[Janeymiddlewife]

My brisket's smelling good! 

SNAP DD - ours was absolutely, meltingly yummy

[DD.]

We had to have lumps again - it was too tender to carve!

No one complained though.

[Janeymiddlewife]

We had to have lumps again - it was too tender to carve!

No one complained though.

My kids did, a bit, so i told them it was steak    - which I don['t think they've ever had, come to think of it !

[snowdrops]

I am getting a bit OTT with it now jamima, trying to think all the time how i can use it so it doesn't go back on the self

Its a Prima and yes its got lo, hi and auto but it does bubble round the edge, even on lo.  Dont know if its faulty, i was given it as a pressie 10years ago and have never used it.

Can you do steamed puddings in them and what about rice pudding, but thinking about it, you wouldn't get a nice skin would you

I've done Christmas pudding in mine in the past. Also liver & bacon casserole, bolognaise, curry

[chrissie B]

i had the same slow cooker for 20 years and i left it in greece , gave it to a friend , bought a new one that is bigger and i would rather have the old one , the new one gets very hot so i use the lowest setting starting it on hot at first , i just use my book as a guied not the rule and give things a poke till they are the way we like them , doing pasta bean soup tomorrow in mine .
chrissie b

[ManicMum]

My slow cooker is the only gadget where I haven't had any disasters!

Rice pud - 3-4 hours on lowb but needs the milk to go in hot.  Porridge for 5 or 6 is a doddle & no standing stirring or finding it's burnt on. Butter the pot before rice pud or porridge  - improves the taste and helps with the cleaning.

I've got a lovely family meal - sliced potatoes, layered with fried onion & bacon & herbs & garlic, then some stock &/or tinned tomatoes, tomato juice (or, on the last occasion, the left-over liquid from spicy red cabbage....superb) or what you fancy cooked on low for 4-6 hours with (pre-browned) sausages sitting on the top. Perfect when I'm on a late shift as all the kids need to do is cook a veg to go with it.

Chilli, sausage casserole, red cabbage...... the possibilities are endless.

And it is tolerant of latecomers, still hot & tasty 2 hours after the first serving.  And it is better if yiu don't mess about with it but just leave it for hours to do it's own thing while you go to work or have a day out.   

Hmmmm, what shall I experiment with next?
 

[joyfull]

My beef stew yesterday was very moreish  - I had hoped for some to be left for my lunch today but the boys had another helping  .

[Yorkie]

I've not come across shin of beef and brisket before - are they joints or do you cook them in small pieces like a casserole?

[New shoot]

My local butcher sells shin it as slices, which you can then cube or leave in larger pieces depending on what you want to make.

Never seen it in Trasco labelled as shin, but its basically a stewing cut so you could sub stewing steak if you can't find it 

You can order a whole brisket from my butchers - think they usually mince it or cube it for stewing beef.  Its a long slab - thicker at one end and tapering down a bit at the other. Again, its a long slow cook required to tenderise it.

[Val H]

Brisket I've always had as a joint, shin beef when I've got it has already been cubed.

[Yorkie]

Thanks, both.  I'll have a chat with my butchers when I'm next there at a quiet time 

[DD.]

Oddly enough I saw some in Trashco a few days ago, (slices). Never seen it in there before.

[alimilly]

My favourite in the slow cooker is a steak and mushroom pudding - hubby is not keen on kidney, hence the mushroom substitute.   It comes out perfectly every time with no steaming up the kitchen or having to top up the water level.

[New shoot]

Brisket is sometimes rolled up as a joint like topside so they may have it like this.  I think its one of those cuts that has fallen out of favour but I remember my mum cooking the rolled up version as a pot roast.  Needs liquid and gentler treatment than a roasting if you want to get your fork into it 

I've done a whole brisket as salt beef for a crowd and it went down a storm (HFW recipe) 

[Spana]

We love brisket but it needs  long slow cooking.

When we have a bullock butchered i have all the joints big.  Brisket joints are usually 8-9 lb.  I slow roast it for about 10 hours on about 1 , in my oven thats 100 as its hot.  I put a cup of water in the tin and just leave it.  Its a very fatty cut so doing it long and lo helps to render down the fat.  It is really delicious and the juices make wonderful gravy.

I think its about £2.30 per pound at my butcher so a big joint is not going to break the bank and its slices beautifully when cold for sandwiches

Give it a try Yorkie, but buy it from a butcher you trust