Where I almost killed my husband only 6 days into the new year.
Harrison has been such a joy today that it’s hard NOT to be in an amazing mood. & with me, an amazing mood = productivity.
So to celebrate this turn in the tide, I made homemade salsa. Then I decided to put on my SuperMom cape & thought I should greet my husband tonight with the fabulous aroma of homemade chili in the crockpot & warm cornbread. I added in the beans. Black, Navy, pinto, kidney. The tomato sauce. Turkey. Diced tomatoes. A splash of olive oil. Chili powder. LOOK AT ME, my crockpot seemed to exalt. I am full! Blair has returned to sanity! Domesticity reigns supreme again!
But something seemed off. Did I miss an ingredient? ::blair taps finger to chin:: I just can’t quite put my finger on it…
OH MY GOD. I forgot to cook the turkey first.
I spent the next five minutes digging raw ground turkey out of the crockpot.
come to think of it, it probably would have browned & cooked in the crockpot…right?
Filed under: FAIL, Suzie Homemaker
Your right it would have browned in the crockpot!
damn!!! That would have saved me 5 minutes & a brush with drama! I always browned it because The Momma does. But now I can eliminate a step!
I made it once without browning it and the turkey disintegrated and was nasty??? But I am a crappy cook, so who knows. I am glad that you have some peace.
I dont know about turkey chili, but when I make beef stew in the crock pot, I just thaw it out, and brown it ever so slightly and stick it in the crock pot. You can definitely still see the raw meat when I put it in, but when its done cooking, the meat just falls apart wonderfully!
Are we talking ground or breasts, here? Sounds like it turned out ok. I always brown ground, but I just chuck in whole pieces of meat.
(Now I'm wondering why I think there is a difference. It will cook either way, right?)
Er, I'm not sure. I made chili last week and my husband advised me to brown the meat BEFORE adding it to the crock pot. I'm sure everything will be okay, and if it's not, he'll throw up a little bit, end up in the ER, get an IV for fluids and then he'll be alright.
Probably.
I put raw meat in the crock pot all the time. It just slow cooks it. It will be fine!
It would have browned and cooked in the crock pot as long as it was ground, which I'm assuming it was. haha. Fun story though!
I always brown the meat for chili before adding it to the crock-pot. My mom has also always done it that way, but she also cooks her chili for a short period of time. I'm sure if you had it at a nice simmer for at least a few hours, the meat would have cooked. However, I probably would have freaked out and done exactly what you did in such a situation.
My only thought would be that the turkey might not crumble if it's cooked in the crock pot. it would kinda cook in one big mass, right? It would certainly be cooked through, but would it crumble? Or would it just crumble once you mix it up after it's cooked?
I laughed when you said you would greet him with… CHILI…because if this were MY husband he wouldn't give a rats ass about the chili… he'd ask me why if I were in such a good mood did I not greet him at the door in slutty lingerie and the hooker heels he bought me (but I never wear). And that would make anyone want to kill their husband.
Also, turkey chili ROCKS!
i throw everything in raw and it always works out fine. Tastes good and is fully cooked a few hours later.
Oh my gosh…that is TOO funny! You can try it that way, and I think if you let it cook long enough, then you should be fine. LIke Chrisa says…:)
Better to brown the meat first, so you can season it, and so the texture is a bit better. I'm all about food texture. But it wouln't have been the end of the world
I'll let you in on a secret, the key to being a super mommy is learning these invaluable shortcuts, you're on your way. By the way, I'm so thrilled that the little man is feeling good, now you can REALLY enjoy the wonderful parts of mommyhood.
How have I never made chili in the crock pot before?? I always make it in a stockpot on the stove.
If I greeted my husband with chili, he'd get excited and ask me if we were having a farting contest later.
I think he might be 10 years old.
I make the same chili! Did you get it from the Crockpot recipe book?? I actually never thought about it, but you would think that leaving ground turkey in a crockpot for 6+ hours would come out cooked completely… hmmm.
Browning the meat beforehand is just meant to give the meat better flavor– getting a nice sear on your meat helps the meat develop good texture and flavor, whereas simply putting it in the crockpot raw can lead to a "gray" rubbery sort of flavor/texture. At least that's the theory.
I would think it would cook in a giant lump, but next time you make it throw it in raw and let us know how it cooks up!
Funny story!
Well I put raw chicken in the crock pot once, and almost killed myself with campylobacter. Now that said, I don't blame the crock pot's lack of cooking my meats, I blame myself. And of course, I cannot be 100% sure it was from the food in the pot, and not from something contaminated on the counter, especially since I was violently ill for 3 weeks and the hubs was totally fine. But now, I'm so nervous I brown the ever living crap out of all meats before they enter the crock pot.