Are slow cookers shit?

Are you sure you are nor cooking old shoes?

I definitely don’t understand the browning and faffing about with it. I fling it all in and leave it! That’s the point of a slow cooker to me- the convenience.

The type of meals I would cook in a slow cooker definitely benefit from browning before being placed in the slow cooker. A good curry needs onions fried slowly for ages to get the right flavour and texture. Although, to be fair, I don't make most curries in the slow cooker as I tend to make vegetable or chicken curries, neither of which need a long slow cook.

I really only use the slow cooker for a minced beef ragu, chilli or mince for mince and dumplings. It's cheaper than using the oven.

I definitely don’t understand the browning and faffing about with it. I fling it all in and leave it! That’s the point of a slow cooker to me- the convenience.

The only thing I will do is take the lid off once before serving to take a portion out for my 4 year old because I then add chipotle or chillis etc for us that he can’t have and let it cook a while longer for us. I prefer not to do that but that’s just a compromise while I have a young child who won’t eat the meal if it’s too spicy. I’m already home by that point anyway so I can separate a portion for him.

Everything I cook is delicious and I’ve never been told otherwise by guests who eat everything and ask for the recipes. I think some people must be getting it spectacularly wrong to create such horrible meals.

I have a vonchef one that has different settings a stovetop setting etc thats brilliant . But I dont think they make them anymore!

Oh definitely, you are spot on. But very few people actually do. And some things can’t really be adjusted for without changing the recipe beyond what would normally be. A ragu, made properly, means reducing the tomato by a half or even two thirds to concentrate the flavour, and that’s not really possible in a slow cooker. Sure, less tomato to start with and more purée and a bit of anchovy will approximate the flavour, but not consistency. That doesn’t mean it will taste bad, but it won’t taste the same as a ragu made conventionally. Some things will be far easier to modify, and absolutely seasoning is key.

I’m sure every slow cooker user on mumsnet is completely on top of how to adjust seasoning, quantities and ingredients to make the most of a slow cooker, but in my experience these things are used for convenience and so short cuts get taken. I get it - if you are time poor then being able to prepare a hot meal easily so that it’s ready when you get home from school / work is invaluable. But the moment you start searing meat, browning onions, adding ingredients part way through, taking the lid off for the last hour or whatever, then convenience has gone out of the window and you are left with something that would have been better cooked another way.

It does remind me though, that regular ovens also have timers and delayed starts. My mother used to occasionally use the delayed start on the oven for, I think, just reheating a casserole so that it was ready when we got back from wherever we’d been. I suspect nowadays there would be hand wringing about leaving a dish containg meat out of the fridge for 6 or 7 hours though. I have never used the timer on an oven and I’m 54!!

It does take time to learn how to cook with a slow cooker and I think people try it and think it’s a watery mess and give up. It needs barely any liquid whatsoever, none of this ⅓ what the recipe asks. I find it’s always even less. And you need more spices or garlic etc than you would normally use. You also learn when to add certain veg towards the end vs what can go in right from the start.

Are you stomping your feet as you write?

I guess my point is that for me, I’ve never had a meal cooked in a slow cooker that tastes better than that same meal cooked in a different way. So I don’t use a slow cooker. In my experience (and yes, it may well be that all the people who have ever cooked for me in a slow cooker are just simply not very good at it!), food cooked in a slow cooker just doesn’t have the right texture or depth of flavour.

No they’re not right or wrong of course, but people are stating that all slow cooked meals are “slop” and flavourless and this is clearly not true. It’s not like how some people love coriander and some can’t bear it because it tastes like soap. Of course slow cooker meals can be delicious and rich in flavour. To call it slop tells me there are people who don’t know how to cook with them. The meals I cook are anything but. My bolognese in a slow cooker vs non slow cooker is different but both taste very good. I go with the slow cooker as it’s just as delicious but I can start it cooking and get on with my day and it just needs plated up with spaghetti and fresh basil at dinner time. It’s convenient but not shite convenience like a crappy microwave meal.

