Crock pot and slow cooker recipes always wind up moister than other recipes, because you're dealing with a sealed (or mostly sealed) environment. Some of this is unavoidable -- when I cook chicken breasts with onions and mushrooms in the crock pot I put in absolutely no water, and there's still a decent amount there at the end. I've seen advisories to reduce the amount of water when cooking in the crock pot or slow cooker. The advice to add vegetables later in the process if you like them firmer is a good one. Noodles also should be a late addition, and rice will soak up almost all of the liquid if given a chance, so if you want some liquid in the dish, like when you're making black eyed peas, cook the rice separately.
> -----Original Message----- > From: Cookinginthedark [mailto:[email protected]] > On Behalf Of [email protected] > Sent: Wednesday, October 02, 2013 7:02 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [CnD] Crockpot cooking > > For the vegetables, you might want to put them in last so they stay > firm. I also have trouble knowing the amount of liquid I'm supposed to > put, which is why I tend to read the recipes first because I am not an > expert cook yet. I think the more comfortable we can become with > cooking the more comfortable we will become with liquids. > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Oct 2, 2013, at 2:52 PM, "Charles Rivard" <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > The crock pot sure is handy and, for the most part, pretty easy. I > have had some problems, though. One is that vegetables will get mushy. > I like them to be firmer. Another problem is that a lot of food seems > to form a soup or stew, rather than if you use a conventional oven. > I'm never sure of just how much liquid to add, although I do know that > it is not much, as recipes make their own juices when cooking. For the > most part, I do not want a lot of liquid in the food. I really do love > some things made in a crock pot, though, like my extremely hot Chili, > which I have previously posted to this list. > > > > --- > > Shepherds are the best beasts, but Labs are a close second. > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "RJ" <[email protected]> > > To: "citd" <[email protected]> > > Sent: Wednesday, October 02, 2013 3:15 PM > > Subject: [CnD] Crockpot cooking > > > > > >> One of the things I found that crockpot cooking is some thing most > people can do. > >> For example: > >> Over the last few days one ham made many meals in the crockpot I > >> started out with a 6 or 7 pound ham. > >> Add enough juice to cover the bottom of the pot and added 1/2 cup of > brown sugar to the juice. I used cider, for that is what I had on hand. > >> I than rubbed 1/2 cup of brown sugar over the ham and put the ham > fat side down in the crockpot. > >> Set the pot on low and about 6 hours I checked the ham with my > talking thermometer. See it was a cured ham, I pulled it out a 140 F > and let it rest for 15 minute with a foil tent over the ham. > >> Next day > >> I took two cups of beans that I let soak over night and added them > to > >> the crockpot along with 8 cups of water Chopped up a large onion, a > couple clove of garlic, a bay leave, oregano, and some basil. Plus a > stick of celery and a carrot. > >> Mixed every thing together with a little black pepper. > >> Sit the pot on low and let it cook for about 9 hours, or until the > beans were tender. > >> The next day, I cooked some macaroni and added it to the beans that > were warming up in the crockpot. > >> To finish off the ham > >> Today I took the rest of the ham and some white potatoes and turned > >> them into scalloped potatoes Slice up the potatoes with my mandolin > >> and did the same with a onion, which I broke up into onion rings. > Added a couple cans of creamed soup, celery, carrots, and broke up the > rest of the ham, Seasoned them with salt/pepper and mixed well and put > them in the crockpot on low. It been about 8 hours, will have to check > to see if the potatoes are done. If so, will put the pot on warm, until > it is time for dinner. > >> RJ > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Cookinginthedark mailing list > >> [email protected] > >> http://acbradio.org/mailman/listinfo/cookinginthedark > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Cookinginthedark mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://acbradio.org/mailman/listinfo/cookinginthedark > _______________________________________________ > Cookinginthedark mailing list > [email protected] > http://acbradio.org/mailman/listinfo/cookinginthedark _______________________________________________ Cookinginthedark mailing list [email protected] http://acbradio.org/mailman/listinfo/cookinginthedark
