Advice on best slow cooker to get for a family of 6

[missismac]

I'm thinking of getting a slow cooker but so confused by the many different types and sizes. Can anyone point me in the right direction for one for a large family including 2 adults, 3 teens & an 8 year old? Thanks.

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MNHQ

Anyone really they all do the same thing.

The only difference to some are the size of the pot.

Get a bigger one and you will be sorted.

Thanks Pipkins, I'm torn between the lakeland 3.8l for £30 - 'Which' recommended, and the more expensive cuisinart one that seems to be preferred by Mums on this forum. It's a lot more expensive though & I wondered why & whether it was worth it?

I have this one from Argos.

I have one from argos as well.

It is their own brand ''cookworks'' had it years.

3.8L for 6 people would be ok, but not much space to cook extra portions to freeze. Personally, for a family that size, I'd get 6L+.

Will you need a timer and auto setting?

Mine's a basic one with just high, low and warm settings. If I replace it I'll get one with a timer.

I'd think about whether you need a timer setting and/or one which automatically switches to 'keep warm' when it's finished. Mine doesn't do those and I wish I'd got one which did.

I have an oval Morphy Richards - can't see the size on it but it is ample for my family of seven and any guests we might have.

It has three settings - low, medium and high. The low and medium settings are typical slow cooker ones, but the high one is not much different from the actual oven.

I made a huge batch of stew the other day (with 4kg meat), and it was all cooked in about three hours.

\link{http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/special_buys3_21496.htm\Aldi have a 6.5L one for £17.99 this week} - it has low, high & keep warm settings

I have bought one but haven't tried it yet

I have a cheap one and use a timer on the plug that I already had ( the kind you can put on the lights when you go on holiday).

Ooh, Thanks MN-ers there's lots of food for thought there (haha!). I hadn't thought of a timer, or a keep warm setting but each time one of you mentioned something else I was thinking "Oh, yes. That would be useful!". So now I have to go away & re-look at them to see which has what, IYSWIM?

I can get to an Aldi tomorrow I think (once I've put up the fake cobwebs & finished the disaster that is our pumpkin carving), so might go & see if they have any left. At that price it's probably a good introduction to slow cooking & maybe I can get a plug timer like ScaryFairy28.

Just thought - can you dishwash the Aldi one?

I have a 6litre one for 4 of us - it is big enough for double or triple portions

I don't see the need for a timer - just put the stuff in and turn it onto low/med/high depending on how long till you need it.

looks like a no for the dishwasher, missis - "clean lid & ceramic pot with soapy water"

also, it doesn't have a keep warm setting as such, although it says that in the website description - it has an AUTO setting.

Booklet says

"cooks the food with high temperature firstly, & when the food is cooked, it will turn to cook in low temperature automatically. Then it will stay in a certain range of temperature."

but how does it know the food is cooked???

the recipes in the booklet (only 4 of them) don't mention the auto setting. Have to do some experimenting, maybe

you could also look at the Argos cookworks one, it's more expensive (£21.99) but got quite a good write-up in Which