My slow cooker gave and up and went on strike permanently. Looking for a half decent slow cooker, 3.5L or more, there is only two of us. I’d like to do stuff like chilli, curry, casserole, and deserts, for about £50’ish. Would like the browning function and the more gadgets the better. 😉

Any recommendations?

My advice would be get a 6lt one minimum. Cook loads and freeze. They shouldn’t be that expensive. I got one from Aldi recently for £18 and it does the job perfectly. I don’t see what one that cost £50 would do differently.

They had the big ones (6ltr) in Aldi a couple of weeks back. We got one as ours was only 3.5ltr. They’re as good as any as theres not much too them. Might be worth nipping in and seeing if they’ve any left?

Not sure the browning thing is worth it. Got a morphy richards one (~£30 out of Tesco) a few months ago and it’s been good. You can put the pot on the hob to brown things if you want, and it has low/med/high settings which is all you really need. The more expensive ones seem needlessly complicated.

Sainsburys usually have a good one at about £25 I think for 6l.

We picked up a 3.6L one their for about £15 recently.

slow cooker, rice cooker, porridge maker, with delayed start and keep warm functions sound like what you’re after?
Tefal 8 in 1
Argos link = over budget, but Currys and John Lewis both on the button

Argos £25 till tomorrow:

http://www.argos.co.uk/m/static/Product/partNumber/1217476/searchTerm/GREAT+SAVINGS+ON+KITCHEN+ELECTRICALS+AT+ARGOS.htm

I had an expensive one which broke while moving house. The cheap replacement is equally as good.

Look for a ceramic one as opposed to a metal dish. They look better if you serve straight from the cooker.

Was in exactly yr position 2 weeks and did a fair bit of research before grabbing a 3.5l – found it suits two of us fine. Bigger is not always better if it takes up yr work surface and freezer.
We always get at least 4-6 meals out of one cook. Decided via reviews and not disappointed. Readf that more gadgets ie autocook etc were not necessarily better and often worse. We got one with high, med and low. If feel I need auto ie will be out all night have decided to just use a wall socket timer thing.

Morphy Richards 48702 3.5L Sear & Stew (Was 25 quids from a well known automated warehouse store)

Best thing is you can use the metal inner to brown onions etc on a hob before returning to slow cooker. Does not look as nice as ceramic to serve tho, as others have said – but we serve in other things or usually straight to plates or freezer containers.

£17 Crock Pot at Tesco

Malvern Rider, whats the low setting like on the morphy richards?
We find the one we’ve got now (cant remember the brand) is too high even on low, and often end up cooking with the keep warm setting.
Ideally want something you can leave for 8 – 10 hours and not have dried out meat by the end!

It’s low, ie can leave on all day. I use high for an hour or so to get it up to temp then leave on low if am going out for the day or medium if going to be in and out. I use low setting to keep the food warm also.

great, sounds just what I’m after.

The cheap replacement is equally as good.

Yep. Cheapest one! My mum gave me a little one she got free from some catalogue or other and it does the job absolutely perfectly. Can’t see any reason to “upgrade” it!

signed,
Tight Arse

what’s the appeal of these things, as opposed to (say) shoving it in a casserole dish in the oven on a low temp?

is it just energy efficiency? or being able to leave it on while you go to work?

also, inappropriate your/you’re on that Argos link 😡

what’s the appeal of these things, as opposed to (say) shoving it in a casserole dish in the oven on a low temp?

is it just energy efficiency? or being able to leave it on while you go to work?

Yeh that and that. Plus it doesn’t dry out. And you can watch it through the glass lid. And it’s worktop height. No bending down. And it keeps yr food warm. And they should employ me to sell them. Did I tell you that you can watch it through the glass lid? It’s like a window, but with interesting stuff on the other side!

Yes, we have the 6.5l crockpot, and really rate it.

Get a ceramic dish, because then you can crisp things in the oven at the end.

Probably going to get this one:

4.7L, can put in oven, use on stove top, put in the fridge and looks a little different.

Just waiting for a decent deal to come up for Black Friday week.