I bought a slow cooker today ...

I had, in the past, been compared to masonry, mostly by my dad though.

(I won't ask ....)

I was thinking ....

For my next effort I would really like to try cooking some variety of "tougher, cheaper cut of meat" & transform it into something rather tasty & good! Just to prove to myself that these slow cooker promises are true!
However, I'd like to try something a little more interesting than the usual beef stew. Or chicken. (I'm a bit chickened out after this weekend! ) Any ideas, anyone? I'm looking, too.

Well, as already mentioned, spare ribs do well in the cooker (you usually have to cut up a slab of ribs to make them fit, though). One of the good thing about these cookers is that your spices have plenty of opportunity to suffuse the meat.

Trouble is, Setanta, many of the ingredients mentioned (like molasses & sauces, etc ) seem to be very American. I'm not confident that the substitute ingredients I could buy here will do the trick. Especially if I'm substituting 2 or 3 ingredients in the one recipe. Could be a bit iffy, if you know what I mean!

Though I do like the idea of spare ribs! I'll see what recipes I can find.

Molasses is just a low grade cane syrup (i.e, a syrup made from a low grade of cane syrup; it is also made from sorghum in the United States)--i can't recall the name, but i know the Chinese make something just like it (and the Chinese use sorghum, too). The "bar-b-que" sauce that Americans use is just tomato sauce with some form of sweetener, cooked down into a thick sauce, usually reduced with vinegar. One then adds one's spices of choice.

Make brown sugar into a syrup by reducing it for a while with plain old tap water, and substitute that for molasses.

Right. OK!
Thinking, thinking .....

Something like Hoisin Sauce? Which I rather like!

You can get molasses at horse food stores!!! Used to give it to mine as a treat. Makes their coats shiny and such.

I bet health food stores have it too. It's still got some of the sugar nutrients in it.



Pressure cookers seem to be the new big thing! I fancy one, but they're a bit pricey for me right now.

Ah, the health shops! (Not many horse food stores in my area! ) Thanks, Deb.

I already have a pressure cooker .... so the choice is between super-fast or super-slow!

A possibility. Maybe 1/2 this quantity of this recipe?:

Hoisin Spare Ribs

Serves/Makes: 6

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic, peeled & minced
1 bunch green onions, about 6 to 8, sliced, with green tops
2 pounds lean pork ribs


Directions:

* In a small bowl, mix together the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice wine, ginger, and garlic garlic, and orange peel.

* Place 1/3 of the green onions in a 3 1/2- to 5-quart slow cooker. Top with some of the pork ribs and spoon some of the sauce on the meat.

* Repeat these layers 2 more times, ending with the remaining sauce. Cover and cook on low 9 to 10 hours, or until tender.

~

Sounds pretty good to me . . . especially the part where it calls for garlic garlic, instead of just garlic.

Yay, garlic garlic!
I always add more than the recipe tells me to!

Not maddening at all. I searched for and posted the link so you wouldn't have to wait for the mail to arrive with the paper version before feeling comfortable with knowing how to use your slow cooker.

The recipes in the booklet will also help you get an idea of the specific size cooker, quantities and cooking times for the ingredients you want to use.

Well, in that case, Butrflynet, you are a brick, too! Fancy that, two genuine bricks in one thread! Is this an A2K first? (Actually, there are three! Thanks, Setanta. You brick, you! )

I am quite relieved, Butrflynet, that your motivation was thoughtfulness & not exasperation (which I suspected!) Thank you.

You're right, though .... the manual has been very useful in making a bit more sense out of quantities, cooking times, etc ... That thing about adjusting a slow oven-cooked recipe to the slow cooker.

I think I'm going to enjoy this fuss free mode of cooking!

Fuss free? Hmmm . . . if this thread counts as evidence . . .

I have been educating myself here, Doggy Person, not fussing!

How's this for service, hey? This morning my (missing) slow cooker manual was delivered to my door by courier! And in a padded Jiffy bag!
I had to sign for it on this an nifty little electronic gadget.