Slow cookers

[MrsCadwallader]

My sister has just bought one and is utterly evangelical and attempting to convert me

Do I need one? Are they worth having? Or will it simply spend all but the first month of its life cluttering up my worktop until my husband eventually puts it in the loft with the bread machine?

And if I do need one, does anyone have any tips? Brand recommendations? Recipes?

Thanks!

[MummyElk]

could you borrow hers for a weekend or something? see how you go?
i think they are great but i don't use mine all the time (just like my bread machine ) and i could definitely cope without it....

[Picante]

I got one for 20 quid down from 50 from Argos. I love it so far!

[MrsCadwallader]

No, sadly she lives at the other end of the country! I'm being bombarded with texts about the marvels of the slow cooker

[Goober]

I have had one for many years.
Love it.
Wouldn't want to be without it.
Use it at least once a week.

[leeloo1]

I have a very organised friend who swears by it and I got one in an effort to be more organised like her... so far it hasn't made it out of the box, but after a few months I put the box in the cupboard so I didn't have to think about it... A month or so ago I did get the instructions out and almost used it... only to find i should have started cooking with it 7 hours earlier to get tea ready in time (was about 3 hours til tea time I think) so it all got shoved back in cupboard again!

[Makingchanges]

They are great for stews, casseroles, cooking ham joints etc in. They are brilliant if you are out all day and want to come home to tea ready.

I love mine, especially if I am organised enough to put it on in the morning. However I don't use it all the time

[JackBauerisreadyforDay8]

I never cook a whole chicken in anything else, plus soups are lush, and stews are great.
Even as a SAHM I love chucking it in in that 'post breakfast sugar rush' and then not doing anything else apart from chucking jacket potatoes in the oven, and tada! A meal!

[moocowme]

i find it very easy to prepare for. cut up meat and veg, plonk in spices, cover with tin of tomatoes. come home from work to lovely cooked meal

i must admit i don't use it quite so often in the summer. it did make a lovely steamed christmas pudding this year.

[blametheparents]

Bought one yesterday from Asda for £25, reduced from £45. Morphy Richards one.
Not taken it out of the box yet, maybe tomorrow!

[JennyPennyNAPPYWEB]

Love mine. Stuff like meat joints, spag bol, cassaroles etc - all great!

[KitchenKate]

I've often thought about getting a slow cooker too but wondered about the energy consumption. Are they energy efficient? I wouldn't want to keep something on all day if its going to cost a fortune. (And be bad for the environment etc ...)

[ScaredOfCows]

I really want to like mine, but somehow I am always disappointed with stews. They seem a bit watery. I keep reducing the amount of fluid I put in, but, I don't know, I just can't seem to get the hang of it.......any tips, anyone??

[orangina]

I always brown whatever ingredients I'm using on the stovetop first, and then chuck it all on the SC... works better like that and seems tastier. You could dust the ingredients in flour before browning, which helps thicken up the cooking liquid? Or tomato puree can help too (depending on what you are cooking....)

[threetimemummy]

I love mine!! I use it all the time, even as a SAHM :-) Beats the after school madness and arsenic hour grumps!

Re the fluid..I never actually put any in! If it calls for stock, just chuck in a cube rather than liquid stock. Also, if you are doing it on LOW, add a few extra hours and you can put the meat in frozen and still serve up dinner at 5.30pm.

I am using mine heaps atm at least 4 or 5 times a week as I am pregnant with two toddlers in tow so by that time of night I have absolutely no inclination or energy to cook dinner! Plus am suffering from evening sickness so HATE cooking atm!!

FAB FAB FAB!!!!

[Picante]

I did the most amazing sauce in it yesterday - then for the last couple of hours wrapped some salmon fillets up in tinfoil and sat them on top of the sauce!

Am already completely in love with it.

[TillyMintSpy]

Oooh a slow cooker thread [grin[

I got one in the sales and I LOVE it. I have made 2 stews so far (double quantities as it is huuuuuge - half in the freezer ) and they were so delicious. Even DS who doesn't usually like stews agreed that they were yummy and he even ate the mushrooms I put in one!!!!

Picante, what's your recipe please? I am looking for some fish recipes.

[Picante]

I've just switched it on to melt some snow as we've got no water at the moment!!!

Fish sauce recipe:

Brown onions and leeks (and any other veg you like) with herbs (I used parsley and basil).

Throw in slow cooker with:

Tin tomatoes
Garlic puree
Tin of anchovies
Cherry tomatoes
Lots of white wine
Olive oil
Black pepper
Black olives

Sounds like I really thought it through but I just chucked in whatever I could find.

Then I just steamed the salmon over the sauce for the last two hours. I've got loads of sauce left over which I'm going to have with pasta tonight!

[TillyMintSpy]

Thank you!

I have some salmon in the freezer.....

[slummymummy36]

Love mine! Am a SAHM too but love the fact I know "dinner" is taken care of once its on in the morning. It is fab if you are off out for the day as well and want to come home to a meal.

I generally cook stews and casseroles. It does a stunning rice pudding (I hated rice pud until DH made one in the SC) with ultra light and fluffy rice that just kind of melts in your mouth!!!

When I do a Sunday Rost I chop a few extra veggies and bung it in the Slow cooker pot. Then after the Rost dinner when the left over meat has cooled I chuck that in the pot too. Add a splash of water and bung it in the fridge - next morning just put the pot into the SC switch on and add any stock etc. Easy peasy!

Mine is huge so if I am making stew/casserole from scratch I fill it up an freeze the extra.

I use mine ALOT more than I thought. I even took mine camping in the summer and cooked a whole chicken for our Sunday Lunch in it as well as camp stew to warm us in the cold wet british summer!

[TillyMintSpy]

Taking it camping!

[dreamingofsun]

get one they are great. i sling a few things in whilst having breakfast, maybe stiry it a couple of times in the day and dinners sorted with so little effort. you can do more or less anything you would in the oven, just add much less moisture - eg if you put a chicken in you could add 2 eggcup fools of water or wine or stock and that would be OK. i've got sausage stew in mine for dinner. good if you are out all day or if people in your family eat dinner at different times

[aristocat]

MrsC i have been considering a slow cooker for ages now and was going to post the same as you
will read this with interest!
thanks

[orangina]

Great for soups and stocks too

[CurlyhairedAssassin]

We've got a huge one - 6.5 litres or something. It just seems too big and there seems to be too many burnt bits round the top of the liquid on the edge of the crockpot thing that taint the food to give it a burnt taste. Is it because it's just too big for the amount of liquid or something? I don't really want to double up with the recipes as already have loads of stuff in our freezer so wouldn't know what to do with all the portions.

Saw a 3.5 litre one in Tesco yesterday for 15 quid and was tempted to get it just to see if the recipes work better in a smaller one. I just hate the burnt taint!!!

(sorry for slight thread hijack, OP!)