Are slow cookers a waste of money

[Moominfan]

Do you use one. How often? If you don't use it why not? On a super tight budget at the minute but also trying to make my life easier

Love mine, stops me ordering takeaway when I get in late from work. Teens coming and going so they can help themselves whenever.

Do curry mostly, or chilli. I've recently started putting tinned potatoes in the curry so we don't even faff about with rice, game changer and they aren't as foul as they sound!

Once you have had a shoulder of lamb cooked in a sc you will never want to put it in the oven again. Whole chicken works well too.

Lots of cheaper meat benefits from long slow cooking so you save that way.

Do you like suet puddings? I make steak and kidney pudding and cook it in the sc.

You can use it as a bain marie and to make yogurt.

You can make a cooked breakfast overnight.

I hated mine so gave it away. It might be different if you eat meat but I found it just didn't taste good.

My remoska though is fantastic and when we had no oven changed our lives.

If you are strapped for cash though, learning how to cook one pot meals in your biggest pot or pots and never wasting food is probably the best course of action.

@SpoonBlender nothing needs to be cooked for 8 hours - it's tastes over done - all the zing is gone. And never make bloody caramelised onions in it - they were bloody awful too. We all have different tastes and like different things - I keep mine for emergencies - I should dump it. I love my cast iron casserole pot though...I do all my slow cooking in it but nothing approaching 6 or 8 hrs.

I use mine quite a lot for casseroles, pulled pork, red cabbage, lamb shanks, chilli, spag bol. It helps if you add a couple of extra flavourful ingredients (herbs, wine etc) near the end of the cooking time.

Depends what food you are into really - there are regular MN threads from people who don't like casseroles/sauce-based food complaining that they don't like their slow cooker

I have a tiny kitchen with hardly any counter space, and I hate cooking but love food. I love my slow cooker. I keep it on the counter - it's really worth the counter space - and use it all the time.

I cook hunters chicken in mine and whole chicken! I love it. Also lamb and potato curry is delicious as well! Use cheaper cuts of lamb so it goes so tender and soft.

Literally the best purchase I have ever made!

I have two! a small one which has currently got a joint of gammon in ready to be pulled when I finish work and the other one I use for Currys, Stews, Soup, Hunters Chicken, Chicken Supreme, Spaghetti Bolognese.

the possibilies go on and on, i get up 10 mins earlier than usual, put whatever is going to be for tea in, knowing that when I come in for work and all i have to do is cook some veg or some mash and serve literally is the best thing.

last think I want after 7.30am - 5pm at work an hours commute either way is to get home and cook a meal. If I didn't have my slow cooker i'd live off takeaways.

Well I’m watching this thread with awe. I’ve given two away because I didn’t get on with it at all. Particularly anything with tinned tomatoes - had the most awful taste. Clearly I got it very wrong. Any tips!? I’d love to try again

You just need to remember that things don’t cook exactly the same as on a stove top and can be more ‘watery’ and made the relents adjustments.

Can you just put everything in raw? Raw meat?

The only thing mine is used for is ham and Xmas pudding.
Nothing caramelises in it, and I'm not a fan of the taste or texture of the stews and mince dishes that come out - much better in the oven or on the hob.

www.facebook.com/groups/slowcookedwonders/

join this group! slow cooked wonders - recipes and advise from all over the world. people even bake cakes in them!!!!

@posterHotpinkangel19 yes, I put in a raw joint of Gammon this morning knowing when I get home it will be cooked thoroughly ready to be pulled.

@ToBeShared Yep, sounds like slow-cooked stuff doesn't suit you. That's fine! I was bemused because it's almost impossible to screw up, but if you straight up don't like the taste of the result that's totally understandable.

(you're totally wrong about things not needing to be cooked that long, though - perhaps you've never had to deal with tough meat, and curries/chillis only get better as they continue cooking)

I use mine all the time. Before I left today I've put a gammon joint in, so all I need to do later is make mash and veg! I also like it for chicken thighs, with a curry sauce or Spanish chicken. I make beef stew in it too. The only thing that annoys me a bit is it doesn't evaporate the liquid so sometimes you need to thicken the sauce. Oh and pulled pork is amazing with bbq sauce.

Yes I use it almost daily in Winter. Bolognese, chilli, various stews, coq au vin, tagines, curries, whole chicken, gammon, sausage casserole - honestly the list is endless. Bit of prep in the morning, done by the evening. Saves a fortune and makes amazing leftovers.

My top tips are:

1. Cut the amount of liquid you'd use on the hob in half or even less. Otherwise you'll just get soup.
2. Potatoes won't cook - par boil first or chop very small.
3. Don't fry off things first - I used to but tried without and never looked back. It made no difference. Chuck it all in raw, be brave!
4. Use a timer plug if your slow cooker is overly enthusiastic like mine and cooks in 6 hours.
5. Join Slow Cooked Wonders on FB.

I've just sorted our menu out for the fortnight and I will be using it 4 or 5 times (I would use it more but I love our mexican and pizza nights).

Spicy sausage stew
Aubergine and lentil pasta
Beef and mushroom casserole Korma curry
I'm even doing a fakeaway recipe for homemade doner kebabs.

I love that I can whack it all in in the morning and it'll be ready by teatime. The most I have to do is boil some pasta for 10 minutes. And then voila. Ready!!! It makes my day so much easier.

Perfect for the hungry hippos I have in my house.

Well worth the investment!!!!

(you're totally wrong about things not needing to be cooked that long, though - perhaps you've never had to deal with tough meat, and curries/chillis only get better as they continue cooking) There is a window where meats are tender and more cooking does not help - it just degrades the flavour...everything ends up tasting like old stew. Curries taste better if left for a day - not cooked for a whole bloody day! I can see the attraction if you are busy, work full time etc - that's why I hold onto mine but I'd much rather slow cook in cast iron.

I've got one. I think I last used it in 2013..........

Don't get the point of cooking the hell out of something so you can't actually recognise what it is.

I have an electric pressure cooker that also has a slow cooker function. I've used the slow cooker function maybe 3 times, but use the pressure cooking function almost daily. Just a great way to do veg, rice, quinoa, soups, stews, risotto, beans, lentils, etc. It's quick, but more importantly, you can put stuff in and walk away. So, I can get dinner on the go, but help DC with homework or hang out some laundry, etc.

And you are not as restricted meal wise as you are with slow cookers, which really are more for soups and stews. Pressure cooker allows you to do ingredients, which you can then assemble into other dishes.

As previous posters have said, regardless of which gadget you have, if it's not out on the counter, it probably won't get used, so consider that before buying anything.

I've got a slow cooker & a pressure cooker & love them both.
However, if they need replacing I'll get a combined version as they take up a lot of space in a small kitchen.

Can you just put everything in raw? Raw meat?

Yesm switch on, lift lid, put in joint/chicken, put the lid back on and leave.

lamb is beautiful because it is quite fatty, the fat melts and bastes the meat but the meat is still pink.

Particularly anything with tinned tomatoes - had the most awful taste. Clearly I got it very wrong. Any tips!? I’d love to try again

Reduce the amount of liquid you would use on the hob by at least 1/3.

Try things that are not stews. I've had pork hocks from the supermarket, I put them in the sc with a 50/50 mix of cider and boiling water.

Use some of the cooking liquid to make a sauce and add some veg.

Pork ribs around the edge of the slow cooker, tinned kidney beans in the middle and a packet of passatta add come optional chorizo. Season to taste and leave to cook.

Chicken breast, sliced leeks, a tub of creme fraiche and a tin of condensed soup - leave condensed.

I love it for making soup.