Slow cooker yay or nay?

made Hungarian goulash other week....tin of toms, red wine...(slurp)[slurp] stewing beef, onions lots of other bits...put it all in in the morning..mmmmmmmm was delicious come tea time...

tiggypiro - That shortage of salt in the early 70s - wasn't... somebody started a rumour (oh yes, it happened before the Internet). After all, this little island is surrounded by salt water!

Slow cooker for me - braising beef tomorrow (onion, carrot, celery etc.)
nothiing tenderises meat like it.

With the slow cooker and my Remoska I've got all I need

Love mine too. Use it for all sorts. Lovely for steaming puddings. Just turn it on and you don't have to keep checking the water.

I use mine to potroast a piece of brisket for my husband (I'm vegetarian) I just sling it in with a bit of water - job done! I also do him stews etc. I don't bother cutting the slices of stewing steak - just sling em in with a few veg and water. The meat breaks down on its own so I don't have to touch it. He loves it. (He could do his own but I love cooking).

It also does nice veggie stuff for me but my favourite has to be rice pudding - heavenly!

They are all the rage in USA and they have now produced variations on the theme --one has a dish divided like a vegetable dish to keep 'dips' warm but would also be good for vegetables and another type where the slow cooker is much smaller but several will link together.

I wouldn't be without mine. Have used it for so many meals and freeze anything we don't fancy to use another time. I made a batch of soup with some butternut squash that I had bought, it turned out really good, we both had some and I froze the rest. I don't use it much in the summer months, but at this time of year, it's invaluable.

I love it, I carried mine as hand luggage on a flight from Edinburgh to Brussels with a changeover at Gatwick many years ago. I wonder how it would go on Ryanair and could be interesting going through security !!!!!!

My daughter uses hers a lot. She leaves it cooking while she's at work and there's a hot meal when the family gets home. If I go round to check on it during the afternoon it always smells wonderful!

I wouldn't be without my slow cooker . Today I had loads of jobs to do , so put a casserole in the slow cooker this morning and had a lovely meal ready this evening. I made enough to freeze half for another time, so a double bonus! Great on your own or for a family.

deff a yes! yes! and yes!! oval one much better as chicken and joints etc fit in better than trying to squish the chicken into a round one...I bought the cheapest one for argoos (cookworks) and it is brill...much better than my expensive morphy Richards one (which actualy wasn't mine but was an engagement present for daughter and ex boyfriend,,(well they broke up so they wern't going to use it were they!)

Mr P makes large batches of mashed potato and freezes it in suitable quantities. When I was working (sob!) it was a case of take a tub of mash out of the freezer in the morning, put slow cooker on (sometimes I would prep the night before).

Then when I got home, just zap the mash in the microwave, quickly cook any side veg, broccoli for example and dish up. Brilliant.

Love mine! I made a delicious Lancashire Hotpot the other day - put it on 'low' and added very little stock at the beginning. It was on all day, then I added gravy granules to thicken. I've never made soups, but do joints, chicken, curries, and stews regularly.

A big yes from me. It's such a relief travelling home from work on the bus to think that I don't have to start cooking when I get in. And I think most meats have more flavour when cooked over the day.

I like the breadmaking tip too, yogagran. I'll try it when I get over the OH begging me never to make home-made bread again because he was getting mocked and bullied in the workplace over his bait. Granted it was a little bit on the heavy side, but the doorstop comparisons were simply uncalled for, IMHO.

A "Yes" from me too! I use mine for stews and curries, wouldn't be without it. I know stews and curries can be cooked very well on the hob/in the oven, but I like to be able to prepare them and then forget about them for the rest of the day.

That's a great tip about putting bread in the slow cooker to rise yogagran, I'd never have thought of that. Must give it a try.

I think I was one of the first people in the UK to have a slow cooker. It was in the early 70's when there was a shortage of sugar, salt and pepper if my memory serves me right. ( I don't think there was a huge shortage - more a case of people hoarding ). Anyway a parcel arrived from my brother in Australia and it was a slow cooker packed with sugar, salt and pepper !!!. I had never seen one before. A few months later Good Housekeeping magazine were proclaiming them to be the new best idea by which time I was hooked on it. It had one drawback in that the inner part was not removeable so it was a sod to wash up. I still have it and though minus one handle still works well but is only brought out now when I am reheating the Christmas pudding. I did treat myself to one from Tesco a year or so ago - special offer at £9.99.

You've convinced me!
DD has one and said I should get one but I was unsure.

I also use mine when I'm bread making as our kitchen is not very warm and I put the dough to rise in a bowl inside the slow cooker on low. Rises beautifully in there.

Three Grandmanorm

I hardly use mine but do use the slow cook setting on my cooker instead.

That is interesting, Grandmanorm as I found that too with my first slow cooker, years ago. There was a sort of boiled cloths taste to everything. It got very boring and I gave the cooker away.

I don't know whether the current one cooks differently somehow, or if it because I no longer thicken a stew with flour before putting it in, but that taste no longer appears. I use tomato puree now.

I appear to be in the minority here as I had one many years ago, and found after a couple of years that food smelled the same regardless of spices herbs etc. None of my offspring like them either. So my answer is no, but realise that only two of us think that!!!!

Eat should read MEAT !!

Yes, absolutely. My slow cooker is the best help, far above any other cooking devices. Food tastes gorgeous and is tender, and it's so easy to use. Even cheaper cuts of eat are wonderful when done in the slow cooker.

Thank you so much for that everyone, you have convinced me, and the idea of an oval one being good for chicken and lamb is very helpful. Looks like I am off out tomorrow to get an oval slow cooker

Yes yes yes, slow cookers are great. I do a whole chicken curried in mine. Also stews, even dumplings. I have done a whole joint of beef in it but not so pleased with that one although tasted ok.
Makes great rice pudding as well.

Definitely more useful than all the other electric gadgets, I wouldn't be without mine.
Apart from cooking food, you can keep things warm on the upturned lid, then cover with a small towel. But best not use plastic containers on top as they can become mis-shaped.