Coq au vin crock pot disaster

All right, I've outdone myself in the culinary crap category.

I decided to try coq au vin in the crock pot. It did not go my way and I want to know why. I'm sure someone here can enlighten me after a suitable amount of mockery.

After seeing several recipes online for coq au vin in the slow cooker, or should I say croq au vin, I decided to adapt martha stewart's recipe. I picked that one specifically because I've managed it quite well out of the slow cooker. I followed all the cumbersome instructions, used a good bottle of wine, and was pretty pleased with the results going into the pot. Several hours later, my house smells good but the dish itself is a grade A disaster. The alcohol never burned off so the broth tastes like some sort of gluhwein gone meaty and the chicken itself isn't particularly tender. It looks and smells nice though so I'm going to give myself a few points for presentation.

Can anyone tell me what the hell happened? Again, I used good wine, dark chicken pieces, didn't skimp on either the bacon or the herbs, oh and used the low setting on the crock pot. If it matters, I'm in the US and used a rival crock pot.

I have dinner guests coming over and because I don't hate them, I'm getting rid of the evidence and ordering pizza. In the meantime, thanks in advance for any and all explanations.

Uncheerfully yours,
jml

Sorry to hear that, jml. No mockery coming from me since I've never made coq au vin in my entire life (nothing to crow about, I know), but that means I can't offer any advice, either. No doubt some of TT's resident experts will be along shortly. In the meantime, cheer up! I'm sure your guests will have a great evening regardless!

Maybe your problem was 'used a good bottle of wine,'. next time get the cheapest bottle of wine for cooking and save the good wine for drinking, at least they remember the good wine.

I reviewed the recipe and it called for a dutch oven. A crock pot is a distinctively different cooking method in terms of heat distributions and surface cooking than a dutch oven. Basically a crock pot is like a slow simmer when you may have needed more heat or browning the chicken before hand and deglazing.

For success in my crock pot, I use recipes specifically formulated for it's use for a better turn out.

Slow-Cooker recipes

Chicken recipes for slow-cooker

Disclaimer: I have very limited cooking skills.

Have you ever heard of a French person cooking a Coq au Vin in a cropck pot?
That's what happened. Good luck next time

"Several hours later"? After you brown the chicken, it's only supposed to simmer for an hour total. And you're supposed to reduce the wine and marinade before simmering the chicken in the reduction. Did you do that? A crock pot doesn't lose much moisture at all, that's why you can leave it on all day. You should be able to make this recipe in it but only simmering for an hour is just as easy on the stove really.

But you say you've done this recipe before in the slow cooker? What did you do differently this time? It's really the same as a crock pot, my mom has both just because the slo-cooker's bigger.

Edit: [url=http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/recipe.php?recipeId=1855]Whole Foods recipe for Coq au Vin in a crock pot -- uses only 1.5 c wine.

Edit II: ah, Lavender Rain had the same idea!

Here's a recipe for Coq Au Vin for a slow-cooker.

IIRC, my Crockpot instructions say to never remove the lid. The idea is that all of the steam moisture condenses on the lid and then falls back in. So the alcohol won’t evaporate in a Crockpot.

Dan

True. I should have drank the good bottle and also, I have never heard of a French person using a slow-cooker for this dish, hence the invitation to mockery. Thank you for pointing it out kindly.

Gen, I've used the recipe following the directions ie not in a slow cooker, I just tried to adapt it because I liked it and thought I could make the adjustments based on other similiar slow cooker recipes that I reviewed. I didn't realize there was an actual difference between a slow cooker and a crock pot. Bah, I can't remember if I actually reduced the marinade, I bet I didn't. Mystery solved.

Thanks to everyone. Now, what kind of pizza goes well with meaty gluhwein?

Huh, good to know but I make a beef stew in the crock pot with beer and I don't end up with meaty beer. I wonder what happens there?

The only difference between a slo-cooker and a crock pot is -- they're different brand names. That's why I spelled it funny above.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_cooker

My Mom just happens to have a small crockpot and a big slo-cooker.

Is your beef stew recipe a crockpot recipe? That's a stew anyway though so meant to have lots of liquid...

(I'm working on using my oven as a slow cooker so I don't have to buy a new appliance. Have quinces simmering on the stovetop now, looks like that's working extremely well... and the stovetop has a timer so actually maybe that'd be a better crockpot substitute... I'll try that too!)

Depending on the type of wine and beer you use, the wine has two to three times the ABV of the beer. You say you used a "good wine" - perhaps a nice 15 % syrah or somesuch?

Have we met each other?

Take home lesson: Do not attempt a new recipe if guests are expected for dinner.

Who on god's green earth would cook chicken in a fart trapped in a duvet?