Buying a slow cooker (which? & why?)

moggins

I have got paranoid about switching the washing machine off at the plug overnight now after a friend's caught fire in the middle of the night when they were all in bed. It wasn't even running a wash either!

Cullumpster

Mah_jong, i was looking at this one yesterday, it's £11.99 now in Argos.
Has anyone here used this one as i'm bvery tempted?

Also is it big enough to put a joint of meat / whole chicken in it, sorry i'm rubbish at stuff like that

furrypig

so glad these recommendation threads keep going as I still haven't made ip my mind!!

Morphy Richards 6.5l was what I was going for then Tesco and Amazon were out of stock noe ebay I think is the cheapest place to get a new one with guarantee.

But do I need a 6.5L one this is the question???

It will be £30 including postage but could pick the afore mentioned one up in Argos for a lot less....
decisions decisions

moggins

furrypig to be honest I am finding it very difficult using my MR. I have a family of 5 but I'm still finding it hard to fill it enough.

I miss being able to cook smaller quantities and I'd have to cook enough bolognese sauce for 2 months to be able to do that in the slow cooker again. I'm seriously considering getting the cookworks one and putting my MR away for times when I need to cook a joint etc.

tiff

moggins wrote:

furrypig to be honest I am finding it very difficult using my MR. I have a family of 5 but I'm still finding it hard to fill it enough.

I miss being able to cook smaller quantities and I'd have to cook enough bolognese sauce for 2 months to be able to do that in the slow cooker again. I'm seriously considering getting the cookworks one and putting my MR away for times when I need to cook a joint etc.

Actually, I've been recommending the MR big one but came to the conclusion this morning that it might be worth getting a smaller one for bolognese, curry, stew etc and using the larger one for when larger portions are needed, large joints or parties etc.

MATH

My recomendations are

1. Whatever size you choose pick one with an oval crock as it is a more felxible shape for joints etc than a round one.

2. Don't be sudduced by fancy controls. High, Low is good enough.

3. Buy one with a brown crock as I found the white stained and scratched to a fetching shade of grey when I scoured it.


I would buy the larger size espsecially if you entertain, cook for the freezer, or have a family. If you have a large cooker and want to cook smaller portions remember that you can use a smaller pyrex dish and submerge this into the crock and then fill the crock with boiling water so the dish cooks baine marie style. This method can also be used to cook two things at once ie spuds in a dish submerged into a stew. HTH

mink35

Wow MATH! I was tempted by the Cookworks one myself until I read your post! Where do you find all these tips!

Still not made my mind up whether I want one or not tho!

MATH

I've just PM'd Morrgins. Hope she reads it before she goes out and spends CASH:eek:

The ironic thing is my Slo-Cooker died a couple of months ago. I havn't replaced it yet and to be honest I havn't missed it as much as I thought I would. Maybe when Autumn falls I may feel the slo-cook call.

moggins

Gotcha Thanks

little_lil

I had the MR 6.5ltr one with the timer and after a while realised that the timer is a pain in the butt and doesn't allow you to select temp etc, emailed MR to say not impressed wished i had purchased the one with the control knob. Am pleased to say they have swopped it free of charge. So i would recommend MR just on customer service alone.

hope this helps

Math - great tip about the pyrex as i was concerned that sometimes the pot was too big when just the three of us eating. will give that a go