Buying a slow cooker (which? & why?)

mrs_motivated

Thanks popperwell, I will check out the supermarket ones later.

That's one of my problems, slow cookers are so popular at the moment , there are so many to choose from and I am rubbish at kitchen gadget decisions partly because I am like a kid with a new toy and want to get it right.

pigpen

Mine is a morphy richards and it is great but the handle on the lid cracked so it is literally a handle and screw no surrounding bit. One of the handles on the side cracked as well.. but I'd buy another one

ariba10

We have two. An old small one bought in a car boot sale and large one bought new.

The old one gets used a lot more than the new one.

The new one (although it has more settings) seems to be cooking a lot hotter than the old one.

Complained to the makers who sent a new one - Exactly the same-

We can leave the small one unattended, but are afraid to do so with the big one.

squeakysue

pigpen wrote: »

Mine is a morphy richards and it is great but the handle on the lid cracked so it is literally a handle and screw no surrounding bit. One of the handles on the side cracked as well.. but I'd buy another one

Mine is the same, you can order replacement handles which I will probably do when it snaps off completely as the slow cooker still works great

vgstar44

i love my morphy richards one but its the only one i have had so cant realy comment on the other makes around!!

i noticed on hotdeals there were a few at some really good prices so you could check there for a good deal

Pink.

Hi Mrs Motivated,

As your thread has dropped down the board I've added it to the main thread on which slow cooker to buy so that you can read more recommendations.

I had a morphy richards 6.5 ltr and the crockpot cracked. MR were going to charge me £27 for a replacement crockpot so I replaced the whole slow cooker with this one which was much cheaper and in fact I prefer it.

Pink

mrs_motivated

Pink-winged wrote: »

Hi Mrs Motivated,


I had a morphy richards 6.5 ltr and the crockpot cracked. MR were going to charge me £27 for a replacement crockpot so I replaced the whole slow cooker with this one which was much cheaper and in fact I prefer it.

Pink

Interesting, after posting I remembered, my workplace subscribes to which online. So I had a look and they are recommending 8 best buys all with varying prices and the one you bought came out top.

Thanks everyone who posted, I am going with this one and I will let you know how I get on

Popperwell

mrs_motivated wrote: »

Interesting, after posting I remembered, my workplace subscribes to which online. So I had a look and they are recommending 8 best buys all with varying prices and the one you bought came out top.

Thanks everyone who posted, I am going with this one and I will let you know how I get on

It does look pretty good. I used the Tesco one and then found being single I probably could use a smaller one and it's big enough but I'll still keep the larger one, seems silly throwing out a perfectly good slow cooker.

If you hate washing the pot out after you cook as I have said elsewhere I use roasting bags in mine...saves a lot of cleaning...

sandy2_2

Popperwell wrote: »

SNIP..
If you hate washing the pot out after you cook as I have said elsewhere I use roasting bags in mine...saves a lot of cleaning...

Do you just put the liquid and meat etc in roasting bag and seal up?

never heard of this before.

Sandy

Popperwell

sandy2 wrote: »

Do you just put the liquid and meat etc in roasting bag and seal up?

never heard of this before.

Sandy

Sandy,
The liquid and meat or whatever is cooked goes into the bags and so far it has always worked. And I did read somewhere not to seal the roasting bag so I tend to leave the top of the bag loosely closed, I suppose it allows steam to escape. Roasting bags work for me being single and perhps I cook smaller amounts and yet I have cooked a full chicken/roast in them before and quite a large amount of liquid(with vegetables/potatoes)mince too.

And it does mean you can lift the bag out and pour the contents straight onto a plate or if you have a big enough bowl/container, it can go straight into that.

If it's a large SC you could in theory split the meal into two or three RB's so you are portioning it out. If the bag stays intact you could in theory if you are cooking some with the intention of freezing some, let it cool down and then put in the fridge or freezer in the bag. Or transfer the contents into a food storage box...

After all RB's work in an oven/microwave when steaming. Best value on RB's price wise so far seems to be Wilkinsons you get more for your money and they are quite large...though I hear that E-Bay takes some beating...