To buy a slow cooker?

[Connorsmummyx]

Are they any good? I've seen ones on the Argos website for £15 and am quite tempted by them. What sort of things can you cook in them (has anyone used them for making stocks?).

Please convince me that I need another kitchen appliance and that ianbu to let a slow cooker take up precious kitchen space....

I like mine but dont use it as much as I should - stock did turn out great though :)

Thank you jenny! Tempted to get one just for yummy stock! must defrost freezer so can actually fit stuff in

Buy one!!! I love mine! Pretty much stick anything in it and it comes out delicious!
My favourite is a whole chicken because then you get an extremely moist chicken and loads of lovely juices to make an amazing gravy!!

You need this thread. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/food/1035780-Have-decided-to-embrace-Autumn-and-purchase-a-slow-cooker

Get one. You can do so many things with it. More than you first think.

Sweet and savory
Love mine

I LOVE mine. Its great. In fact it has revolutionized eating in our house. I cook massive amounts and freeze it. Favorites are Chicken and Choritzo, Italian sausage and berlotti bean, chilli. I have made soups and the stock is great. Stock from the choritzo chicken thing makes a great soup with some dumplings and sweetcorn chucked in. I love my slow cooker. I could talk about it all day. Buy it. Your life will be better.

Love mine, get one!

I adore mine. Do it!

Would not be without mine! I use mine weekly at least.

I couldn't live without mine. I get really cheap cuts like beef shin and casserole it and in a slow cooker it just becomes so tender and tasty.

Get a bigger one than you think you'll need. Suddenly those 3-for-£10 meat offers, which are pointless if you can't use the meat up quickly, are worthwhile.

Also by a stock of family meal size freezer bags or freezer tubs!

We love ours! We chop veg etc the night before, basically bung everything in and leave in the fridge over night. In the morning you just get it out, turn it on, then get on with your day. It's great getting in from work and your house smells amazing with the dinner all ready to serve up.

I love mine. Don't get a huge one though, unless you really do plan to cook huge meals.

Bought one. And don't use it as much as I thought I would. Stew is lovely, but potatoes need to be cut very small and meat is much nicer if browned first.

Bolognese sauce wasn't great, maybe because veg cut very small and over cooked.

I so want to try full chicken in it.

Love mine. It's a huge lakeland one. Use 2-3 times a week. My lot won't eat chicken any other way now.
cheap cuts become delicious but I do them overnight and next day

I love mine too and use at least once a week. I make curries, casseroles and loads of interesting recipes in it. So great getting tea done early in the day if you are going out later on.

Like others have said, they're fantastic for cooking whole chickens during the day. I think I make this lentil/veg soup in mine more than any other recipe -it's healthy and addictive!!

www.familyfreshmeals.com/2013/08/easy-crockpot-vegetable-lentil-soup-recipe.html

I love mine. I think it was about £13 ish. Well worth it.
Fantastic for stew, sausage casserole, curry, shepherds pie (just put the mash potato on once the meat is done and pop it in the oven to brown - YUM!), Chilli...
Though I am yet to master cooking a beef joint in mine, any tips very welcome .

God no, YANBU. Mine is an absolute godsend, especially on nights where we've got activities and will be later home.

With the chaos in our house in the mornings, I usually chop everything the night before and chuck in the pot, then leave the pot in the fridge overnight. In the mornings, pull out and switch on and it's all been soaking up the flavours all night - mostly

We do all sorts in it - chicken + chorizo stew is a favourite, beef bourguignon, pulled pork, lamb casseroles, lentil stews, mussaman curry, corned beef...

Littleprincess - I often put my beef joint (seasoned with salt + pepper + a rub of garlic) on a bed of chopped up onions/carrot then tip a cup of water + tablespoon or so worcestershire sauce in (or a bit of beef stock). Leave it in for 8 hours or so on slow.

I have 2.

Buy one.
Buy a shoulder (or half depending on size of sc) or lamb

Put the lamb in the sc, switch on and leave all day.

You will wonder why you ever roast meat in the oven.

I love my slow cooker especially how good the house smells when you first walked through the door and you know dinner is ready.

Yanbu.
slow cooking is my idea of cooking. Bung it all in and forget about it for hours.
The downside is the delicious smells kick in after a couple of hours and by the time it's finished you are RAVENOUS

YABU

You will wonder why you ever roast meat in the oven.

Because you don't get the lovely crunchy bits in a slow cooker, the meat carves nicely from an oven and the texture of roast chicken from a slow cooker is simply wrong.