Do I need a slow cooker

[MyBigToes]

Just that really, I can’t decide if I’m better buying one or not
YANBU - slow cookers are vital in the kitchen
YABU - slow cookers are a waste of space and money

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MNHQ

Get a pressure cooker! Does the job of a slow cooked in a fraction of the time and loads of other stuff too. I use my Instant Pot almost every day.

Depends on your life style really.

I work evenings so slow cookers are a god send fir me as I have the time in the mornings after school run to prepare it all and I can then get the meal out quickly in the evenings befire I leave.

They are also handy if you have people arriving at different times as you can just leave it in here and have them help themselves when needed.

If you don't have mornings free to prepare stuff and your time is afternoons or evenings then they probably won't be much use to you

I work a whole range of different shifts and need to be able to batch cook meals in advance

Then yes I think ot will be a good investment for you.

Consider an Instant Pot, which is both pressure cooker and slow cooker. Depending upon the version, it can also do many other things. Slow cookers can be fab, but it prolly depends upon what kind of food you like to eat.

Slow cookers just produce grey sludge in my experience! I would say my small chest freezer is a godsend. I batch cook a several weeks worth of meals over a weekend and the freeze. So easy just taking something out the night before to defrost.

I thought about it and joined a Facebook group, sorry to say everything looked mostly awful so I never bothered.

I love mine. Perfect for batch cooking and making sauces and broth. Oh and chinese crispy duck. Just remember to put half the water recipes say😂
And get a good one with well fitting lid. I had one cheap one which was losing too much moisture.

If you don't have mornings free to prepare stuff and your time is afternoons or evenings then they probably won't be much use to you

Everything can be prepared the day before, and put in the fridge ready to go in the slow cooker in the morning.
Even if i had time I wouldn't feel like browning onions and meat and chopping veg first thing.

Cana by one recommend a good pressure cooker/slow cooker or instant pot please

I have one and a pressure cooker with slow cooker function (given as a gift recently). I would just get a pressure cooker that can act as a slow cooker. I sue them both all the time though, sometimes at the same time!

Use, not sue!

I got one with the intention of batch cooking - I found that the meals were never right after being frozen- they separated out and then never quite ‘gelled’ back upon reheating. I gave up and have given it to a friend with a large family- she cooks daily meals in it but not for freezing purposes.

I prefer my pressure cooker, which has a low cooker setting. Slow cookers stress me out as I have to get everything in first thing in the morning.
I like the pressure cooker as it will cook meals in half the time of a conventional oven, even from frozen

They’re great if you want all your food to taste the same.

If you actually have tastebuds I’d not recommend them.

Barely use mine...kids really dislike the texture of the food. I am not a huge fan either...some things come out nice...spare ribs are good. To be honest, if I'm short of time, I'd rather microwave a jacket potato, boil some pasta, stir fry or have a sandwich then have something done in the slow cooker.

I don’t think they’re an ‘essential’ as you can get on fine without one, but they’re great for stews and soup etc. DP also likes slow cooking meat in it with marinades etc, we've had some lovely pulled pork and beef brisket which had been cooking all day in really nice sauces.

But really it depends on what/how you cook.

I have a Crock Pot. I use it every day and make delicious dishes - curries, stews, risottos, soups, always very flavourful and perfect consistency; pressure / slow cooking captures the flavours of the ingredients much more so than stir frying or regular cooking. My dishes never come out ‘grey and sludgy’, if people are getting disappointing results, its user error or they are using a substandard cooker 🤷🏻‍♀️

This is mine and I wholeheartedly recommend it Crock Pot

If you know how to work flavours and textures of food, you don't end up with tastless glop...

I do have to say that I am not working with it the way that I just plop everything in in a morning. I add ingredients in a different time. But I use it to batch cook not really for the "all day out, come for dinner" thing.

I would invest into multicooker if you know you will use it

@Oysterbabe

Get a pressure cooker! Does the job of a slow cooked in a fraction of the time and loads of other stuff too. I use my Instant Pot almost every day.

This.

I gave my slow cooker away.
I use my pressure almost daily.
Hardest working pot in the house.

I remember everyone raving about how amazing a whole chicken is done in the slow cooker...I tried it and it was absolutely vile, sweaty, greasy, grey, just disgusting

We have just bought the Ninja Foodi multi cooker and it is amazing! We have used it almost every night, it's a pressure cooker, slow cooker, air fryer all in one, so it's got so many uses, massive pot too so I bet it would be good for batch cooking!

I use my slow cooker a lot, it has never produced grey sludge. Sometimes it takes less time than expected but you get used to the timings.

Have cooked all kinds of things in it, casseroles, dhalls, joints of meat, whole chicken. Been using it one for at least 25 years.

Pressure cooker, no. I remember a few times when my mother had to clean the walls, ceiling and windows when hers blew. She kindly bought me one so I could do it too. I used it a few times but prefer to bung in and leave the slow cooker to do the job. Pressure cooker went to the charity shop.

I am thinking of getting a second slow cooker as I batch cook a lot and it is ideal. Can cook a whole lot of something and then add different things to it for variety.

Random 'one' there.