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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Re: s/o crockpots
:: waits patiently::
I can't even get beef stew right.
Whatcha making?
I reserve the crockpot for pot roast, stews, and BBQ. I tried baked beans once, but they didn't turn out. And I haven't really tried anything new, because every recipe seems to require cream soups, which I don't do, and if I'm making a white sauce, I'm eliminating the ease of the crockpot.
I just a friendly gal looking for options.
Oh, ribs are excellent.
Min, what are your main problems? My pot came with instructions, and basically said to put all your veg on the bottom, meat on top, season, and add liquid about 2/3 up the side of the pot.
I've never had an issue - well, except with the bean recipe not turning out.
You can do a coc au vin in it....
Tell me more about this??? I tried several recipes from the web. One was scalloped potatoes with pork chops. The only flavor that came out was salty. It was so bad, H put ketchup on his porkchop.
The only time we had a big issue with ours is when Mr. Arb thought it would be a good idea to just toss things in and see what would happen on his first time ever using a crock pot. It was pretty soupy and disgusting.
Can someone post a good rib recipe? I saw a few in my cookbooks over the weekend, but I always get a little nervous making a new recipe without hearing from someone else that it's definitely good.
I just made it up. I figured I stew it on the stove top for hours, why not do it in the crock pot.
As for the pork - I found a recipe that uses very little liquid. Here is the recipe. the rest of the blog might be helpful. This is where I've gotten a lot of my recipes.
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2009/02/asian-peanut-butter-pork-crockpot.html
(1) I never ever cook anything on high in my crockpot. Ever. This works for me.
(2) it's wonderful for things like pork, which tend to have a lot of gristle. It helps break it down and make the meat tender. Perfect for bbq, like Bmom said. Plus, you can put together your own recipe with spices for what it's cooked in.
(3) I would stay away from tomatoes in there, unless it's going to be really watery like soup. For some reason my tomatoes always end up with a weird over-cooked sweet sort of taste that I hate.
(4) soup is an excellent thing to cook in a crock pot. My favorite is vegetable beef soup. Recipe is as follows:
1 package stew beef, raw
2 - 3 carrots, chopped into bite-size pieces
1 - 2 stalks of celery, with leaves, chopped into bite-size pieces
2 - 3 new potatoes (red potatoes, or whatever), quartered
1 large can stewed tomatoes
2 cups fresh green beans, broken or cut into bite size pieces
2 ears white or yellow corn (or frozen works too), kernels removed (obviously)
1 small package fordhooks (or limas, if you like that sort of thing)
Enough V8 to cover the entire ingredients
minced garlic, salt and pepper to taste
Turn on low in the morning. Come home and drool while you make cornbread to go with. Enjoy.
PS, I also enjoy peas in this. But since I only eat LeSeur, I add them when I start the cornbread so they're not mush.
I make ribs all the time in the crockpot. I eat pork now, but I do not eat meat off the bone so I don't eat them. That said....DH LOVES them. They are not what you'd get in a BBQ restaurant, so I think part of the expectation needs to be that they don't quite get smoky tasting and that crust on the outside.
I throw ribs in the crockpot, then add a cup of water. I season them with a seasoning salt blend I picked up at the grocery store that's for pork/grilling. I also add in a few shakes of liquid smoke. I don't cook my ribs in BBQ sauce. I find the sauce tends to get gross. I put them on low for 6-8 hours (depends on how many, how meaty they are, etc.) DH pulls them out and the meat is falling off and adds his own BBQ sauce.
Make sure you are using the right size crock pot for the right size meal. I never sear my meat and it always comes out tasty. You can pick up a cook book for pretty cheap. My favorites: How to Make Love and Dinner at the Same Time and The Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes.
For a roast- I add veggies, 1 can of french onion soup, 1 can of water, a roast or pieces of beef (I can stretch meat further this way), red wine if I have it, kitchen bouquet, worcestershire sauce, and steak seasoning. Then I add a couple tablespoons of tapioca.
I love ribs, chili, brisket, the chicken recipe I posted for busy, and potato soup. My brisket recipe is awesome if you want it.
I do ribs, pork shoulder, or beef chuck roast in BBQ sauce - ketchup, Worcestershire, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, chipotle or cayenne, maple syrup or honey, brown sugar. Sometimes a little chicken stock to loosen it, if necessary.
For pot roast, I use chuck, and put in potatoes, onions, carrots, garlic, salt and pepper, mushrooms, chicken stock and red wine. Oh, it's soooooo good.