[Madame Cholet]

I've just bought a lovely piece of brisket from the butchers about 2lb ish and would like to cook it for oh sunday lunch so he can eat the rest for sandwiches. He has a slow cooker do I need to sit it on some veg and roughly how long please and any other tips thanks.

[tosca100]

In a slow cooker you can leave it a good time without it spoiling, so ideal if you want to put it on and leave it on low then go out. I usually leave OH's in for about three hours from when it comes to a simmer, unless we go out then whatever. I usually brown it off first, add a carrot, onion, s&p and half stick of celery and hot water to half way up. If your slow cooker is standard size (our's is small) you might need less liquid. The smell when you come in cold and tired is almost enough to make this veggie eat meat!!

If you can, cool it for a while in the stock to prevent the outside drying.

[Lardman]

I normally just put a few onions on the bottom of the slow cooker just to keep the beef off the bottom. Brisket should have plenty of fat  so I don't bother adding liquid, about 3 hrs sounds right but keep an eye on the top to make sure it doesn't dry out or it can be a little hard flip it over if it looks to be drying out.

It may be a difficult to slice, if it's well cooked it tends to shred rather than slice.. either way leftovers make for a really nice sandwich with dollop of horseradish.  I do love me some slow cooker cow.

[Mrs Bee]

I would do it as Lardy says but I would add a little redwine which will make for a lovely gravy.About 4cm.

And I would brown the meat in a hot pan first.

I find too much liquid in the slow cooker dilutes the flavours of the meat that is cooking..

[shokkyy]

This are my two favourite pot roast recipes, both absolutely lush and dead easy. And if I have left over meat or stock from it they both freeze very well.

www.waitrose.com/home/recipes/recipe_directory/i/italian_pot_roast.html

www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuisine/european/english/pot-roasted-beef-in-red-wine-with-red-onion-marmalade.html

Neither are specifically for a slow cooker, but I've never really understand what the difference is between using a slow cooker or using an oven at a low temperature

[Madame Cholet]

This are my two favourite pot roast recipes, both absolutely lush and dead easy. And if I have left over meat or stock from it they both freeze very well.

www.waitrose.com/home/recipes/recipe_directory/i/italian_pot_roast.html

www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuisine/european/english/pot-roasted-beef-in-red-wine-with-red-onion-marmalade.html

Neither are specifically for a slow cooker, but I've never really understand what the difference is between using a slow cooker or using an oven at a low temperature

the slow cooker is cheap to run

[Madame Cholet]

I would do it as Lardy says but I would add a little redwine which will make for a lovely gravy.About 4cm.

And I would brown the meat in a hot pan first.

I find too much liquid in the slow cooker dilutes the flavours of the meat that is cooking..

This was the one i tried and just to report it turned out fab thanks for your help. about 5 hours. Any other cheap joints I could cook in a similar way.

[Lardman]

This was the one i tried and just to report it turned out fab thanks for your help. about 5 hours. Any other cheap joints I could cook in a similar way.

Glad it was nice - did you remember to make lovely gravy from the meat juices 

You can do anything in there in much the same way, I did a large lump (2.5Kgs) of pork shoulder last Friday. Most of the supermarkets have large roasting joints on offer at some point, which turn out cheaper than 'cheaper' cuts at their regular price.  Just get a sharp knife and cut it in half 

If you have a good butchers , take a look at the cheaper cuts; neck, belly , shoulder and shin anything with good amount of fat will slow cook well and cooked long enough it should be tender. Whole chicken is good as are thighs just brown the skin before otherwise it can look a little odd. 

Oh and you just have to try a leg of lamb if you see one at a sensible price.

[Madame Cholet]

This was the one i tried and just to report it turned out fab thanks for your help. about 5 hours. Any other cheap joints I could cook in a similar way.

Glad it was nice - did you remember to make lovely gravy from the meat juices 

yes thank you

You can do anything in there in much the same way, I did a large lump (2.5Kgs) of pork shoulder last Friday. Most of the supermarkets have large roasting joints on offer at some point, which turn out cheaper than 'cheaper' cuts at their regular price.  Just get a sharp knife and cut it in half 


If you have a good butchers , take a look at the cheaper cuts; neck, belly , shoulder and shin anything with good amount of fat will slow cook well and cooked long enough it should be tender. Whole chicken is good as are thighs just brown the skin before otherwise it can look a little odd. 

Oh and you just have to try a leg of lamb if you see one at a sensible price.

might try pork or gammon joint

[Lardman]

might try pork or gammon joint

Trashco currently have their pork loin on ½ price 

That's a 1 Kg for slow roasting, 1 Kg for cutting into steaks to slow cook in tomato/chilli sauce and ½ kg for dicing and making S/S pork with or adding to beans/tomato for a spicy pulled pork style chilli. 

Not that I've already planned my shopping & menu you understand 

If you go with gammon add a cup of apple juice or even a can of coke.

[Madame Cholet]

fortunately we still have a traditional butcher who buys from local farmers.

[Mrs Bee]

Or some cider with the gammon.

[shokkyy]

I do try to use cheaper cuts in pot roasts, but I've never really enjoyed brisket very much. Yes, it does come out very tender when cooked for a long time in a good wine stock, but it's still tender meat with a lot of fat in it. And I'm not really sure how much cheaper it ends up when you have quite a bit of wastage from that high fat content.

[Daamoot]

I noticed this on Sunday Shokkyy, we looked for some beef for a roast in morrisons and the prices of silverside and brisket were so similar we ended up going for silverside.  What's the point in a poorer cut of meat if the price doens't reflect it?

Seasoned and braised it then in the oven along with onions and red wine at 140C for 4hours and as noted above, couldn't slice it without it falling apart.  Was lovely and the wine gravy is great with no other additives needed.  The stovies yesterday were also very tasty 

[Madame Cholet]

I do try to use cheaper cuts in pot roasts, but I've never really enjoyed brisket very much. Yes, it does come out very tender when cooked for a long time in a good wine stock, but it's still tender meat with a lot of fat in it. And I'm not really sure how much cheaper it ends up when you have quite a bit of wastage from that high fat content.

Mine didn't appear to have lots of waste no external fat, it came out the same size as it went in about £5.00 in money did sunday dinner for one and about a weeks sandwiches.