Buying a slow cooker (which? & why?)

larmy16

I got one from Argos, but not that make. The price is very good! I think they are all of a muchness. I got one for my sis from carboot sale only 2.50 and it works fine. I would go for it at that price!:)

It looks better quality than my one, which is a Cookworks like prev. poster.

SnowyOwl_2

It looks like a bargain to me, I'd be v.tempted.

Before you use it though think about how much it will hold - sorry, but am terrible with volume estimates, simply can't picture what 3.5 litres looks like! If it's quite small then you possibly won't get a whole chicken into it. If it is a bit small, maybe spend a few pounds more and get a bigger one so that you can cook for a family meal and for the freezer if you want to.

I live alone and got the cheapo cheap one from Argos, about £8 I think. It does me fine, holds enough for three or four meals. The smell from it drives the cats bonkers though!

Ticklemouse

Davidboy wrote:

We have had trouble finding recipes for slow cookers, they are not the "IN" thing right now, but found a couple on Amazon for a reasonable price. Will be trying some recipes soon!

D

Davidboy - I can only assume you're new to the OS boards? Not "in" ? Then they are deffo in the wrong - they are so "in" here

A little light reading for newbie slow cooker owners

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=4273

Also, "The Slow COoker Recipe Book" by Catherine Atkinson, £5 from one of those cheapy bookstores is excellent - has every sort of recipe you could imagine doing in a slow cooker, and more.

Davidboy

Thanks Ticklemouse, as usual forget to look on her first, one day I will learn. Still got some good books like I said from Amazon. But I will say, you try and find a slow Cook book from Smiths or Waterstones.

Ticklemouse

David - go to the cheapy book stores - The Works and other 'knock 'em out cheap places'. Can't afford to shop in Waterstones very often

competitionscafe

This one?


Will have a look in bargain bookstore next time I am in town. Cheers. (I have a slow cooker in the cupboard that came with the (rented) flat - never used it though as I wasn't sure what to do with it!) Sounds like more of a winter thing? I like the sound of slow cooked chicken though, or beef, or lamb or mutton....yummy!

competitionscafe

Ooops! Not published yet (October 2005) Can't be that one then - maybe this one?

Ticklemouse

Similar book - but the one I have has over 150 recipes - savoury, sweet, drinks, everything really.:)

Ooops, cross posted. It may be the same as your latter photo, although the cover on mine is a bit different.

bargainqueen_2

Sorry to sound stupid but I have been following OS for ages now and I keep reading about this mysterious thing called "slow cooker". I owned a breadmaker (sold when we moved here but determined to buy another one), I have heard of yoghurtmakers, have an icecream maker, a "kitchenmachine" but WHAT ON EARTH IS A SLOW COOKER? I presume you whack everything in and leave it for a day and it comes out yum? (LOL that sounds stupid even to me). Doesn't it use heaps of energy if its on all day? Does stuff not burn in the bottom? Do you put everything in at the same time? Oh dear please don't laugh too loudly.... I truly don't know!

SnowyOwl_2

Hey Bargain Queen, if you don't know....you don't know....the only stupid question is the one you don't ask!

Anyway, you kinda got it in a nutshell there, ie you just bung everything in and it comes out yum. The Americans refer to slow cookers as Crock Pots - the inside of the machine is a removable crockery bowl. The bowl is placed inside the casing which heats up. It's a gentle indirect heat, and doesn't use much electricity at all - the most quoted comparison is that it uses about as much energy as a lightbulb.

Things don't tend to burn at the bottom - it kind of simmers/steams in its own juice, though you must add some sort of liquid to get this effect. The steam doesn't escape though as the lid stays on all that time. I've left things in the slow cooker for 12 hours before (yeah naughty!) and it's been fine. Some of them have a "fast" and "slow" setting - about four hours or eight hours. Mine also has "automatic" which I have yet to understand.

It is a fab invention, I really like mine as it is so easy to produce something v.tasty out of ingredients that don't seem that promising.

I hope that helps!