout a half gallon or so

One giant ass red onion

Bone marrow

One green pepper

FRESH rosemary, thyme, and parsley. Maybe about 5-8 sprigs of each

Whole kernel black pepper, white pepper if you want more of a kick

Sliced carrots

Baby bellas

Cheesecloth

OK. The reason you want stock and not broth is because you're making your own. Chop the red onion and the pepper in half (process that pepper), and put them in the center of your cheesecloth along with 2 parts rosemary, 5 parts thyme, and however much parsley you want. Add 10+ black pepper kernels. Haven't tried with white pepper, so can't make suggestions on that. Put everything in your cheesecloth and tie it off, then put it in boiling water with all of your stock. Add some salt

Sear those ribs in raw worscestershire. Don't cook them through, and make sure to remove any skin that might be on it

Throw everything else in the pot. Simmer for 2-4 hours.

Oh and add a splash or two of white wine, maybe some lemon juice for acidity.

BONUS POINTS
Brush a sour bread like mountain or ciabatta with olive oil, basil, and some of your leftover herbs. Bake them shits for 15 mins and serve with the soup.