With colder weather becoming more and more prominent each day, it’s the perfect time to bring the slow cooker out of retirement. These handy gadgets are ideal for busy people since they do all of the hard work for you—all you need to do is throw the ingredients in, go to work, and return home to a delicious meal.
While slow cookers are great for making a variety of recipes, they truly stand out when it comes to warming autumn and winter dishes. There’s nothing better than a comforting beef stew when the weather is grim, so to uncover the secrets behind perfectly slow-cooked beef, the team at Campbells Meat has shared their expertise on what to do and what to avoid. And there’s one big mistake that a lot of people make when cooking meat in the slow cooker.
If you’ve ever made a slow cooker recipe, you’ll know that it’s usually pretty straightforward—it’s often just a case of adding your ingredients and seasonings and setting the appliance to cook for a certain amount of time.
However, one big mistake many home cooks make is sticking too rigidly to cooking times. Unlike regular recipes, the slow cooker is a lot more forgiving when it comes to this aspect of cooking.
According to the experts at Campbells, every slow cooker runs slightly differently, and the key thing to consider is texture, not time. If the fork doesn’t slide through easily, it’s not done, even if the recipe says so. For cuts of meat like brisket, that could mean an extra hour or two beyond what’s written.
Another key error that a lot of people might be guilty of is going too hard on the seasonings. It might be tempting to season heavily from the start of the process, but salt draws out the moisture and can toughen up the meat during the early stages of cooking.
And if there’s not enough liquid in the slow cooker, your food is more likely to burn or stick.
The Campbells chefs say you should season lightly at the beginning, then adjust when there’s an hour to go, as this will give the flavours enough time to develop. This might just be a small detail, but it can make a big difference to the meat’s tenderness.
If you’re wondering what’s best for adding to your slow cooker beef, a splash of something sharp can really transform its taste. Red wine, balsamic vinegar, or even tomato purée helps break down the meat’s fibres, while adding a bit of brightness to cut through the richness.
When your meat is ready, remember to let it rest. This is an important step that should never be forgotten, even when it comes to slow-cooked beef.
Campbells recommends letting the meat rest in its juices for fifteen to twenty minutes with the lid off after it’s finished cooking. This allows the fibres to relax fully and reabsorb their moisture, resulting in meat that ‘truly falls apart’.