What is the point of slow cookers?

[EachandEveryone]

My neighbour came around to admire it yesterday. It was her that persuaded me to get one, I am a nurse but have stopped nights for now. I batch cook sometimes but I’ve only myself to feed. I really don’t need a slow cooker do I? What does actually taste better in it? And doesn’t it make you living space smell of cooking all day? I’m in a flat and can’t stand it if I smell cooking in my bedroom😃

You can also get SC with timers or plugs that switch on, so it doesn't have to be on for 13 hours. Just do a test one day when your home.

@EachandEveryone

The other thing is how are people managing to cook sweet things in it without getting a savoury after taste?

I don't understand. Surely people are washing the bowl between uses?

My slow cooker uses a heavy thick ceramic bowl, similar to a baking dish that might equally be used for lasagna or apple crumble. It goes in the dishwasher after each use so is clean and without residue that would cause a 'savoury aftertaste'.

I feel like if you put a casserole dish in the oven on low it is the same as having a slow cooker, am I missing something?

No dish washer here 😃 I’m off at the weekend so I will give it a go. What about vegetarian food is there any benefit?

I feel like if you put a casserole dish in the oven on low it is the same as having a slow cooker, am I missing something?

A slow cooker is much cheaper to run.

@mumtoallboys

I feel like if you put a casserole dish in the oven on low it is the same as having a slow cooker, am I missing something?

Slow cookers are cheaper and in my circumstances safer to leave on for a long time

I would never leave my oven on all day if I wasn't home, I would prefer oven cooked if I was but when I got a job that involved a four hour commute my slow cooker was a godsend. I would prep the night before and put the crock pot in the fridge, put it in the slow cooker when I left for work at 7am and came home at 7pm to dinner. I did find that it dulled the taste of some of the herbs or spices but learnt to add some more as a last flavour boost.

Love ours, have just upgraded our Crockpot to a larger version with bells and whistles (browner and timer, etc.). I make a gorgeous Thai green curry, it's just as good as the one from Giggling Squid. Put the ingredients in the pot around lunchtime on a Saturday, take the dogs for a long walk and then onto the pub, get home to the wonderful aroma of Thai food. We don't get food deliveries where we live (rurally) so it's a real treat to be able to have lovely Thai food on a Saturday night that isn't from M&S!

Also make a really good vegetable and pearl barley soup, so much nicer than anything you can buy in the shops.

We don't tend to freeze much as whatever we cook is usually so good that we just stick it in the fridge and have it the next day.

I always brown the meat for DH (I'm a veggie). He says it's much better. I also find that browning onions first makes the food taste nicer. Doesn't take long as I used ready chopped onions.

@AgnesNaismith

Lasagne in the slow cooker changed my life!! Sure you have to cook the meat then assemble in the slow cooker. But it means when you get home from a day/night at work it’s just ready to eat rather than having to wait 45 mins for it to cook!!

I never cook the meat. Just fire it all in and get back to the house smelling lovely.

Saved my life on mat leave and use it minimum 1 x per week.

Love mine. And I work from home. 10 mins prep & off it goes. I’m pretty lazy so suits me perfectly (and due to disability can’t stand for ages faffing with stuff).

If your food is watery or flavourless, take the lid off for the last hour (on high) to evaporate some of the liquid to thicken the stock & concentrate flavour & always brown off onions/meat as you would normally in a pan first for the Maillard reaction to happen (that glorious, savoury, sticky umami flavour). Don’t just bung stuff in water; slow cookers are great, but they’re not magic.

Also, tomato soup; 1.5kg of cheap fresh tomatoes from Lidl, plus maybe a tin of plum ones, and any wrinkly plums tomatoes lurking in the salad drawer. Couple of onions, cloves of garlic & stalks of celery (browned & softened first). Plenty of black pepper, any herbs or seasonings you fancy, a veggie stock cube. Teaspoon of sugar (because, tomatoes). No need for extra liquid. Lid on, go to work (or go upstairs to office in my case), finish, blitz it up (I don’t faff with sieving), good dollop of double cream if I’m feeling fancy, 20 mins on low (enough time to heat oven & cook part baked rolls). Job’s a good ‘un.

