Decent but cheap slow cooker?

SkeeterUK

SkeeterUK

SkeeterUK

Soldato
Joined
24 Oct 2005
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North East
Had a tiny slow cooker and it never had enough room to do a casserole with split peas mix and root veg etc and then dumplings near the end. So need somit of a good size, that can do a few portions one for me when its done and a extra one or two portions to freeze or somit for the next day or two. Size to fit a chicken or duck or nice chunk of roast perhaps.

Easy to clean, reliable thermostat so doesn't burn stuff etc.

Max price hopefully £20-25. Not bothering if more. Preferably from amazon or ebay or somit.
 
It really does not matter which make you get (to some extent), just make sure you get one with a timer built in that switches to "keep warm" after completing the cycle. That way nothing burns and you don't have to worry about it. You can chuck the ingredients in the pot and leave the house and know that whenever you come back it'll be there, ready and delicious, the food wont be ruined and you wont have to spend half an hour cleaning the burnt bits off.

If you don't take this advice you will regret it - it'll end up in the cupboard after a few months. Its worth the extra wonga. These things are so cheap it makes sense to spend just a little more for the above features.

Heres a relatively cheap one - 27.99, but its a bit big maybe...

Can't go wrong with a crockpot though. If you can stretch to 49 sheets this will see you proud. Note you'll only just fit a whole chicken in this one. Anything smaller and you can forget whole birds or broth from beef/pork bones, and you wont have enough room to use it as a bain marie.

Buy cheap, buy twice.
 
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I have a cheap one from Asda, one of the £10-£15 ones.

I just stick it on low at 08.30 and it's never burnt on and stews, chillis, curries, joints etc are all as expected when I get in at 17:30 :)

If you do something more exotic, the extra features may be worth it. I use it relatively often in winter and if I replace this one, i might splash out for the extra features, but I don't see them as absolutely necessary. The above poster is right though, they aren't expensive, so it might be worth spending the few quid extra in the first place!
 
I bought one of these today and made a nice curry.

Mrs wants to leave it on while we go to work.... thoughts on this? I worry as dog is in house if anything happened?
 
Regy53 said:
I bought one of these today and made a nice curry.

Mrs wants to leave it on while we go to work.... thoughts on this? I worry as dog is in house if anything happened?
Click to expand...

Do you unplug your fridge when you go to work? Is the dog a trained fire marshall?

If the answer to these questions is no, you're exposing yourself to huge risk.
 
One More Solo said:
Do you unplug your fridge when you go to work? Is the dog a trained fire marshall?

If the answer to these questions is no, you're exposing yourself to huge risk.
Click to expand...

point taken i suppose, just worry as its a heating element rather psychological i suppose
 
I would def say get one with warm function. I Got one last month and have you used it quite a bit but would use it more if I could leave it on for longer. I do shift work and on an early I'm out at 6am and not back till 4 but we don't eat till around 8 usually so too longmfor low setting but if I'd have got warm function could leave it on. Debating getting crock pot and giving cheap one from asda to my mum
 
psalliss said:
I would def say get one with warm function. I Got one last month and have you used it quite a bit but would use it more if I could leave it on for longer. I do shift work and on an early I'm out at 6am and not back till 4 but we don't eat till around 8 usually so too longmfor low setting but if I'd have got warm function could leave it on. Debating getting crock pot and giving cheap one from asda to my mum
Click to expand...

Sainsburys have one for £20 at the moment that has this feature (or at least they have the past few weeks I've done the shop). It is 4.5l and has a digital timer. After the timer expires it switches to keep warm. I've used it now three times and I'm a slow cooker convert!
 
Id reccomend a small one. I have a 6.5l one, and it can be hard to cook enough to stop it being just a small layer on the bottom lol.

Mine cost me somthing stupid like £7 from argos on clearence. its fine, I don't see how a more expencive one could do a better job tbh.
 
I just bought my first slow cooker for 17 quid from Tesco. It's a 3.5litre crockpot and today is its maiden voyage. Wish me luck. (Mainly because I am crap at cooking)
 
Gluck and if doing a stew make sure that enough liquid covers it all and use high not low. As I did one a few days ago in same cooker u got and didn't do enough liquid and used low instead of high.
 
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