Slow Cooker anyone??

cambsno

cambsno

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Cant decide whether to get one. Can see the use... at a weekend could still enjoy a stew but no need to stay in, or put stuff on before I leave for work and come home to a cooked meal... but as that would mean switching on at 8am and not eating till 530 I would need to go for a more expensive one with timer (£50, rather than a cheaper £17) - would I use it?

Is yours at the back of a cupboard?
 
Ours gets used about once per week, it's OK for making cheap cuts of meat edible, but we also leave currys and stuff like that in it.
 
Ours is used mainly during the colder months and is a cracking bit of kit. We've got this one and it's easily big enough to cook a meal for 2 with left overs to had the following day.

Soups, risotto, stews, caseroles, curries, all in one meals, beef steak for pies.

Plenty of good recipes around the web

http://www.crockpot.co.uk/Recipes.aspx

Depending on how many you're looking to feed I'd look at a 3.5l size one for 2-3 people, depending how big you like your portions.

During the festive period I've seen us fill the pot with ingredients the night before and turn it on on retiring for the night. When you get up the kitchen smells great, everythings cooked and you just switch it off or put it on the keep warm/lowest setting till you're ready to eat.

For what you pay for one (around £25 for a 3.5litre size one, it's useful addition to the kitchen.

Our bread maker is similar, hardly used during the summer but during the winter a homemade soup with still warm freshly made loaf takes some beating.
 
In the winter i use mine often.. i don't use a timer, it goes on first thing and goes off once we eat.. it says it only takes 4 hours but the longer it's cooked the yummier it is..:D
 
We've got one somewhere, in the loft I think. Got bought since we needed one for a specific occasion and it was cheaper to buy a super cheapie than to hire one.
 
Brilliant in the winter.
I got a Tesco one for £12.00

No real need for a timer model (though you could add a socket timer if required) the timing is not critical in slow cookers (as long as it's more than say 6 hrs) so switch on when you leave the house and eat on your return.

They are good for cheap cuts of meat.

I always find the prep takes longer than expected, so might be worth prepping stuff the night before and slinging it in the cooker in the morning.
 
We just bought another, larger slow cooker for when quite a few folks turn up, and we were lucky to get a 4.5 litre oval one from Sainsburys. The best bit was the price, we thought it was going to be £17, but when the person scanned it - £9!!!!
This one differs from our earlier ones, in that you switch the cooker on when you put the contents in - no warning up period.
We always precook (simply browning the meat and making sure all the seasoning is spot on), then start the cooker off on high, and turn it down to low if we are going to be out for more than five hours.
We put the meat at the bottom, and then layer vegetables on top, leaving delicate ones like courgettes and aubergine until last.
Favourite meals have to be Bouef Bourgignon, chicken and aubergine stew in a spicy tomato sauce and lamb vindaloo.
 
Got the Tesco one, £10 I think, great for stews, casseroles, curries etc - chicken casseroles and curries about 4 hours - really convenient and tasty :)
 
Our gets used 2-3 times a week. Stew, curry, casserole, even did a joint of gammon in it on Monday.
 
andy700 said:
Favourite meals have to be Bouef Bourgignon.
Click to expand...

:thumbs:

Use ours on a regular basis. Got a Morphy Richards with low, med & high setting so can set it off early am and just leave it on a low setting.

Many (far too many, in fact) years ago when I was in the Scouts we used to use a version of this. All cooking was on an open fire in the middle of a field. In the morning we would fill a large cooking pot with enough stew ingredients to feed 20. Heat it to boiling point on the open fire and them place it in a box full of hay. More hay on top the pot, followed by a wooden lid. We would be away all day and come back to a tasty piping hot stew.

You could always try the hay box first :lol:

Ken
 
Pressure cooker :thumbs: Will make a casserole or whatever you want in far less time and use less fuel in doing it.
 
I use a slow cooker a lot in the winter - hardly at all in the summer, set on low you can make a stew by starting it at 8 and eating at 5.30 no probs (do the prep the night before)
 
I agree with everyone else really, you won't need a timer (I think ours is same as Ken's above - 3 settings, so if out all day, just set to low).
Ours will get used 2-3 times a week now it's getting colder
 
Use ours ALL the time....if it broke I'd HAVE to get another one.
 
Just sitting down to a beef stew from our crockpot!

I can only agree with the above contributors - and with Rich, slow and pressure cookers are ace!

If you buy one .... use it!

