i need help! im a poor man trying to cook beans in a slow cooker! i need some help!

[Era'viss]

When using any kind of fatty meat it is crucial that the fat is rendered properly. This is what makes the fat melt in your mouth, not chewy, tough, and disgusting. Visually you are generally looking for the color of the fat to change. My rule of thumb is rendered = yellow/translucent and unrendered = white/opaque. You do this by cooking the fat long enough at a low temperature so the fat can change. Outside of bacon, not rendering fat is how you royally fuck up a great steak.

The best advise I can offer is to just render your bacon first. For instructions on this see this website. Then use the bacon drippings as seasoning in your beans, not that actual chunks of bacon. Store your bacon bits to use as a topping for the beans once they're done. This is my preference because I like the texture/crispness of cooked bacon to be preserved as best as possible. The once your beans are ready, do not re-heat the bacon before adding them your beans, let the heat from the beans do that, otherwise you'll risk burning your precious little chunks.

Sorry this is in a totally different direction that you went this time, but I'm very particular about bacon.

[Swish]

yowl read those articles online about bacon being a cause of cancer? lol

[Era'viss]

Originally Posted by Swish [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

yowl read those articles online about bacon being a cause of cancer? lol

Last I read about this, it has to do with burnt bacon or additives to the bacon. It also can be a problem from someone's diet not allowing timely plop plops, so not specific to bacon.

[maestrom]

Originally Posted by Era'viss [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Last I read about this, it has to do with burnt bacon or additives to the bacon. It also can be a problem from someone's diet not allowing timely plop plops, so not specific to bacon.

Statistical analysis in the medical field can be super important as it guides doctors' efforts in identifying potential problems in our diet/environment, but i find them rather unsatisfying. Precisely because they don't identify WHY bacon is correlated with cancer and whether the causal relationship (if any) can be avoided.

That said, I read a study that said nitrites/nitrates cause cancer so I buy my stuff uncured now. Not sure if it actually makes a difference but it kinda makes me feel better.

Kinda.

To bring this back to Everquest... Velious faction.. Woo. Pain in the butt. Gotta get to Kindly to do Thurgadin armor turn ins right?

[Monty405]

Originally Posted by Swish [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

yowl read those articles online about Red 99 being a cause of cancer? lol

[Era'viss]

Originally Posted by maestrom [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

That said, I read a study that said nitrites/nitrates cause cancer so I buy my stuff uncured now. Not sure if it actually makes a difference but it kinda makes me feel better.

Salt cured is the way to go. Let me introduce you to my favorite deli meat, Boar's Head.

[ManuelThePopStar]

Originally Posted by Llodd [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Cooking the bacon off first allows it to caramelize, leading to a deeper flavour.

This is a MUST DO first step, when cooking something in a slow cooker (IMO)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction

I cook a potroast in my slow cooker about once a month. Caramelizing the onions in a sautee pan over medium heat step #1.

Step #2, is searing the chuck roast on very high heat, for about 2 minutes on all sides before adding it to the crock pot.

Last step is pouring some chicken stock into the sautee pan used for the onions/chuck to deglaze the pan, then adding that to the crock pot.

[Monty405]

How do you have time to cook anything that is not a pizza pocket when your busy chasing pixels?

[Swish]

a lot of young chefs in this thread

[Tethler]

Originally Posted by Monty405 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

How do you have time to cook anything that is not a pizza pocket when your busy chasing pixels?

That's the purpose of a crock pot. You can throw the shit in there in the morning, then eat when it's done 8~ hours later. I use my crock pot at least once a week for a variety of recipes due to busy schedule.