[Yorkie]

8-9 lb 

Perhaps I'll start small.  Would take me a long time to eat all of that ... 

[DD.]

I can help. 

[Yorkie]

Form an orderly queue then ... 

 

I have a sneaking suspicion I won't get 8-9lb in the slow cooker either 

[Spana]

I only gave that to show you need to cook it for a long time,

 But.... i think big joints always cook better and if you make a big pan of proper gravy you can freeze it sliced with the gravy and save yourself some work when you fancy a nice beef dinner again. :happy:

[Springlands]

My butcher sells the shin of beef on the bone - when I cook it for soup my OH eats the marrow out of the bone - says that it very tasty.

[arugula]

I agree shin of beef is sublime cooked in the slow cooker. I also cooked oxtail recently, for the first time ever, in the slow cooker. Rich and unctuous. I've only ever eaten it as soup before.

[ManicMum]

Soup....ahhh - that's my other sneaky idea: once you've had the stew and most of the meat & veg have been ladled out, the rest of the stew can be blended (in the slow cooker with a stick blender if you have one) with any left-over mash or green veg you had with the stew.

This tasty substance is known to my family as "stewp" or possibly "stoup" and is brilliant with a loaf of fresh bread and a lump of nice cheese

[madcat]

Recognise that one!     A handful of lentils or pot barley cooked in the gravy (maybe extended with a little stock  )  in the slow cooker can also give the soup some extra  'body'.  A lifesaver on a busy saturday lunchtime! 

[tadpole]

Or pour the gravy over  cooked Aldi wok noodle, add a smattering of grated cheese, Freeze in small portions, (I use aldi ice-cream tubs) and Take to work for Lunch, microwave, and be the envy of all the sandwich stuffers.

[Poolfield2]

I have a 3.5litre which I use frequently and a 6.5 litre which I use when I am catering for a party and love them both. I have found that the larger model is much more powerful and I have to be careful not to overcook things.

One Easter I was making porridge for a large crowd and even on Low the large pot was bubbling rather vigorously.

[chrissie B]

mine is the same its 6 pints and it boils things on the low setting , its not as good as my old one i had for almost 20 years .
chrissie b

[Spana]

Mine bubbles quite hard even on low I'm finding it hard to judge how long to cook things for.

If you were making a big casserole with  chicken breasts,how long d'you think it would need taking into account that i have a bubbler  and my chicken is home reared so is a bit firmer that shop bought.

[Springlands]

Hi Spana - I have a medium size slow cooker. When making chicken breasts in a tomato based sauce the SC recipe book recommended six hours on high. I actually cooked the dish for one hour on high and then used low. I tested the chicken at 3 and a half hours it is was falling apart.

[tadpole]

Personally I never cook chicken breast in the slow cooker, as it seems a waste of time, and hard to get anymore flavour in it. (I‘m not a breast man best of times, preferring thigh or wing for stews and curries.)  But saying that I cube the breast and brown it before cooking it in a red wine/tomato sauce with venison sausage, belly pork and mixed beans.  Chicken will cook reasonable easily in less than 4 hours in my small slow cooker. (if in doubt stick a probe in it after 4 hours, and if the chicken is  74oC or more you're fine,  on low my slowcooker from tesco will reach 94oC in two hours and 140oC on high ) So I’m more likely to cook it in the oven in my Dutch oven, where as cheap cuts of beef and the like I can put on a’for I leave for work, and have it ready for when My wife comes home.   
Breast of chicken rubbed all over with korma seasoning mixed with oil or yogurt and baked, in a Pyrex dish on e medium oven for two hours  on low.(lid off for the final 40 minutes)  Even my teenage daughter wants more.