@FAQs the squash chilli and the Mediterranean bean thing are from The Healthy Slow cooker by Danni Watts, her recipes are great although I tend to adapt them or serve them with something as her portions are quite small and I'm not on a diet which the book kind of is. Everything else is just an adaptation of normal recipes from my head just with less liquid because it doesn't boil off. I do a lot of soups in there too, just throw it all in for 6 hours and whizz with a stick blender before serving.

With the onion thing, my removable metal bowl thing isn't compatible with my hob, so instead of washing another pan I put it on high with just the oil and onions etc in for 20 minutes or so then add everything else on low.

Browning the meat first does has aesthetic value - a sausage casserole doesn’t look very tempting if the sausages weren’t browned first!

This has me tempted to pull mine out of the deepest darkest corner in my kitchen and try using it again.

I need to get more inventive with recipes, we're mostly vegetarian here but do eat the odd bit of chicken. The chicken noodle thingy someone posted above sounds very tasty!

Mine was only £12 or so from Tesco over 8 years ago so well worth the money.

People saying everything tastes the same surely realise you have to think about what you're cooking as you would with a normal oven? I.e. you needs spices for a chilli or a good stock for a shepherd's pie.

I generally do mince or chicken thighs in our slow cooker. I cannot be bothered to spend 2 hours+ making a spag bol after work when 10 mins in the morning and 6-8 hours in the slow cooker does it far better 👍

@Bakedpotatoandgin brilliant thank you I’ll have a look! I do lots of soups (vegetarian) but currently lacking inspiration.

I do agree you have to think about it. And use less liquid. If making stews, I also roll the meat in flour before browning it, or throw a tablespoon or two into the slow cooker with the meat and veg before I add the liquid. Also, a tin of tomatoes or some passata help to thicken things.

Love the tomato soup idea. Might try it.

I have some oxtail in the freezer. I'll cook that in the slow cooker next week with a very generous amount of chopped ginger added to the onion. It will be delicious.

Mine was my most regretted buy - everything had a horrible texture and I found it felt like we were eating the same meal over and over again. But I know so many people that rave about them that I always feel like I might have missed something! I don't know if it's because we're vegetarian - I was assured before buying it that there are loads of veggie things to cook in it but all the things that my friends say are amazing with a slow cooker are meat. I just don't think many vegetables benefit from long, slow cooking in the same way meat does.

We just do lots of batch cooking but just make it entirely in advance, either freeze or fridge and then microwave - it does also affect the texture a bit but not as badly as a slow cooker and it still gets dinner on the table almost immediately after getting home.

Well ive made a plan to do the Hairy Bikers sausage casserole when i get in from work tonight at 9pm. Its not specifically for slow cookers is there anything I should be doing different?

@Pickypolly Please share how you do jacket potatoes and cheesy potatoes in the slow cooker....

Love mine for cooking Lamb. So tender.
I have a slow cooker in my holiday home abroad. Put all ingredients for bolognese in slow cooker and go to beach for the day. Come back in evening only need to boil some pasta.
Going to try the baked potatoes recommended by previous poster. Thanks

At my slimming world group, everyone raves about slow cooker liners. You don't have to wash the ceramic pot after your meal, just remove and dispose.

I think you have to think of it as a cheap oven that you can have things in for longer. Nothing more or less. I've found most casserole or stew recipes work in it but onions MUST be softened before or you get the famous horrible slow cooker smell and taste and meat is pretty much always better browned (I have a pork casserole where it isn't but I brown the meat for everything else). It's definitely not a time saver, it's just a useful way of moving your preparation time. So I use it more at weekends when I have plenty of time to prepare a casserole in the morning before a day out.

I love doing my Christmas pudding in it and haggis is great as well (using the crock as a bain marie in both cases, much less steam generated so won't burn dry). I like veggie stews and curries in it, particularly if there are soft veg like squash or sweet potato because they get broken down less. Curries with coconut milk are good as well, it doesn't get too hot so they stay nice and creamy.

There are some things it's not good for, e.g. neeps need more heat to cook properly so while I cook the haggis in the slowcooker I still end up boiling neeps on the stove top. Potatoes are fine in a slow cooker, although they (obviously) take on the colour of anything you cook them with.

@EachandEveryone The only thing I would do it maybe not add as much liquid to slow cooked recipes, less is better or things can be a bit watery.