Has anyone started off a recipe with frozen meat?

[JoanMcWench]

I have been slow cooking for over a year now and I cannot remember using frozen meat in a slow cooker recipe. I'm a stickler for browning my meat and any veggies before they go in. I'm aware you CAN throw frozen meat straight into the slow cooker but I'm concerned about losing flavour.

Has anyone done this? Is there a dramatic difference between browning and throwing it straight in from frozen?

 

[Barbara G.]

Hmm...I have not tried this but will have to do some research on this. I have a nuwave cooker which you can do this, but have not thought about doing it with the crockpot. I am sure it would work, but would take more time to leave it on to cook. It would probably work more effectively with smaller pieces of meat rather than one big chunk of meat.

 

[Joshua Shane]

I find that cooking meat from frozen has more effect on how tender it is than flavor. When you cook frozen meat, the center has a hard time getting to the desired temperature. The outside reaches your goal temperature before the center, and will overcook or become tough.

Thawing your meat allows the heat to penetrate it more evenly, making for a more tender, juicy cut of meat. I hope this helps a bit!