Slow cookers have revolutionised mid-week meals, say goodbye to 15-minute dinners and hello to 12-hour dinners that require even less effort! The rise of slow cookers has seen searches for stews, roast beef and cooker pulled pork go through the roof this winter at New Idea Food so we thought we’d do a round-up of the best meat for slow cookers with recipes to match. Bon appetit!
Firstly, if you haven’t got yourself a slow cooker, check out our round-up of the top five slow cookers on the Aussie market, there’s one for every price range.
P.s there is a Facebook page dedicated to Slow cooking that has over 175,000 followers so for weird and wacky tips and recipes give them a like.
Top 4 Meats to Slow Cook
1. Beef
In Australia the most popular meat to use in a slow cooker is beef. You can use pretty much any cut of beef that you even the cheaper cuts like chuck and casserole steak. The hours spent in the slow cooker breakdown the fibres and cuts that have a speckle of fat in them will tenderize and become flavoursome, giving you that melt in your mouth sensation.
Slow-cooked beef is extremely versatile and can be made into traditional roast beef or something a little more adventurous like curry, meatballs and casseroles.
Here are a couple of our favourite slow-cooked beef recipes:
Best cuts to use: chuck, casserole, brisket and leg
For our full slow-cooker beef recipe collection, click here.
2. Pork
Pulled pork is now a weekly regular in households around the world thanks to the trust slow cooker. Whilst bacon can be quite expensive per kilo the cheaper cuts like the belly or leg are perfect for slow cooking. Using a slow cooking process helps breakdown the proteins in the tougher cuts and transforms them into flavoursome dishes.
Here are a couple of our favourite pork recipes:
Best cuts to use: belly, neck, leg
For our full pulled-pork recipe collection, click here.
3. Lamb
A slow cooker allows every chef to perfect melt off the bone meats, which is why lamb is an Australian favourite. If you’re short on time no prep or browning is required simply squeeze a leg of lamb into your slow cooker, dress and forget!
Here are a couple of our favourite slow cooker lamb recipes:
Best cuts to use: whole leg, shoulder
For our full slow-cooker lamb recipe collection, click here.
4. Chicken
When it comes to slow cooking chicken little to no fuss is needed. You can pop a whole chicken in or buy thighs, or breast cuts. Chicken won't take as long as other meats so don't leave it for too long!
Here are a couple of our favourite slow cooker chicken recipes:
Best cuts to use: pretty much anything!
For our full slow-cooker chicken recipe collection, click here.
5. Vegetarian & Vegan
We don’t want anyone to miss out on all of the fun.
Vegans and vegetarians are making their own pulled “pork” with jackfruit. Unripe jackfruit has a fine string-like consistency which makes for a perfect pork alternative. If you can’t find fresh jackfruit looks for it in cans or in the freezer section of specialty stores.
For our full slow-cooker vegetarian recipe collection, click here.