Slow cooker- a little advice please?

justaquestion

Hi,


I have been told to post on this forum as I might get more advice than in the In my Home forum.

We want to buy a 3.5 litre slow cooker and notice that there are a lot at argos, all getting equally good customer reviews, want to spend £20-£35 so appreciate any pointers as to what to buy?

a few spring to mind,

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1217476

or

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8490825

The one above is a sear and stew one, does that mean that you can put it on hob, to brown the meat before you slow cook it in appliance?


Tried one at Lidl this week but as its 5.5 litres it was too big.


Thanks for any advice offered.

Thanks.

ScarletRibbons

I haven't got a sear and stew, but I would imagine you can heat the pot so that it's hot enough to sear, then turn down to slow cook - that's only my thought though, I'm sure someone will be along who has one.

Slinky

If you read the reviews on the Argos site, at least one says you can sear on the hob,

big5

I have a sear and stew, and yes, you can put it on the hob to brown meat before slow cooking. Just be aware the whole pot gets hot and doesn’t have any handles, so take care lifting it off the hob back into the slow cooker. Also if you’re clumsy like me, the metal pot doesn’t break if you drop it when you’re doing the washing up, so from a money saving perspective, it’s saved me replacing the pot about 3 times so far!

JuC

Thumbs up for the sear and stew from me. I brown the meat in the pot on my gas hob, chuck everything else in, transfer (using a good oven glove) to the slow cooker, switch it on and off it goes. No extra washing up, well worth it!

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Carrying very hot and heavy things without handles and then transferring into something else sounds like a recipe for an A&E visit to me.

It's a lot safer to sear meat in a frying pan and then, as it has a handle/is generally much, much lighter, transfer meat safely. I would rather quickly wash up a frying pan than sustain nasty burns or have to clean the floor of food and possibly shards of screamingly hot pot.

big5

The sear and stew pot is made of aluminium, so it’s very light. To be honest I rarely bother to brown anything, I usually just chuck it in.

pattycake

big5 wrote: »

The sear and stew pot is made of aluminium, so it’s very light. To be honest I rarely bother to brown anything, I usually just chuck it in.

My daughter in law bought me my slow cooker which can be used to brown meat on the hob beforehand. However I’ve never used it that way. I put everything in usually the day before. Store in the fridge overnight and then put it to cook first thing in the morning. I love my slow cooker!

AJMBryant

A general slo cooker question. I've lost the instruction leaflet to mine - are they all much of a muchness? I have no idea how to use one really...

justaquestion

Thanks a lot for your very helpful advice everybody.


On a slightly different note do you think there is any danger when leaving it to cook when you leave the house, slow cooking of course not on a hob?


I know sometimes I put on washing machine and dishwasher and leave them to do their thing when I leave, but never a tumble dryer?


Probably would be best not to do that, but just wondering about slow cooker left unattended as well.


Many thanks once again.

elsien

justaquestion wrote: »

Thanks a lot for your very helpful advice everybody.


On a slightly different note do you think there is any danger when leaving it to cook when you leave the house, slow cooking of course not on a hob?


I know sometimes I put on washing machine and dishwasher and leave them to do their thing when I leave, but never a tumble dryer?


Probably would be best not to do that, but just wondering about slow cooker left unattended as well.


Many thanks once again.

I do. I put mine on a timer so that it finishes when I get home from work. Don't like the veggies too soggy and it's on for too long otherwise. Also means it'll turn itself off if I'm delayed for hours.