Please help me with some cooking questions!

[LaDamaDeElche]

I'm really time poor at the moment, so have decided I need to learn how to cook simple stews, casseroles and soups, which I can batch cook. I don't have any equipment to do this, and am looking at purchasing some, but I'm a bit confused. There is conflicting info on the internet and I don't want to end up buying things I have no space for and spending money unnecessarily.

So, my question is, regarding casseroles - are they cooked on the oven or on the stove? Do I need a pyrex dish and some kind of casserole pan that you can put in the oven and on the stove too, or just one?

I'm also looking at cooking soups and stews, so is there a multi use thing, like a slow cooker/crock pot, that I could use for all? Is it worth purchasing a soup maker separately to this as it gives different consistencies without having to use a blender?

At the moment I have a soup maker, pyrex dish, hand blender/normal blender, crock pot and a casserole pan on my Amazon list and it seems like that may be an overkill - also £££. Also, no idea where I would store all of those things as my kitchen is pretty small. Would be grateful for advice on this!

If I were you I'd go for a slow cooker. You can do soups and casseroles in this and it should be cheaper to run than the oven. You can also use it for pre-soaked dried beans (cheaper) and use the liquid as part of your stock.

If you also get a stick blender, you can just blend till you get the sort of texture you like.

Personally, I don't see the point of soup makers and just use a stick blender - I can make the consistency any way I like and use it for other things too.

I start casseroles on the hob and transfer to the oven so the pot needs to work for both. I don't faff with transferring to a pyrex though the ones that come with lids are really useful for freezing half.

Thank you both for the advice! Soup maker is off the list!

Is there any real difference between a slow cooker and a crockpot, or is a crockpot just another type of slow cooker?

I'd just buy a slow cooker if I was you! You can basically do all of the above in them and there's tonnes of recipes online for "dump meals" which is basically just "wang all this stuff in the slow cooker in the morning, and by tea time you'll have a soup/stew/casserole/whatever", it's so easy. Anything you could do in a cast iron stovetop Crockpot or pyrex dish in the oven you can basically do in a slow cooker.

It's been a lifesaver for me on time saving.

Slow cooker and crock pot are one and the same thing!

I'd have a slow cooker and one casserole dish that can go on the hob as well as in the oven.

Something like this (which will work on an induction hob if you have one of those)

Personally I'd say all you need is a cast iron casserole dish with a lid.

Unless you want to leave things on all day whilst you're out to slow cook in which case get a slow cooker. Crockpot is just a brand of slow cooker.

I'd go with the slow cooker too, you can get them cheaply at supermarkets
Learn how to make dumplings to so you can change the flavour
I add dried tarragon to chicken casserole and horseradish to beef
They are easy to make
Add different toppings like slices/mashed potato or add a pastry li lid to make a pie, alternatively make yorkshire puddjngs to serve with it, you can freeze them all too

Thanks, that's really helpful as I have induction.

Don’t bother with a soup maker. You need a chopping board and good knife, a couple of saucepans and a slow cooker (crockpot). And a stick blender.

Slow cooker and a casserole dish sound like a good option. I'll probably buy whatever is cheaper first and maybe get the other in the Black Friday sales. Stick blenders look fairly cheap. If anyone has any good recipe books they can recommend, I'd be grateful - nothing complicated please 😅 Also I'm in Spain, so there may be some ingredients I can't source, so with normal ingredients, nothing too fancy!

You can buy packet mix for stews and curry etc for the slow cooker.

Got good knives and chopping board. A couple of pans probably need an upgrade as I've had them for years.

Not in Spain unfortunately. I'm a bit limited with some stuff here, although fresh produce here is plentiful and cheaper, so that's a good thing.

Things like panko breadcrumbs and other things which are so accessible in the U.K. have only just started arriving here, and only in certain shops.

The BBC have lots of useful techniques which might help too. https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/techniques

I agree with others that a slow cooker is very handy. Sometimes you can find fairly new ones at charity shops which have been PAT tested. I bought mine from Aldi 3yrs ago and its still going strong. I'd think a slow cooker would be cheaper to run than having the oven on with a casserole dish inside for hours.

Get a bigger one than you think you'll need. Nothing worse than not being able to fit everything inside.

I also have a pressure cooker which I use for different meals. You can buy a combi pressure/slow cooker too- just to complicate it more.

This link might be helpful too:

How long does a casserole take to cook in the oven? Is it in there for a really long time. We're having the same issues as the U.K. here with electricity prices, so that's something to consider.

I wouldn't casserole things unless you do bread and cakes also as the oven tends to ne a more expensive way to cook

You can make broth - fine chopped veg - instead of soup then you don't even need the blender

I tend to use a pressure cooker rather than slow cooker

• can you cook dried beans efficiently in a slow cooker ? Cooking up batches of beans for Mexican refried beans and curry's is cheap

Afraid I disagree with the slow cooker, my kids didn't like anything cooked in it, said everything tasted the same and I didn't like the smell. I'm not a big fan of gadgets, soup maker is a waste of money in my opinion. All you need is a large pan with lid that you can use on the hob or put in the oven and a stick blender. Covers all your requirements👌

Casserole takes about 2 hours but I usually fill the oven making bread, cakes, mini pizzas for packed lunches, at the same time.

Going against the grain, I would definitely recommend a soup maker. It does its thing without supervision whilst you can be getting on with other tasks. I often put mine on whilst I’m working. Wouldn’t be able to work and keep checking a pot on the hob. Also takes half the time that a pot on the hob takes

At the moment I cook lots of Italian pasta dishes, couscous, rice, meat/fish and veg type dishes, so they're fairly economical electricity-wise. My daughter got really into soup when she was at my mums, so has requested I learn how to cook it. Spanish soups are really different and not to her taste, or mine either, apart from gazpacho, which is really nice.

I use my cast iron casserole so much. Bolognese, oven-baked risotto, casseroles, chilli. I rarely use my slow cooker mainly because I’m never organised to get it on early in the day.
I have a stick blender but we tend to prefer chunky soups.
Additionally, a couple of oven proof dishes are very handy - lasagne, pasta bakes, macaroni cheese under the grill etc. I even made a sponge pudding in the microwave in one the other day!

My daughter has ADHD and is very fussy, so that could be the case with her too 😕

I'd probably only be able to use it at weekends as I work split shifts as a language teacher, so the weekday mornings would also be difficult for me.