i never pre-brown the onion - can't be bothered! i only pre-brown mince cos i can't stomach the pinkish shade of meat (even though its' cooked, it does my head in!) and cos i like it to be broken down properly

if your soup wasn't cooked (that really surprises me!) when you first put it on, put it on high to get the temperature up and then lower it once it is heated, so it's just low for the cooking part if that makes sense

everything you put in should have cooked up ok so i'm not sure what happened there!

ummm, for the stuff in the cooker - if you're making it into a stew, you'll want a reasonable level of water in it - but as long as there is some liquid in there, the steaming liquid should keep your meat and stuff tender. i think i'd be reluctant to expect that vegies would go soft (as in soup soft) without extra fluid added. if you're looking for steamed type texture, you could try it - have you looked at the "just slow cooking" website for recipes that have been tried and tested by real people?

most of what i make has high fluid content cos i freeze it for DH to heat while he's away - i don't want him to have icky dry reheats!