Steve
 
I've just started to use a pressure cooker that was an unused gift and so far am fairly impressed with what it churns out and the speed with which it does it. What benefits does slow cooking have (on the assumption that the initial prep time for both is the same)?
 
u8myufo said:
Pressure cooker :thumbs: Will make a casserole or whatever you want in far less time and use less fuel in doing it.
Click to expand...

I have a vivid childhood memory of a pork casserole evaccuating the pressure cooker through the hissy spout bit and pebble dashing the kitchen ceiling - I would never ever have one - even the sound of one hissing away gives me the heeby jeebies :nono:
 
Best slow cooker I ever had was the rayburn in my old house, oh how I am going to miss that :(
 
Yes, Pressure cookers had a reputation for redecorating the kitchen ceiling.
I don't think they've ever recovered.

My Mother used to cook Tripe & Onions in a pressure cooker - which I wouldn't eat, just the smell used to turn my stomach, I've associated Pressure Cookers with that smell ever since.
 
Sonriendo said:
Hell yeah fresh porridge in the morning :)
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Take it you don't use the quick variety, 2 mins in the microwave
and only the bowl to wash up :thumbs:
 
Like most people here, we use ours quite a bit in the colder months. Simply chuck it all in and leave it for the day - nice smell to come home too as well :)

Just have to remember to switch it on :D
 
not got one - talked about getting one, can see the use, especially over winter, though between leaving and eating would be approx 12 hours, would that be too long? Or as someone said, a timer one or socket timer....

Can see us getting one soon. As to be honest, faffing around cooking tea with 2 1 yr olds is a pain in the backside.. I get home about 6, the other half about 15 mins later if lucky, then an hour feeding and getting ready for bed... cannot be arsed to start cooking something at 8pm... and the bung in the oven tesco crap is not good for you...
 
Lynton said:
not got one - talked about getting one, can see the use, especially over winter, though between leaving and eating would be approx 12 hours, would that be too long? Or as someone said, a timer one or socket timer....

Can see us getting one soon. As to be honest, faffing around cooking tea with 2 1 yr olds is a pain in the backside.. I get home about 6, the other half about 15 mins later if lucky, then an hour feeding and getting ready for bed... cannot be arsed to start cooking something at 8pm... and the bung in the oven tesco crap is not good for you...
Click to expand...


Noooo, leave it on low and it'll be fine meat will fairly fall off the bones :D
 
hmm sold...
 
We did have one, but we've spent most of our lives in warm - hot countries and rarely used it. I'm not sure if we still have it.

FWIW, I think you can pretty much replicate slow cooking by using the oven at a very low setting.
 
MartynK said:
We did have one, but we've spent most of our lives in warm - hot countries and rarely used it. I'm not sure if we still have it.

FWIW, I think you can pretty much replicate slow cooking by using the oven at a very low setting.
Click to expand...

Using the oven this way is likely less efficient and more expensive.

The crockpot sits on a direct heat and has less space to heat as opposed to an oven.

Each to their own but ours is out already. Lamb hotpot ingredients all ready to go in. 15 minutes prep time Supper at 6pm. No brainer on a busy day. So off to work.

S
 
Over the winter I like to slow cook on the wood burner if I'm working from home. A nice stew on at 11 that will cook through to tea time.
 
Definitely worth the money. Use ours at least once a week, casseroles, gammon and my current fav beef in red wine mmmmm! :)
 
Hugh Jarse said:
Using the oven this way is likely less efficient and more expensive.

The crockpot sits on a direct heat and has less space to heat as opposed to an oven.

Each to their own but ours is out already. Lamb hotpot ingredients all ready to go in. 15 minutes prep time Supper at 6pm. No brainer on a busy day. So off to work.

S
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Fair enough. We didn't use ours very often, and saving electricity wasn't particularly important because we only used heating for a couple of months in winter, but I take your point. My wife lives in the UK, and has the heating on permanently!
 
slow cooker also good for delicious home made rice pudding. yummo
 
I mostly use mine for cheap meat. Anything that can make Tesco Value beef joints tender has to be good :) Chuck in a bay-leaf and grind some black pepper on.
Belly pork is also especially delicious slow-cooked!
Working nights, I put mine on in the morning before I go to bed. Combine with steaming the veg when I get up, voilà!
I will say though, that hard root veg, unless diced really small, don't cook too well. Brassicas are for me, also a no-no, they seem to become more bitter.
 
Well, just picked up a crockpot from Tesco... plan to do a chicken soup on sunday, what else...
 
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