Slow cookers

[krasnayaplats]

What make of slow cooker would you recommend (or say steer clear of). I have very little time to get food ready before dinner, am now the only one cooking as DH is working too far away to get back in time, and I am just bored to tears with my own repertoire of quick dinners. So I think maybe a slow cooker could help. Would also be interested in good slow cooker recipe books and recipes, many thanks

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MNHQ

I have the bog-standard £22.95 crock pot from John Lewis and have no complaints. Cara Hobday is a good author for slow cooker recipe books IMLO.

i have a "sear and stew" one, where you can put the internal pan part on the stove if you want to brown stuff in advance and then transfer it directly into the slow cooker. i know some people don't bother with browning but i prefer it and this stops it creating more washing up. main thing is, don't add too much liquid unless you're prepared to reduce on the hob after cooking and before serving

I have a Breville 4.5l one which I love (we are 2 adults, 2 teenagers), and I have made loads in it since I bought it about a month ago. I have been getting Slow Cooker books out of the library to give me some ideas - currently have 200 Easy Slow Cooker Recipes by Katie Bishop which is a good one.

Thank you!

I had a cheap asda one for years and I loved it. Until it broke and dh got me a crockpot. Worth every penny and far far superior to the cheap one! And you can put the pot in the oven and under the grill to brown the top

I've just got a morphy Richards 48701 sear and stew. I can brown on the hob then set it in the base. It was about 23.00 and I love it.

I had to get a refund on a crockpot because the base cracked on two occasions. they replaced a first time but by the second occasion I'd had enough. It was huge and heavy too. the digital timer was pointless because all it did was count down your chosen time then go to 'keep warm'. I wanted it to come on later in the morning. a timer in the wall wouldn't work because it needed the 'on' button pressing when it came on. Not worth the money I'm afraid.

I have Kenwood 6.5l one which is enormous for the 2 of us but brilliant for making loads to freeze. On books, Lakeland do two slow cooker books imaginatively named slow cooking and more slow cooking! They are both really good. I've also got a Hamlyn one I bought in a charity shop, which I think is called 100 slow cooker recipes. Ok but Lakeland is better.

In terms of recipes, Pintetest is your friend. You'll be able to find recipes for pretty much anything you can imagine - and they'll give further suggestions for similarly themed recipes. I'm just about to sample the slow cooker version of my favourite meat stir fry!

mine's 30 years old, so no help there. recipe books - i just use normal recipes and adapt - so for curry/bolognese you add all the normal things, but just the stock pot/cube and none of the liquid. it looks very dry but will be fine. anything thats too runny, add some cornlour mixed in cold water about 30 mins or so before the end

watch out for root vege as it needs ages to cook and don't bother browning anything except sausages

If you're on FB, look out for slow cooked wonders - excellent group, loads of recipes, hints and tips.

I have the argos cookworks 6.5ltr- about £20 or so. Highly recommend.

Slowest cooker I have seen, my husband. He does have limited capacity like all men though.