Those slow cooker things that people have

[Thomcat]

Do I get up in the morning, chuck in ingrediants for a spag bol for example, go to work, come home and it's done?

How do they work?

What can you make in them.

How fab are they, really.

Has owning one changed your life?

CXan I go out at 8.30am, get back at 6pm and really have a lovley meal ready?

Which one should I buy?

Questions, questions, questions, sorry!
And thank you if you're answering them

I'm not sure about spag bol, haven't done that yet, but they make the best stews and soups. I haven't been much more adventurous than that. I think they're so good because they cook really slowly and the flavours really develop. I've put mine on in the morning and got home to a lovely dinner. It's really very satisfying

I'm not sure it's changed my life, but it has made at least once a week a bit easier.

I've done chicken fridge stews (chuck a bit of everything you've got in the fridge in there, carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, parsley, swede, parsnips, mushrooms... anything) beef boeguinon (sp?) is brilliant, chuck loads of wine in and you have the most divine stew. I really need to sit down and look up a few more recipes as I'm sure I'm not getting the most out of mine.

oh thomcat - yes yes and yes to all your questions. Loads of previous threads not and I've not seen one post where the person doesn't like it. Loads of recipes here have a shufty.

but yes, basically you throw it (some people brown first, but I don't, although some expensive ones you can brown with the pot on the hob first!) all in at 8.30 and come home to a fabulous meal (house smells wonderful when you open the door) General word seems to be it doesn't matter whether you buy expensive or cheap all do the same job. I paid £25 for mine in argos, Tesco do a very similar looking one for about £15, so take your pick.

Yes, you stuff the ingredients in it in the morning and get home in the evening to the glorious smell of dinner (you would have to cook the spaghetti though)

Mostly casserole type things but I did a whole chicken in mine the other week - the meat fell of the bone and I had ready made chicken stock too (you have to put about 1.5 pints of liquid in)

I'm rather pleased with mine (but it's fairly new so I'm rather obsessed ATM) It's noce to have got dinner out of the way in the morning when I'm not thoroughly exhausted. It;s one less thing to think about when I get home from the school run.

Mine was just a cheap one from Tescos (£10 as it was on a half price offer. It could probably do with being a wee bit bigger as then I could make stacks and freeze portions )

sorry sounds like I'm being sarcastic with 'loads of threads not' don't quite knw where that not came from as it should be there

I did spag bol yesterday. As I said, I did cook the spaghetti separately at the end but that's really not a hardship. I had to add some flour to thicken the sauce at that point but that was all the tinkering I had to do.

Ohhhh, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, am thinking I might one then.

Just not sure I'll have time to prep veg and get all of us out in time in the am.

Can you prep night before, put on REALLY slow cook and it still be ok overnight and all of next day?

If not maybe I'll have to do school run, charge home, bung stuff in and then go to work??

They are fab. I make spag bol in mine and it is lovely.

I've got a big one, it's a bit unsightly but means I can always freeze some.

I think you could prep the night before, put in fridge and then put on in morning on low, then, 8-10 hours later food would be grea.

When I made a stew and left it in there for about 14 hours it was rather overdone

great, obviously!

sometimes I prep evening b/4, bung it all in first thing & it's done in the evening.

but i'm a bit lazy, i think, as I finish work at 3pm!!!!!

they're also great for steamed puddings, just keep topping up the water

How exciting!!!! Am adding it to my Xmas list. Thanks everyone

Oh - which one should I ask for?

Would be nice to feed 2 greedy adults and have enough left over to feed 3 small children and maybe those 2 adults again at a later date.

I love mine ... they're so straight forward. I work from home but like the fact that I can get supper ready at a convenient time, meaning I've got the evening free. Couple of things from what others have said:

I did a whole chicken but I didn't want it to boil so put only the tiniest bit of liquid (the squeeze of a lemon) and it still ended up with masses of stock and a really tender chicken.

You can obviously do the prep the night before but not browning/partially cooking the meat.

When doing something like a stew or spag bol, I sometimes stir in a spoonful or so of plain flour after I've browned the meat as this helps to thicken the sauce.

You can get them really cheap these days and as long as you've got space in your kitchen, I'd really recommend one.

sorry to hijack, but how do you do a whole chicken wishingchair? Do you brown the top portion first? Do you put some vegetables in as well or just the chicken with some seasoning and the lemon?

Thomcat, I bought this one it's a bit dearer, but I like the fact that you can brown things in the pot on the hob first so all those lovely juices are kept in the pot when you pop all the veggies in. You might be able to find it cheaper elsewhere. When I make a stew in it, it's enough for me and dh (we're pretty greedy ) and enough to freeze another two big portions (so feeding four greedy adults) with often a spoonful or two to give ds for his lunch one day.

I browned it all over then put it in the cooker. I sat it on some chopped onions and garlic, then squeezed over the lemon and added a bit of thyme, or you could drizzle over a bit of wine. I didn't put veggies in the pot but you could ... even if just for flavour.

I'm jealous of your cooker if you can brown things on the hob ... you can't with mine. Really can't justify buying another

Thanks for that wishingchair. I think I'll give that a go, it's nice to do something different to a casserole, much as I love them. It is really nice being able to brown in the pot first, you can't have it on too high a heat, but it really adds to the flavour if you can caramelise the onions a bit first. Can Father Christmas get you a new pot?