Someone please tell me about slow cookers!

[ChasingMyTale]

I'm thinking of getting a slow cooker. Can anyone recommend one please?
I will be out if the house for around 9 hours each day.
Thank you!

Bump...
I know it's very boring...but would like some advice 😊

I use mine for pulled pork mainly as it's really nice done in there. I'm out of the house in the day for 10-11 hours and I find that's too long to leave anything in there, it turns fairly mushy and a lot of things are the same old.

I also find there aren't many sachets etc that are made for them. I like having one but could easily do without.

I love mine!!!!!! Especially in the winter.
I cook Thai red/green curry, spaghetti bolognese, casserole, soup, stew. Those are the main dishes I make. Before the slow cooker I would never eat beef, apart from mince. I hated the texture of beef and just couldn't eat it. The slow cooker makes it so tender I devour it now. I stick mine on before work and walk into a delicious smelling house.

I love mine, but I start it at 9-10am and the kids eat at 5-6pm. Great for things like chilli, chicken fajitas, sausage casserole, bolognaise, stew, etc.

Mine is old and an odd shape, but I have read Facebook posts about doing a roast chicken in it. I'd love to try that! Look on FB and find a page about them - there's heaps!

They are amazing!

I make everything in mine ha
There are some amazing Facebook groups on facebook - they taught me how to make fudge!

I wish I had bought a smaller one, and I understand there are ones available now that you can brown the meat or onions first before you set them to slow cook. Mine is great for term time when we are in to eat at different times.

I use mine almost every Sunday for an easy "roast". Also for soups.

I have a large crock pot and it's great for soup, stews, spaghetti Bol etc. Use far far less water in it than normal or it's very watery- for soap Bol with 750g mince for example I used 2 tins of tomatoes but drained them in colander, small glass of red and just crumbled in stock cubes (no water)- it was just right. The veg (and meat) give up their water as they cook.

I prefer chicken roasted in the oven and often stews too, however for a lazy dinner you can throw in with no browning etc and just leave, it's great. It has a 'keep warm' feature which is good too for when cooking time is up. Find a couple of good slow cooker cook books to start maybe?

Instant Pot (electric pressure cooker). You will thank me for it. Pasta cooked with leftovers and passata for dinner tonight, 10 mins flat including pressurising and depressuring.

Buy the cheapest one you can, because if you are anything like me it'll end up stuck in the back of the cupboard never seeing the light of day again.

Mine is a cheapie from Tesco which actually does the job perfectly, I just never really got into slow cooking. Maybe I should dig it out again & have another go.

I think it'll never give you haute cuisine! But it's great for busy evenings when we walk in at 630 and there's a beef stew waiting ready just dish out. Not as rich or tasty as one cooked on the hob/in the oven/carefully browning my meat etc,. but adequate and healthy. I probably use it in autumn once a week?

Last tip- massively over season (more worcs sauce, more herbs or pepper for example). It seems to really need it.

I have a metal one, I think by morphs Richards that you can use on the hob and then slow cook. So I would (e.g) pop the meat in, brown while I chop onions and other veg, add stock cubes and relevant liquid and herbs, bring to boil and then pop into the slow cooker casing.

I like it for pulled pork, meatballs, bolognese, and soups. Pork and cider casserole also works well. Beef and pickled walnut too but that’s a bit of an acquired taste!!

I don’t use it hugely often but it makes me very happy when I have, and it has a role that my oven can’t fill because it’s replacing a 3 hour cook I have to be in for with 9hours I can be out for. I find up to 12 hours is fine, but I make sure it’s on low. I’ve heard good things about the instant pot but not prepared to fork out for one quite yet!!

Thanks everyone! How long can you leave things cooking? Will 9 hours be too long? Will def check out Facebook pages too.

Ive got a veggie Korma cooking in mine at the moment and it smells delicious. Having some for dinner tomorrow then rest is going in the freezer for days when I can't be bothered to cook.

No, 9 hours on low should be fine.
You can always buy a timer that switches on or off the slow cooker at a certain time incase it only needs 7 hours :-)

Thanks for this thread! Just reminded me about my slow cooker, i'm def gonna dig it out! Thinking it will be super useful when baby is born in nov 😀

Most slow cooking pages dont recommend using timer plugs but I believe that you can get slow cookers that you can programme to turn to keep warm after x hours, which sounds safer. Slow Cooking with Katy Kat on Facebook is great.

Get this book, it has the most fabulous recipes in it

fab slow cooker curry and spice book

Double check settings if you go out /have small dc.
Dh's casserole was very crunchy after ds turned the control to low!!

My slow cooker has a timer which you set, then it automatically switches to 'keep warm' when time is up.

If you don't expect 'amazing' from it, but ' tasty filling and really practical as today is manic!', then I think you'll be pleased.

Check out "Crock Pot" slow cookers for that feature.

Love mine, use it once or twice a week, doing a double batch every time - spag bol, chili, meatballs, curry, beef stew, meatloaf with green beans, and have a smaller one for rice pud, bread and butter pud etc.

9 hours on low will be fine, it takes a while to get up to temperature any way.

I'd just start with a basic one, I paid £15 for one I'm Tesco the other day. I find that things with spices don't turn out too well, but things that are flavoured with herbs, soy sauce, garlic etc are better. Our regular dishes are pork adobo and chorizo stew and both are bloody delicious.

If this one ever breaks (seems unlikely) then I'll probably upgrade to a metal one that I can get things off in first so hopefully spices will be a bit nicer. Frying stuff in a pan before putting in the slow cooker is just too much faff.

Also excellent at Christmas if you want hot mulled wine constantly available.

I bought mine for £10 at Tesco.

It is very low effort and can be very convenient depending on your lifestyle. I make fab and super delish oxtail stew and kleftico in mine and usually make a mumsnet recipe book veg chilli to eat for lunch during the week.

For the majority of dishes it tastes better cooked conventionally imo but results are ok. The exception is the ultra long slow cook meat joints which it's perfect for.
For a 9 hour cook time you probably need to use a delayed start time for most recipes.

From what I have heard the instapot is fab if you need to cook a meal super fast after work but I work from home so don't feel like it would be that useful for me. Might be good for you though?

9 hours is not too long, they usually have high, low and warm settings, some have 'auto' which cooks on high for a set number of hours then switches to low.

I have two, one full size, one small one.

Lamb is fabulous in the slow cooker, just put a joint in with nothing and leave it, the fat melts and bastes the lamb.

They are all slightly different so you will need to use a bit of trial and error.

If you are using a recipe for an oven baked casserole or stew on a hob then reduce the liquid to 1/3 of what you would have used.

I make steak and kidney pudding in mine, you make the pudding in a Pyrex bowl, add boiling water tot he pudding, then put abut 3 inches of water in the sc and put the bowl in there.