Slow Cooker Lasagna

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I saw this recipe while on vacation. I can't eat most cheeses, so I was eager to give this a try. I love the main ingredients and the ease of using the crock pot. The recipe went exactly as planned and the result, I think, is a delicious improvement on the common lasagna. 2 things I have done differently are grinding my own lean pork, and the second time around I ground sirloin instead of pork, and used sweet italian pork sausage. Grinding my own choice of cuts helps keep the fat down, but there is still enough get the right consistency. Also, it's great for leftovers, and microwaves back to life after refrigeration.

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Ok, so I did this recipe for Easter dinner, and was very hesitant given the reviews, but Alton hasn't let me down yet. Full notice though, my wife is on weight watchers, so we used lean ground turkey, and lean mild turkey sausage, and full fat spicy pork sausage. I did use non-stick spray around the crock pot to ensure the noodles wouldn't completely stick to the sides. The only other mod I had was to eliminate one layer of noodles. I also used an oval crock-pot that had a digital timer, set for 7 hours (I had to used a 1/2 lbs extra sausage, so I upped the time. EVERYONE loved it. That being said, it doesn't taste like a chain restaurant lasagna. It's MUCH meatier! Much less red-watery-drippy sauce everywhere. And has a much more adult taste than any lasagna I've ever had. Everyone went back for seconds. . .and I am still getting compliments. I think the reviews below might be based on full fat pork sausages and full fat ground pork.

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Awful. I was intrigued by this recipe and it was simply awful. I usually like Alton's recipes, so this was extremely disappointing!

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I tried this after watching the episode, and despite the other reviews it came out great. I'm a vegetarian, so I didn't use any meat, which may have made a difference. I also used ricotta cheese instead of powdered milk, and double the tomatoes. As promised, the lasagna came out without being too watery, and the noodles were cooked to a suprisingly tender texture. I do like my lasagna with a little more sauce, so I put extra sauce and cheese on right before serving.

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DISGUSTING.

I've made this twice. Once exactly as per the recipe, and it was swimming in grease at the end of the cooking time. The second time, I partially cooked the meat, and drained the fat before adding it. The bottom layer is mushy, the meat is ok, the veggies too soft. The second layer, the noodles are chewy and pasty, meat is so-so, veggies borderline undercooked, flavourless. The top layer is inedible. The veggies are almost raw-like, crunchy, and the noodles under the cheese aren't even identifiable as lasagna noodles anymore. If you touch the top noodles with a finger, it's like wall paste.

Alton Brown, you owe us an apology (and you owe me $25!

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I heeded much of the advice here, and what we ended up with was edible, some people got seconds, but I threw away the leftovers. Useful techniques: the prep method for the veggies and using the veggies in the lasagna--very good! Pre-soaking the noodles. Pre-cooking the meats--I cooked them about 3/4 of the way through and that worked well. I added a little cheese and very small dribbles of alfredo from a jar along with the milk powder, and it came out with a good flavor and texture. I used double the tomatoes and juice, but I still wish I'd added a little bit of actual sauce too. In the end, I would say the biggest problem for me was the slow cooker. Some noodles were super tough and crispy around the edges, and those in the middle were way too soggy. I think next time I'll build it about the same way, but cook it in a regular pan in the oven. To each his own taste, but as a lesson, I learned that you really can use the sauces very sparingly, and come up with something quite good.

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I was reluctant to try it after reading some of the other reviews, but it turned out OK (not great. The flavor was actually not bad, as long as you are OK with the lack of cheese and sauce. The texture is what I had a problem with. I did take one of the other reviewers' advice and bronwed and drained all the meat beforehand, which I recommend because it avoided all that grease in the crock pot. However, the noodles ranged from doughy in the middle to crunchy around the sides. None of the noodles had the right consistency. This may be workable but needs tweaking to get the moisture right.

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My family liked it and I will make it again. The flavor is more delicate. We didn't miss the cheese. I didn't have goat's milk powder so I used buttermilk powder.

I did make some changes: I couldn't find the beef sausage so I used a mix of hot and regular pork sausage and precooked it to alleviate the grease factor. The flavor in the dish was nice. I used whole wheat lasagna. If I make it again, I would use fresh sliced tomatoes - they are nice in the slow cooker. I would use regular as opposed to whole wheat lasagna because it is thinner. I would spray the slow cooker with nonstick spray before layering in the noodles. They stuck and overcooked in the edges. I used a long oval rather than the round crockpot and there is no way I could get more than three layers which used all the fillings but fewer (maybe 12 oz is all.

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AB, please say this was an April Fools Joke, goat milk powder, optional cheese. My Son cried...

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Love the eggplant, mushrooms and zucchini, but after cooking for the recommended time and temp, the sausage was still pink, but had a cooked texture. Kind of a turn off. The noodles on top were doughy and the noodles below were mushy. I would like to try this combination of vegetables and meat in a traditional lasagna format, with sauce and cheese.

Usually a big fan of AB. My husband even built a pneumatically controlled, ceiling mounted, rolling pin holder for me at our last house...sure miss it.