Is it worth buying a slow cooker or will it just sit in the cupboard with the other kitchen gadgets?

[fishnet]

Are they any good or just a gimmick? Working long hours and struggling to find time to cook anything other than pre prepared stuff and stir fry!

I love mine. They are worth it if you are busy/ need to save money/ have a few to feed at difcerent times of the evenibg.

I've used mine 3 times in 3 years!

I use mine more in the winter than the summer. It's very useful, once you get enough confidence to use it!

fishnet am not stalking you I promise but watch this with interest as just said to dh last week about getting a slow cooker and he thinks I wont use it

can you get specific slow cooker recipies?

Hi again Mosschops30. Yes in fact the reason for my post was that I bought a slowcooker recipe book today on impulse for £2 thinking that I might get one. It has some really nice recipes in it.

We use ours at least once a week. I did roast lamb on Sunday and it was gorgeous Must get a proper slow cooker recipe book as am sure I don't get full use out of it.

It will sit in the cupboard and on the rare occasion you make the effort to cook using it, the food wiill taste like shit.

Love my slow cooker. Couldn't be without it , especially in winter. Though i'm pretty much the same as hotcrossbunny, I need to invest in a proper slow cooker recipe book. It does a lovely roast chicken, much nicer than doing it in the oven imo. I think it's definately worth buying one.

Love my slow cooker - dead easy for soups and stews. If you set aside ten minutes for chopping up some veg and bunging it in there in the morning (maybe with some stewing meat/chicken legs etc as well), you can come home to a lovely hot meal you just have to dish up into a bowl!

presumably its more environmentally friendly too. I'm assuming they only use a small amount of electricity if they are on for so long??

I am a busy working mum. On Saturday mornings I spend a couple of hours in the kitchen and cook double quantities of a dish using my cooker and simultaneously make double quantities of something else in my slow cooker. I end up with 4 or 5 meals to put in the freezer for the following week. That is how I use mine and my favourite recipe book is Slow Cooking by Katie Bishop. This means we can eat home cooked meals during the week instead of ready meals and I think this change has made a difference to my general health.

Tesco sell slow cookers for around a tenner. Would having a big cook up once a week work for you?

Love mine, used it all winter and was just planning next week's slow cooker feast today and it toppled off the top of the fridge and smashed to smithereens. Sob

I could probably do a Sunday morning Podrick when DH takes to DS's swimming.

I think I'll give it a go. For that price its not the end of the world if it sits in a cupboard.

Quite excited now!

I am making pork cannelini in my slow cooker this weekend and probably shepherds pie or lamb stew. All of it will go into the freezer, enough for 4 or 5 meals.

I have only owned my slow cooker for a few months...it would be more energy efficient to get it going in the morning and eat in the evening but I am not that organised in the mornings!!!

You wouldn't need to do a big cook up every week, just try one and see how it goes!

I like mine but it is under-used. I think that because I'm veggie I'm finding it harder to think of recipes to do in it.

Hmm. I am interested in buying a slow cooker too. But I can't stand cooking in the morning! Really, I couldn't do it. So today I ask, would it be possible to cook a casserole or stew in about 6 hours? Or is that too fast for a slow cooker?

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the book I have has some recipes for 2 hours and others for 4 hours and others for 8. You could cook something overnight though.

I am not sure there if is a lot of point in getting a slow cooker if you are veggie because the thing about them is supposed to be that if you cook meat long and slow it cooks in a different way and tastes better...the same is not true for vegetables. Maybe vegetable curries might work well so that flavours have time to develop though?

gosh that's a lot ruby - what are your favourite things to cook?

Slow cookers are just as good for veggies. Think curries, veggie shepherds pie, soups, pasta sauces etc.

Thank you Podrick. V helpful .