Slower Cooker Advice Please

Larumbelle

I am a little clumsy at the best of times, but I also have a really tiny kitchen. When I accidentally knocked the lid of mine off the side and it smashed, it was no big deal because it was a round one and the same standard size as one of my saucepan lids. For that reason I would always get a round one now rather than an oval one! Unless you are clumsy this probably isn't applicable but I thought I would mention it just in case you are

Pooky

I've only ever had standard slow cookers, I go through one every 3 or 4 years (I've had some die, some go mankind and some I've broken the pots on). I've got the medium oval and large oval ones at the moment and they get a lot of use. I've never bothered going for "named" makes, just shops own. They all vary in temperature so you'll get used to what yours does after a few uses.

Yesterday I used the larger one, popped in half a bag of frozen onions and half a bag of frozen peppers, a bag of diced frozen cubed beef, a time of tomatoes, kidney beans and butter beans, a big squidgy of tomatoes pur!e, some herbs and spices and a spoonful of gravy granules near the end to thicken.....it made the most amazing chill that fed the 4 of us with enough left for 2 more meals. It was on the go for 7 hours (high for 2 hours and low for the rest).

In the smaller one today I've got a gammon joint that's been on the go since 10am, just in water and it smells amazing.

Wouldn't be without a slow cooker.

Lynplatinum

Hiya

Thank you all for taking the time to reply to me I will take on board all of your comments and review the ones on offer with them in mind. :A

I have moved house recently and now have a very pretty JL designed kitchen! All very pretty but an electric Zanussi oven which is also the grill. Flippin useless thing! Takes an AGE to heat up and then burns toast!! Also huge space to heat up when cooking one thing - I realise that there must be more energy efficient ways of cooking (to save my bills and the planet!!) It takes an AGE to heat up before you are supposed to start cooking things in the oven!! GRRR

Also fitted with a freezer (same make) which you have to defrost by hand (rather thana self defrost one) AND a fridge (same make) where the draws are designed very badly so that any weight in them (such as a few jars of pickle/sauce) causes them to fall out/off- why would you fit such rubbish appliances in a top drawer kitchen??? :mad:

OK enough with the ranting Lyn - its a very very First World problem! :rotfl: (at self)

I'll let you know what I decide folks
Frugaling onward!

Mohawk_3

I got one of the Morphy Richards "Sear and Stew" ones for my Christmas last year, and I LOVE it. It's great because you can put the crock on the hob and use it to fry anything off to start, or even if you just want to bring it up to heat quickly to get things going faster.

It doesn't look quite as attractive as some of the other crocks, which is worth considering if you plan to use it as a serving dish. However, it's really easy to clean, and nice and light, so easy to lift in and out of the main cooker.

It has a glass lid, and while I can't vouch for it being heat-proof, I like being able to peer in at my food while it's cooking, and it means I'm much less tempted to remove the lid, which is the real problem if you want to maintain heat. I've noticed I tend to need less liquid than recommended in most recipes designed for slow cookers, so I assume this means it's got a good seal.

I've not yet used it to roast a chicken or an oblong joint of meat, but if that's what you fancy, you should get an oval cooker rather than round.