is it worth buying a slow cooker?

[krisskross]

and if so, which one? dont want to spend much . would be good if it had capacity for a couple of dinners so we could freeze half of what we cook.

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This thread is old now, so some of the suggestions are out of date, but we’ve very recently refreshed our best slow cooker page with models that Mumsnetters have tried, tested and loved, including large capacity options. We hope you find the guide useful.
MNHQ

yes yes yes!! I couldnt be without mine.

I cook everything in it soup, caserole, curry, spag bol.... mulled wine!

I use it about once a week and have had it for about 12 years. It wasnt expensive, i think i got it from John Lewis. I just picked something basic. It has the following functions:

low heat, high heat, and off. Ha Ha, thats it, you dont need any more!

I picked one that wasnt going to be huge on the work top, but the capacity was big enough. There are only 3 of us, so it doesnt need to be huge.

I might make a curry, double quantities. eat half and freeze half. The half im eating sits in the slow cooker all day while im out (i would never leave a pot on the stove all day while im out!). When i get home from work, the dinner is hot and ready. Because its been cooking long and slow, the meat is so tender and juicy.

The other half, I freeze. When I want to eat it again, I just stick the frozen curry in the slow cooker, turn it on and go out. When you get in from work its defrosted and heated through. Perfect!

Yes definitely worth getting one. I can't suggest which model since I have had mine for years (a Tower I think) but I don't suppose it makes that much difference - they all do basically the same thing.

One thing they are really good for is making pot roasts, hot pots, stews etc. You can cook on the lower setting and leave all night and/or day without any chance of burning. With really slow cooking you can use cheaper cuts of meat so it will probably pay for itself quite quickly.

Thanks for posting OP I've been thinking about one of these too

dunnetoson and somebloke do you find it is better on the electric i.e. more economical than using a conventional oven? My 20 month old loves a caseroles (the only times I think he actually enjoys eating meat) so have found myself using the oven so much more.

Hi, another big yes for the slow cooker. We've got two, a small one, enough for two and a larger one that will cook a chicken and bigger bonier cuts of meat. Shoulder of lamb for instance.

And yes, they are very economical to use. The equivalent to keeping a smallish light bulb on I was told.

A friend got hers, almost brand new, from Freecycle. It's in lovely condition just wasn't big enough for the family apparently.

I love my slow cooker - easy to make healthy meals when you haven't any time left! Ours was a present from my parents but I think was £35 in the Tesco sale about a year ago. It's a Crock Pot for eight people (although they must be eight hungry people - it makes loads) and one of the best presents I've had.

ive cooked in mine twice this week - did a whole chicken yesterday

where has the slow cooker thread gone from the weekend? it was fab

I've got the basic 3.5L from John Lewis £22.95 - makes enough for 4. And the best stock EVER!

tesco have 3.5 ltre for £12 atm

I love mine and when I'm working I do a whole chicken it it once a week. It's not as crispy as roast chicken but the flavour is awesome.
You might consider getting one like mine which has a split bowl. That way you can do casserole in one half and potatoes in the other or else dinner one side and dessert in the other. In mine, one side is big enough for a whole chicken, the other side is slightly smaller.

I have given up on my slow cooker and invested in a Le Creuset huge casserole dish. There are a few of us on MN who agree that what we cook in the slow cooker all has a slight metallic taste, too fatty, sauces too thin (both of these because the liquid doesn't evaporate), meat has a strange dry texture (chicken the best we found though) and produces lots of mushy/stringy food. I love cooking but my slow cooker is going to be binned/freecycled - there are good reasons why you can easily get one on freecycle.

But I can't go out in the morning to work and leave a casserole brewing all day in the oven ( until I get my kitchen overhauled and get my Rangemaster Excel 110 with dedicated slow cook oven, so probably never!)

I have a huge le Creuset casserole & find that sauces evaporate too much & things end up really dry (as well as limited cooking time & much higher use of power)

I think slow cookers are better sauce-wise as long as you get the amount of liquid right in the first place

I use my slow cooker once or twice a week. I have the 3.5L tesco one which was given as a present. Although it seems quite small for a family of 5 I can usually get two meals out of it if I serve with other things IYSWIM?

It's great now I'm working to come home to dinner ready. It was also great when I was a SAHM as it meant I could spend time with the kids when they got home from school rather than try to get dinner on and do homework, after school club runs etc.

Some of our fave recipes are sausage casserole, curry, beef stew, spag bol, chilli and rice pud.

I love mine.

How big is your family? I have a 6.5l one which is excellent for when we have friends over, even though it's just me and DH.

I tried one once but raw meat cooking slowly early in the morning is not a smell I like to have aound the house. I was probably doing something wrong but I prefer to cook later in the day.

I hated mine and gave it away on freecycle. I work full time and am not a morning person. I just can't face cooking dinner in the morning. I even pack my lunch the night before.

Also everything is overcooked after you have left it on for 10 hours. It's disgusting. It's so different from a casserole in the oven because I will never leave something on forever. Which is what slow cooker cooking seems to be.

There are tons of food you can cook under 20min. I stick with those for mid week dinners

And from the list someone just listed. You can cook spag bol, curries and chillies easily in 15-20min depending on if you use shortcuts. If you use patak pastes (or Mae ploy for Thais) and add a few spices, you have a curry as fast as it takes to cook your meat! It takes less than 10min to cook chicken fillets surely.

thanks everyone, odd question- but if we get a big one- say 6litre- can you cook smaller quatitities in it? generally i do a big cook and and freeze some so worth getting a bigger one. but now and then want a smaller meal.
and i am going to look on freecycle!

sounds lovely second coming, think you must be a better cook than me!!!