I now love it but you have to be very careful which recipes you choose, I love this website now their recipes always seem to work, the korma is a favourite. Fuss Free Family Recipes & Meal Plans - Taming Twins

Because people have different tastes I guess. My husband is a truly excellent cook and I always prefer his version of dishes to those cooked by anyone else. There’s no way anything cooked in a slow cooker is coming close to his own version, in my opinion. Other people may feel differently, though! Neither is right or wrong, but for some people a slow cooker just isn’t worth bothering with.

How are people having such different experiences? I make slow cooked BBQ chicken with chipotle paste and everyone loves it. It’s one of my favourite meals to make to have with tacos and homemade guacamole. That’s pulled chicken but I also make various curries and they’re all really good.

I guess that’s the thing about life, everyone has different experiences, different perceptions and different tastes. You may prefer a dish that has been cooked in a slow cooker, I may prefer that very same dish cooked on the hob.
We can only answer questions based on our own experiences and in mine, slow cookers are indeed shit.

Slow cooked chicken is the worst. It's so stringy and tasteless 🤢

That's not my experience.

So surprised by these answers mine are always lovely but you usually need far less liquid than you think.

Agree with this. Everything I’ve ever had in a slow cooker, whoever it’s cooked by, tastes inferior to basically any other version of that same dish I’ve had.

The same here. A joint of lamb or a whole chicken goes in the sc. A fillet steak goes no where near it.

Oh and another thing for people (who are using their SCs) is that suet puddings do really well in a sc.

Then you haven't learned how to use it properly or are cooking the wrong meals in it. I only ever use mine for meats that require long slow cooking after being browned properly.

There is definitely a knack to using a slow cooker - less liquid, more flavourings, add quick cook or microwaved veg at the very end for freshness, texture and colour (frozen peas are perfect here).

But since I got my electric pressure/multi cooker I always use that instead. The built in slow cooker mode isn't great so anything I would have slow cooked I cook at pressure and then leave on keep warm function if I want to have it ready for eating later. Just pressure cooking seems to bring out flavour, and leaving it on keep warm works really well for anything where you want bolognese etc. Again there are a few rules to learn - if you sear meat and onions in the pan you need to scrape off anything that stuck to the bottom of the pan (quick stir with a bit of cooking liquid normally does it) before you start pressure cooking, and put ingredients like tomatoes or cocoa powder (for mole sauces) on top. And again adding a bit of fresh veg at the end to cook in the residual heat lifts the dish. Plus it's incredibly versatile and hands off during the cooking time - yoghurt, easy peel boiled eggs, butter chicken, biryani and no-stir risotto are all favourites here.

If every sauce or gravy is a two inch thick sludge in the bottom of the slow cooker at the beginning, I always end up with a perfect consistency sauce at the end, be it curry, stew, caserole, lump of sirloin etc.
That was the game changer for me and my kids. They enjoy what comes out of it now.

Agree, I do all meat in slow cooker even turkey at Christmas, frees up the oven for roast potatoes and parsnips.

I cooked a leg of lamb in mine yesterday it cooked beautifully and very tender.

I think everything cooked in the slow cooker tastes like slow cooker and I always end up having to transferring it to a pan/oven to finish it off. I can cook so it’s not me!

I love my slow cooker, but it's very different from cooking on the hob or in the oven. I do find some recipes end up lacking the caramelised flavours from browning foods on high heat, so meat will often be browned before slow cooking.

I also really like slow cooking things - ribs, wings, pork belly - before finishing them off on the barbecue for a few minutes.

One of my favourite uses for a slow cooker is baked potatoes. Put a big one in before the school run and it's perfect by lunchtime. Great when working from home in the winter. https://www.reddit.com/r/slowcooking/comments/10lvo5d/has_anyone_here_tried_baked_potatoes_in_a_slow/