Do You Have a Slow Cooker?

mummyinthevalley

just found a great deal on a slow cooker at hereforaday.com, just £21.99 but wondering how much I would use it, would be great to hear from someone who has one, what do you think of them?

kavics17

We have one, argos most of the time has them on sale. We bought it for £14.99. It's good, we like it though only use it once in a fortnight nowadays. Happy with the dishes you can cook in it though we find that most of the time the preparation of the food takes as long as cooking it in a pan. I would go for it again as when we don't have time we just chuck everything into it and it's ready by the time we are back from work.

Foggster

We have a crock pot shaped slow cooker. I chose this one because you could do the prep in the crock without the need to use a pan to brown everything off. I just had a quick look on Argos and they dont stock them anymore. It also looked nice on the dining room table to serve from.

Anyway, I use mine alot. Prep is a pain but to be honest it doesnt have to look pretty and you soon get it off to a fine art!

The only thing I dont think does well in it is chicken pieces, if I put a cook on at 7.00am by 5.00pm it resembles chicken soup. But beef and pork will cook well and retain their shape.

During the winter, I use mine 2-3 times a week for curries, stews and chilli.

onlyroz

We have a slow cooker, although I don't use it as much as I should. It's great for stews and curries etc. All you have to do is brown the meat, chop the veg and chuck it in the cooker with some stock, and any other sauces/herbs/spices that you want, then leave it overnight, or while you're out for the day.

mummyinthevalley

thanks, replies have been really useful, everyone seems to agree they are worth having, think I'll go for it!

Cat1

I use ours at least once a week for casseroles and stews. I don't bother browning the meat as a rule. I would say they are a good investment

Threebabes

Hi

I bought one in argos for 10.99 a few weeks ago and Ive been really impressed with it. Ive made soup once but wasn't that fussed, beef stew is lovely, chicken casserole etc. Not tried curry or chilli etc yet. Ive found since having it we are eating a lot more veg. A couple of times Ive made a stew and put it in large yorkshire puddings and theyve gone down well.

getmore4less

mummyinthevalley wrote: »

just found a great deal on a slow cooker at hereforaday.com, just £21.99 but wondering how much I would use it, would be great to hear from someone who has one, what do you think of them?

Should be able to get cheaper than that all though it is a larger one.

Argos always have offers curently one for £6.29

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=7&ved=0CGgQFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.argos.co.uk%2Fstatic%2FBrowse%2FID72%2F14418592%2Fc_1%2F1%257Ccategory_root%257CKitchen%2Band%2Blaundry%257C14418476%2Fc_2%2F2%257C14418476%257CSmall%2Bkitchen%2Bappliances%257C14418587%2Fc_3%2F3%257Ccat_14418587%257CSlow%2Bcookers%2Band%2Bovens%257C14418592.htm&ei=cLxXTaXCO9SKhQeznJXgDA&usg=AFQjCNG6vsWFy-4TQC6NO_ikg9ueBiwfzg


Don't forget the recipe thread.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4273

Poly,put_the_kettle_on

No.

I have three.

One huge 6.5 litre jobbie, used for cooking things like whole chickens- but mainly my legendary chilli for parties.

One 3.4 litre, the most recent addittion but used frequently for family sized stews/curries/chilli- and my fave, kleftico.

One tiny 1.5 litre one, with all the markings rubbed off that hubby bought from a boot fayre for about £1.50. That's on at least twice a week for things like left over root veggie Jalfrezi. He was looking out for a mid sized one at the time for the caravan- it's too small for that, but I love it anyway.

DD 1 at uni made it her first purchase when she went to halls, and DD2 who set up her own place last month bought this:
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4207490/Trail/searchtext%3ESLOW+COOKER.htm

last week- which at just over £6 has already proven it's worth!

Plans_all_plans

EASILY worth the money!! We have a huge one and now and again I'll batch cook casseroles, stews, curries etc and freeze left over portions.

My mum wouldn't have survived without one: we hardly ate anything that wasn't out of a slow cooker until we left home!! She is a busy lady though, so she'd get up early, pop the ingredients in there and go out all day. She didn't have to cook when she came in then. They're very handy!

When I return to work full time once children are in school, I'll be using my slow cooker nearly every day!

deedardingle

I couldn't do without my slow cooker and use it often. In fact, there is a joint of pork cooking in it right now, for Sunday lunch.

Lots of helpful tips and recipes to get you going here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=1332010#post1332010