Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Shopping

From everyday essentials to big purchases, swap tips and recommendations. For the best deals without the hassle, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

Original poster

slow cooker - which one?

26 replies

sanssouci · 24/11/2004 13:27

Can any of you slow-cooker fans recommend one for me? I love the idea of them but have heard that some can be dangerous, ie you can't leave them unsupervised... thanks!

OP posts:
Original poster
sanssouci · 24/11/2004 20:14

No one has any advice?

OP posts:
soapbox · 24/11/2004 20:38

I have the Morphy Richards stainless steel oval cooker which is huge but as I cook to freeze that really suits me.

Robert Dyas have it on offer at the moment for around £26ish. That is a lot cheaper than I paid for mine!

soapbox · 24/11/2004 20:38

I have the Morphy Richards stainless steel oval cooker which is huge but as I cook to freeze that really suits me.

Robert Dyas have it on offer at the moment for around £26ish. That is a lot cheaper than I paid for mine!

soapbox · 24/11/2004 20:38

I have the Morphy Richards stainless steel oval cooker which is huge but as I cook to freeze that really suits me.

Robert Dyas have it on offer at the moment for around £26ish. That is a lot cheaper than I paid for mine!

soapbox · 24/11/2004 20:38

I have the Morphy Richards stainless steel oval cooker which is huge but as I cook to freeze that really suits me.

Robert Dyas have it on offer at the moment for around £26ish. That is a lot cheaper than I paid for mine!

august24 · 24/11/2004 20:49

I just bought a combination rice cooker/ slow cooker / steamer that I absolutly LOVETefal AUTOMATIC SLOW COOKER/RICE COOKER/STEAMER . It is a little pricey, but well worth it in my opinion. It is durable and well made. It has an automatic timer so you can set it at night, or in the morning and the dish will be all cooked by the time you get home(which I realize is the point of a slowcooker, but for a rice cooker this is a good funtion too.) Makes perfect rice, is non stick, and I make oatmeal in the slow cooker most nights! Then use it for rice in the evenings.

soapbox · 24/11/2004 20:51

OOPS!!!!

Sorry

It kept saying time out to me so I kept posting!!

nightowl · 25/11/2004 03:24

i had one that turned itself down when it needed to. prob is i cant remember what make it was. just that it had a ceramic dish and was rather expensive! have a morphy richards stainless steel one now which doesnt have same function but is big and very good.

gscrym · 25/11/2004 07:43

If you have a card for Makro (or know anyone who does), I got my Morphy Richards one in there for £18.99 plus vat. That's the 6.5l one. Asda are doing a similar one for about £24. It looks smaller than mine but I'm not sure.

alibo · 25/11/2004 13:32

august24, that tefal one sounds good, how long does rice take to cook in it, and can you set the timer when using it as a rice cooker?

cori · 25/11/2004 14:30

Another vote for the Tefal slow cooker. We bought ours about 1 month ago. I think it cost around £50.00 from Debenhams.
I have only used it to cook rice once, instruction book cooking time for two cups of rice 14-17 mins. The great thing is you dont have to worry about it catching as the rice cooker mode determines the cooking time depending on the amount of water in the bowl.
Even DH ( who is a chef)is now a slow cooker fan. He had consider that they were dangerous and was dead against the idea. We had Tarragon Chicken for dinner last night ( which was to die for) and only took 15 mins of preparation time.

CountessDracula · 25/11/2004 14:33

a recent thread on this here

cori · 25/11/2004 14:52

Another reason to get a slow cooker is that they

make vegetables so soft and tender ( with out

being soggy) The vegetables absorb the flavour

of the stock so even the fussiest eaters (i.e my

DS) will eat them. Without a word of a lie DS

2.10 had never willingly eaten a carrot,
courget, celery, mushroom until 3 nights ago.

august24 · 25/11/2004 16:31

Yes, you can use the timer for the rice cooker function, you can set it for up to 9 hours(I think) It is a top notch rice cooker, exactly like the one I had when I lived in Japan(which has the very best rice cookers on earth), it has this thing called "fuzzy Logic" or something like that that (as Cori said) weighs the rice/water and cooks til it is done,then shuts itself off. It is pretty hard to have bad riced from a rice cooker, in my experience. The rice cooks quicly, I haven't timed it, but would say that Cori is right, about 15 minutes, it keeps the rice warm too. We use it mainly as a rice cooker, but the slow cooker works great too. I love it as much as one can love kitchen appliance

alibo · 25/11/2004 19:40

sounds great, think i shall be buying one! without sounding stupid, as far as the timer, can you set it to come on at an exzct time, ie. 4.30pm, to be resdy for 5pm, as feel wary of the whole keeping rice "warm" thing.

alibo · 25/11/2004 19:40

sorry, exact time!

TracyK · 25/11/2004 19:46

What's the steamer option like? does it have more than one compartment so you can have chicken on for longer and then veg for less?

TracyK · 25/11/2004 20:06

also - if you are doing a mince thingy - do you have to brown the mince first?

Original poster
sanssouci · 25/11/2004 20:17

Hi everyone! Thanks for posting. I am considering the Tefal rice cooker/steamer/slow cooker or one of the slow cookers made by Rival (orignal CrockPot maker, I think). I'm tempted to splash out and go for the Tefal one because I like the idea of a timer (which the Rival ones don't seem to have) but we don't actually eat rice that often. Any opinions?

OP posts:
cori · 25/11/2004 20:50

I think you only have to brown the meat for aesthetic effect, it looks nicer. Slow cookers dont brown meat. I dont think it makes any difference to the flavour. If you were making a Bolognese the colour of the sauce would disguise the colour of the mince anyway.

august24 · 25/11/2004 21:50

You can set the timer for up to 9 hours(I think) and so you can set it to be ready exactly when you want it,it figures it out for you(meaning it will be finished at the end of the time set(to be clear, if I set it at 12 for 4 hours, the dish will be finished at 4, not starting to cook then) I really can't say enough good things about it, it was my first big kitchen purchase since moving here from the USA and I am very happy with it!

august24 · 25/11/2004 21:52

I haven't used the steamer, but it is just one basket that sits over the pot, so only one space and am not sure if you can say cook rice and steam, I haven't checked that out. But you can't steam 2 things at once, unless it is in the basket together.

alibo · 26/11/2004 09:22

so could youset it at 12 if you were going out, to come on at 4.30 and cook rice for half an hour?

Original poster
sanssouci · 26/11/2004 11:23

august24, did you ever use a CrockPot in the States? Do you think this Tefal model would be better than the original slow cooker? I really need help with this decision because I have to order one and have it sent to me. I can't go and look at them myself, unfortunately.

OP posts:
august24 · 27/11/2004 21:29

Sorry, Just saw this....

alibo- It figures out the time by istself, so if you want it ready for 5 then and you set it at 12, then you would set it for 5 hours and it will be finished by the time you come home.

Sanssouci- I had a very old crock pot in the states(it was pink!), and I only used it occasionally. Crockpots are very trendy in the USA right now, and some of the other boards I post on always have recipes, so I would say I use this one a lot more then the one at home, but I have more recipe ideas now(like oatmeal over nights) Having said that, my one at home, which was a crockpot I think, only has a plastic lid, where as this one has a lid that seals and locks(iykwim), I feel it retains the heat better then the other type with the plastic lid. I am not sure which one you should buy! I just love this as we do eat a lot of rice(my husband is Indian). Also when I lived in Japan I had a similar rice cooker, and we would do things like, pasta bake with tomato and cheese in it(as we didn't have an oven!)

Swipe left for the next trending thread