Hopefully there is a slow cooker enthusiast out there that can help
me.
I have had a slow cooker about the house for a while now and recently
decided to give it a go.

I browned some chicken breasts which I added as well as some
vegetables a tin of white wine sauce and filled with stock up to the
brim. The meat cooked ok but the casserole was watery.

I was just wondering if I should leave out the water altogether or
simply reduce it ?
Does the meat need to be immersed in water to stop it going dry?

Some places say add corn flower, should this be done before or at the
end of the cooking?

Should the meat be on top of the vegetables or below?

Any comments / suggestions on this would be welcome.

wrote:
> Hopefully there is a slow cooker enthusiast out there that can help
> me.
> I have had a slow cooker about the house for a while now and recently
> decided to give it a go.
>
> I browned some chicken breasts which I added as well as some
> vegetables a tin of white wine sauce and filled with stock up to the
> brim. The meat cooked ok but the casserole was watery.

I suspect the white sauce separated. if you want that in you could add it
at the end.



> I was just wondering if I should leave out the water altogether or
> simply reduce it ?
> Does the meat need to be immersed in water to stop it going dry?

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo it will come out like a dishrag( You can even
put your meat (depending on which meat) on a rack with some liquid
underneath.

>
> Some places say add corn flower, should this be done before or at the
> end of the cooking?

end

>
> Should the meat be on top of the vegetables or below?

Below

> Any comments / suggestions on this would be welcome.

Ask away

wrote:
> Hopefully there is a slow cooker enthusiast out there that can help
> me.
> I have had a slow cooker about the house for a while now and recently
> decided to give it a go.
>
> I browned some chicken breasts which I added as well as some
> vegetables a tin of white wine sauce and filled with stock up to the
> brim. The meat cooked ok but the casserole was watery.
>
Slow cookers only require a cup of liquid.

Jill

"Ophelia" > wrote in
:

> wrote:
>> Hopefully there is a slow cooker enthusiast out there that can help
>> me.
>> I have had a slow cooker about the house for a while now and recently
>> decided to give it a go.
>>
>> I browned some chicken breasts which I added as well as some
>> vegetables a tin of white wine sauce and filled with stock up to the
>> brim. The meat cooked ok but the casserole was watery.
>
> I suspect the white sauce separated. if you want that in you could
> add it at the end.
>
>
>
>> I was just wondering if I should leave out the water altogether or
>> simply reduce it ?
>> Does the meat need to be immersed in water to stop it going dry?
>
> Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo it will come out like a dishrag( You
> can even put your meat (depending on which meat) on a rack with some
> liquid underneath.
>
>>
>> Some places say add corn flower, should this be done before or at the
>> end of the cooking?
>
> end
>
>>
>> Should the meat be on top of the vegetables or below?
>
> Below
>
>> Any comments / suggestions on this would be welcome.
>
> Ask away
>
>
>

If you're converting a recipe to crockpot you need to reduce all liquids
by about 1/3 to 1/2 as the crockpot requires it's lid on to work
correctly. And said lid doesn't allow for much evapouration to occur. A
fair bit of liquid will appear magically from the meat cooking for a long
time at a low temp.

I have found it is best to place meats on top of veggies or it tastes
boiled.

--

The house of the burning beet-Alan

It'll be a sunny day in August, when the Moon will shine that night-
Elbonian Folklore

Oh pshaw, on Wed 05 Dec 2007 01:41:51p, hahabogus meant to say...

> "Ophelia" > wrote in
> :
>
>> wrote:
>>> Hopefully there is a slow cooker enthusiast out there that can help
>>> me. I have had a slow cooker about the house for a while now and
>>> recently decided to give it a go.
>>>
>>> I browned some chicken breasts which I added as well as some
>>> vegetables a tin of white wine sauce and filled with stock up to the
>>> brim. The meat cooked ok but the casserole was watery.
>>
>> I suspect the white sauce separated. if you want that in you could
>> add it at the end.
>>
>>
>>
>>> I was just wondering if I should leave out the water altogether or
>>> simply reduce it ?
>>> Does the meat need to be immersed in water to stop it going dry?
>>
>> Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo it will come out like a dishrag( You
>> can even put your meat (depending on which meat) on a rack with some
>> liquid underneath.
>>
>>>
>>> Some places say add corn flower, should this be done before or at the
>>> end of the cooking?
>>
>> end
>>
>>>
>>> Should the meat be on top of the vegetables or below?
>>
>> Below
>>
>>> Any comments / suggestions on this would be welcome.
>>
>> Ask away
>>
>>
>>
>
> If you're converting a recipe to crockpot you need to reduce all liquids
> by about 1/3 to 1/2 as the crockpot requires it's lid on to work
> correctly. And said lid doesn't allow for much evapouration to occur. A
> fair bit of liquid will appear magically from the meat cooking for a long
> time at a low temp.
>
> I have found it is best to place meats on top of veggies or it tastes
> boiled.
>

Also because meat actually cooks more quickly in a slow cooker than do the
vegetables. Covering the vegetables with the meat helps even out the
cooking.

--
Wayne Boatwright

Date: Wed, 12/5/07

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Countdown 'til Christmas
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Oxymoron: Sweet Pickle.
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> wrote in message
...
> Hopefully there is a slow cooker enthusiast out there that can help
> me.
> I have had a slow cooker about the house for a while now and recently
> decided to give it a go.
>
> I browned some chicken breasts which I added as well as some
> vegetables a tin of white wine sauce and filled with stock up to the
> brim. The meat cooked ok but the casserole was watery.
>
> I was just wondering if I should leave out the water altogether or
> simply reduce it ?
> Does the meat need to be immersed in water to stop it going dry?
>
> Some places say add corn flower, should this be done before or at the
> end of the cooking?
>
> Should the meat be on top of the vegetables or below?
>
> Any comments / suggestions on this would be welcome.

You need to use a crockpot recipe. If using a regular recipe, you need to
drastically reduce the amount of liquid, unless you're making soup.

I presume it would be corn starch (maybe corn flour?) you'd want to add and
not corn flower which I believe might be poisonous. At any rate, adding
thickeners to the crockpot doesn't work very well. Some of my recipes have
called for tapioca, but personally I find this to be very nasty. Leaves
gloobery little balls in there. Instant potato flakes will do nicely in a
recipe where potato flavor will work. Otherwise, you'll want to carefully
remove as much of the liquid as possible, put it in a pan and thicken it
with flour of some sort. Do this at the end of cooking. Turn off the crock
while you thicken, then pour the gravy back over.