Buying a slow cooker (which? & why?)

Curry_Queen

I think the big MR is 350W off top of my head (I will get my bum off chair and go look if anyone wants to know for sure ) whereas the older ones are about 150W-200W.


Edit: Just checked and it's 330W

Newbird

bonvonnie....the high and low settings are what they say they are, usually low is about half the time as high eg if you cook on LOW for 8 hrs, then equivalent time is 4 hrs on HIGH. The auto setting is to use when your main cooking time is over, and it just keeps it ticking over, ie. keeps the meal warm for you.

Certain recipes may be best on high or low, see your cookbook that comes with it, or recipezaar site for details.

You can't make too much of a pigs ear of it, tho, slow cookers are generally hard to overcook things in! well the older low wattage types are anyway. Not got anew higher watt one, as my collection of old ones is still going strong!

They don't overheat, they cook at one temp on each setting. Low means low, so it takes several hours to actually get the food up to cooking heat, then it cooks gently at that temp. High is a higher wattage, but it still stays constant.

Should be, well they are safe to leave on in the house, obvious hazards need avoiding, don't leave a tea towel touching the hot outside pot ar anything.

I've never had any problems and really have used them frequently for nearly 25 years. Great in winter to come home to a lovely casserole or stew ready cooked and filling the kitchen with a delish smell. Go on give it a try.

Newbird

PS...the ones that heat all around the cooking pot, sides and bottom are better than the ones that just have the heat source underneath the pot I've found. The bottom heated ones are more inclined to catch some foods, and you're not sposed to keep opeing them to stir things, as they can lose a lot of heat they have built up if you do.

squeaky

bonvonnie wrote:

i've been thinking of getting a slow cooker for a while, but hubby keeps saying that i'll never use it. well i wont know unless i get one!!!

but i'm confused as to how the cooker actually works, and cooks stuff. does it keep it at a constant temperature? will one with high and low setting do? or will i need auto? whats the difference on auto.

what do you cook in yours??

i'm thinking i'll probably use it for casseroles, and soups, our chinese soups takes 3 hours on the hob, so will be cheaper in a slow cooker.

is it really safe to leave the house, with the slow cooker on?? i;m so worried that it'll over heat or something.

The slow cooker brings things up to a low simmer and keeps them at that temperature. Mine has a high and a low setting, and on mine the auto heats up to the desired temperature using high and then switches to the low setting to keep it there.

Casseroles and soups are fine and you can do all sorts of meals in it. We have a collection of recipes for slow cookers and just browsing the index should give you lots of ideas. The thread itself has info on slow cookers too...

You can find the Slow Cooker Recipe Index in our "Indexed Collections" sticky at the top of the forum listing, or you can follow the clue in my signature any time you see it or...

..you can use the Indexed Collections link in the Blue Bar at the top of every page which looks something like this:-

bonvonnie

Newbird wrote:

PS...the ones that heat all around the cooking pot, sides and bottom are better than the ones that just have the heat source underneath the pot I've found. The bottom heated ones are more inclined to catch some foods, and you're not sposed to keep opeing them to stir things, as they can lose a lot of heat they have built up if you do.

i'm looking the first Cookworks one, as its only £9.99, and never used one before. maximum i'll be cooking for is 2 adults and 2 kids

how do i find out whether this Cookworks one heats all around???

black-saturn

One good thing about them is that you can cook double portions in them and freeze half to be reheated another day. Thus saving you even more money :T

elona

I finally managed to keep a portion of slow cooker curry aside so that I could freeze it.:j

Before this DH has always very kindly offerred to "finish up what is left" and canott understand why I am not grateful:mad:

Capyboppy

i'm looking the first Cookworks one, as its only £9.99, and never used one before. maximum i'll be cooking for is 2 adults and 2 kids

how do i find out whether this Cookworks one heats all around???

This was the one mentioned in my thread earlier on. It doesn't heat all around, but before I swapped it with my brother in law it worked fine. There was no catching or burning even when making dishes with cook in sauces. For ten pounds it is well worth the gamble. I actually wish I could swap back now

bonvonnie

well, i went ahead and brought the Cookworks one today, bargin at £9.99 even OH said so!!!

will be testing it out on a casserole tomorrow, as will be out all day.

chardonnay_2

okay, i am desperate to get a slowcooker after all the talk of them. but which one? i was going to get the 3.5l mr onein argos for £22 then someone mentioned you can get a 6.5l one from amazon for £24. the amazon one seems like a bargain but do i need one that size, does it matter. it's just me and oh most of the time.