My Slow Cooker is too fast

ejsmith

For years I've had a succession of old (Tower?) slow cookers, cast offs from other people. They've been brilliant but since the last broke I haven't been able to find a used replacement so have had to actually buy one new. It's next to useless because it isn't slow but very fast and very hot - even on the 'low' setting it keeps liquids boiling away. Stick something in before work and it's burnt before dinner. Talking to other people it seems that most of the new slow cookers are the same. Now whether some ridiculous health and safety legislation says they have to be 'x' degrees to be safe, or that the new ones are just better insulated and retain more heat I don't know. Has anyone bought a new one which really does cook 'slow(ly)'? If I slipped something inbetween the heating unit and the inner bowl would it 'slow/cool' the cooking and/or make it blow up. Apart from ebay, car boot sales, gumtree and charity shops any idea where I might find a used tower (or similar) cooker for sale?

So many questions, I know but a good slow cooker can really cut the cost of groceries. Plus my eldest dog has bad arthritis and needs to keep her weight down and I've been using the slow cooker to put reduced or left over/trimmings of veg in there to make a very chunky 'soup' to bulk out her normal food.

Elizabeth

kinkyjinks

ejsmith wrote: »

Has anyone bought a new one which really does cook 'slow(ly)'?

Elizabeth

I've bought 2 in the last year and a half. The first one was this one from Tesco and I loved it so much I decided to buy a larger model. I bought this one from Argos and found that it cooked way to fast for my liking. Even on the warm setting it still boils whatever is inside it. So I'd recommend the one from Tesco to anyone. I even bought my MIL one for Christmas last year. It's a cheap model but worth double IMO.

ETA: I've just looked at the specifications and the Tesco one uses much less power than the other one so maybe look at the wattage when you look for a new one. HTH

kirsty822001

Hi Elizabeth,
I totally agree, my last slow cooker think from tesco (cheapy £20) has just broken recently, misterious crack,,oh or kids not sure who dumped it down hard or dropped summin ontop :mad:)

Thats it above!! sorry kinky lol

It burnt certain foods if left on from 8 till 3 !! ON LOW!! Spag bol and chilli had plenty of liquid but burnt around edge and tasted bland. Stew was only thing that was ok and stock.
I am currently trying to decide on which one to buy now and 2 weeks on still cant make up my mind I just decide and then read someones review and it puts me off. I like the crockpot ones and the which guide recommends ' Cuisinart,breville and morphy richards'
There is another thread on here 'best slow cookers?' sure someone will link this to the relevant thread or post a link for u.

I will be interested to follow your post and see what you decide. good luck:)

kinkyjinks

kirsty822001 wrote: »

Hi Elizabeth,
I totally agree, my last slow cooker think from tesco (cheapy £20) has just broken recently, misterious crack,,oh or kids not sure who dumped it down hard or dropped summin ontop :mad:)

Thats it above!! sorry kinky lol

It burnt certain foods if left on from 8 till 3 !! ON LOW!! Spag bol and chilli had plenty of liquid but burnt around edge and tasted bland. Stew was only thing that was ok and stock.
I am currently trying to decide on which one to buy now and 2 weeks on still cant make up my mind I just decide and then read someones review and it puts me off. I like the crockpot ones and the which guide recommends ' Cuisinart,breville and morphy richards'
There is another thread on here 'best slow cookers?' sure someone will link this to the relevant thread or post a link for u.

I will be interested to follow your post and see what you decide. good luck:)

:rotfl::rotfl: :rotfl:Strange because I love mine...but it was my first one so I only have the 2nd one I bought to compare it with. I put a stew with pots in mine yesterday at 10 am on high, came home around 4 and turned it to low and left it for another couple of hours and it was fine. I do find that if I make mince/spag bol/chilli it does end up with a lot of liquid which I then have to sort but it's never burnt anything.

I thought the excess liquid was just something that happened in slow cookers as it still happens even when I reduce the liquid. Now I'm wondering if the named brand slow cookers have the same problem.

kirsty822001

Mine was 2 years old and I did love the stew and casserole in it, but anything else was bland :-(
Maybe they have changed it, perhaps you bought it after me? I seem to remeber it never burnt stuff in the beginning.

The pot had a crackled pattern to the glaze towards the end of use,,I dont know if that was ok or not,,on another thread it was discussed that can affect bacteria ,,they werent cracks just a pattern that developed like crazy paving! I do miss a slow cooker, even though it burnt stuff I learnt I could do a spag bol/chilli in it on low in an afternoon I wish i knew what voltage it was,,it looked exactly the same as the one you bought.

Good advice re voltage I defo think thats the key after reading threads on here.

My OH crushed my world after it broke by telling me ' I didnt really like anything you cooked in it anyway!!! ' I replied 'even stew?? 'no' he said 'the stew was ok:mad:' I was evil as he hadnt said anything before,,guess thats why I am hesitant about another sc purchase!! I did tell him he could try cooking for the family and working if he liked ,,he said' Oh I new I shouldnt have said anything'!!!! MEN!!!!:rotfl:

Gigervamp

I love my Crockpot. I have this one. I've had it for about 5 years now and it works perfectly. If I make something in the morning, I stick it on low, if I make something at lunchtime, it goes on high. Never had a problem with it overcooking.
Got a beef stew in mine today!

champys

Mine also cooks quite quickly - most things seem to get done in about 4 hours, and that is on low. As I bought it here in France, I thought it had something to do (maybe) with the way French people eat their cooked lunch at mid-day - i.e. you put it on at breakfast and your dejeuner is ready at 12:00.
However I have learned to live with it, easy for me as I work from home: so I put it on after our usual sandwich lunch - which then gets our evening dinner ready at the appropriate time.
But I agree that it is not exactly what I was expecting from a slow cooker, as all the recipes I have say at least 6 - 8 hours, which would definitely be too long at the rate mine cooks!

hot.chick

I also have the crocpot one and it cooks WAY quicker than my old cheapy argos one, prefered my old cheap one!!!

But love the look of my crocpot

cooking-mama

ive returned my new crockpot saute digital,5.7lone to Costco..it operated at 250watts,and did seem to overcook everything..even my soup had a burnt tinge taste to it,was never brave enough to try anything with a sauce,its a pity,because initialy it was great being able to brown meat on the hob in the same pan first...also after only 4 or 5 uses,the crockpot developed a horrible almost mouldy looking discouloration about 1inch all around the bottom of the pan...I think this was due to too high temp.
in its defence,costco mentioned this was the first return,so maybe i just had a faulty one.
Today im using my old Breville,wich i do like,but one handle got melted due to being in too close contact with my remoska!!!.
im presently looking at this one from Argos..Morphy richards,170watts...
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/0505684/Trail/searchtext%3ESLOW+COOKER.htm

Argos also do a 90watt one,but ive never used any as low as this before.. http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4228613/Trail/searchtext%3ESLOW+COOKER.htm

adelight

I just bought the cookworks 3.5l (14.99 but 20% off atm) from Argos and it's definitely slow on low! Half filled it took five hours on low then an hour on high with 3 chicken legs and big chunks of onion, parsnip, potato and carrot and that was just right, all very tender. Cooks really fast bain-marie style though, two hours on low for 2 portions of rice pudding.

ciderwithrosie_2

My Tesco cheapy one cooks pretty quickly - it makes rice pudding easily in 2 hours. My boston baked beans I intended to cook all day were done in about 3 hours. Stews are overdone if left all day, not burnt but the kids say it smells horrible (over-stewed IYKWIM). I'm not too bothered though considering it was about £12

regards CWR