How does a slow cooker save money?

jd1000

Hi all,
Ive been thinking of getting a slow cooker, mainly to reduce the fuel bill from cooking on a gas hob or electric oven... but how will a slow cooker save money?

Dont you have to leave it on for most of the day, isnt that going to use up a lot of electricity?

phizzimum

a slow cooker uses about the same amount of electricity as a light bulb -so although you leave it on a long time, it will still use much less electricity than your oven.

It's also great for using cheaper cuts of meat - they will taste delicious and be full of flavour - so again another way to save.

Another factor is the convenience - a slow cooker is great for when you're out all day. you can come home to a home cooked meal with the minimum of effort. This means you're less likely to go for a ready meal or takeaway. It makes bulk cooking easier too, so you can fill your freezer up with meals ready to defrost when needed.

Do you get the impression I love my slow cooker? :rotfl:

Quasar

That makes two of us, phizzimum!!! I get some shin of beef or similar cuts, dice it up and make the most wonderful stews - the result is healthy eating, cheaper and hearty! :j

wildbri

remoska...... look at this on the forums sort of a quick slow cooker. only 480 watts compared to a 2000watt oven, everyone who uses them think that the are wonderful including my wife and I who have been using one for over 7years, we use it every day, get them from Lakeland ltd guaranteed for life. a bit pricey but you wont regret it. regards..........bri

foreversomeday

My friend who is an electrician told me that the biggest consumers of electricity in a house are the kitchen appliances such as electric cooker, (esp. fan ovens) dishwasher and washing machine.

When we had a lodger he would cook his own meals meaning the oven etc was on twice as much as it would have been otherwise, we definitely noticed the difference in our electricity bill!

Welshwoofs

I couldn't be without my slow cooker. I have a Rival brand 6.5L model which has two cook settings and a 'keep warm' setting. My slow cooker is almost constantly on, either poaching whole chickens for the dog or cooking up soups/casseroles/currys/chillis for us.

Quasar

Mine is a Tefal, the smallest I could get because I live alone but I still get three generous stew portions out of it. It has four modes, steamer, rice cooker, slow cooker, and keep warm. Plus a timer.

I use it a lot as a steamer too and I must say my greens taste so much nicer when steamed. Haven't used it as a rice cooker though.

It cost me £35 in John Lewis, but it's worth every penny.

Swan_2

phizzimum wrote: »

a slow cooker uses about the same amount of electricity as a light bulb -so although you leave it on a long time, it will still use much less electricity than your oven.

mine is a Morphy Richards 6.5 lt, which has a wattage of around 330, so it would need to be a bloomin' big light bulb! :eek:

leaving it on for 3 hours is roughly the equivalent of using a 1Kw 1 bar electric fire for an hour

butterfly72

I'm tempted to get one but get the impression that its mainly for meat dishes and we try not to eat many of them! What slow cook veggie things can you do?

thanks

CravingSaving

Well today I made up a huge batch of pumpkin soup, half ended up just as, and the other half (that wouldnt fit in the blender first time round, and had more stock), had some lentils thrown in.

You can cook most veggies in the slow cooker. Make sure they are covered in stock or water to stop them drying out. I would avoid slow cooking broccoli and cauli as they seem to go bitter, but everything else, especially root veggies are just fab!

nuttyrockeress

I have a slow cooker and rave about it.

For example - yesterday I used it to cook braising steak (with red wine, carrotts, parsnips, onions) thickened it up using bisto and had that in home made yorkshire puds.

I have saved the left overs to use for tea tomorrow and will make a pie and fill it with the remainder and home made oven chips

Nothing nicer than coming home from work to the smell of food cooking!!