Printable View
Hi,
We are going to get a slow cooker and i am after your opinions.
Are the expensive ones much better than the cheap ones?
Do any come with a timer?
What do you have and are you happy with it?
Anything else i should look for in a slow cooker?
Thanks in advance :)
I'm interested too!!!!!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I have a standard one, but if I was going to start over I would go for the one where you can put the inside part on the stove top to brown; I resent the extra dish washing it takes to do it otherwise when this is supposed to make my life easier
I just have a cheapie from Big dub- it's a 5L one, adobe which I've heard horrifying reviews about, but we've been using ours for over a year and it's doing fine. It's got a High, Low and Auto setting. I don't bother browning meat beforehand, unless it's going to improve the taste :) We use it heaps and it really is good to be able to just chop everything up when you've got time and chuck it in!
i have a breville one, its about 18 months old.
got it at the good guys for about $70 on sale, its a big one, 5-6 lt i think, i can fit a leg of lamb in it to roast....
mine has a auto setting, a low and high setting....
i put everything in it on auto for 8 hours and ive never had a issue, always comes out perfect!!!
i also never brown meat or anything like that, i chuck everything in turn it on and let it go!
Our's is a cheapy from bigW i think and works well, i got a bigger one but should have opted for a smaller one for 2 people as it tends to burn small quantities at the sides and is hard to clean off. Having said that i do love slow cooker meals :)
I have a Ronson, again I think it was just cheap at BigW. I'm dropping hints about the new Breville one though mentioned above by littlelara as it has a pot you can take from the stove to the cooker. I've never seen one with a timer, it really seems impossible to overcook things in it as long as the pot is at least half full - I chuck it on low in the morning and 8 -10 hours later it's done. I have never used it more than in the months since my daughter was born, it has been a life saver (and probably has saved DH and me from malnutrition!).
I've got a Russel Hobbs. I cracked the ceramic insert and had to replace it. Their after sales service is ok. I rang them, they charged my card and the pot arrived a couple of days later.
It does seem to cook a bit hotter than some other brands. I usually knock a bit of time off the cooking times but I think that as it ages it won't cook quite so hot.
It's a 6l so it's big enough to roast a leg of lamb in - yum.
Sunbeam 5.5L (Off, low, high, keep warm)
It's 11 months old and still doing its job perfectly. I wouldn't change it, it's big enough for a roast and family meals with left overs.
The only time I brown something is if it isn't going into a sauce, so a big piece of meat like a roast. And I prefer using a heavy based frying pan to brown anyway even if I'm using the oven so an insert to go on the stove wouldn't be useful to me. I also like to prop roasts up on a couple of ramekins so it isn't sitting in the juices (the juices make a yummy gravy though)
i have a Breville banquet slow cooker which has 6.5 ltr capacity. I like to cook enough for 8 - 10 people (we're a family of 5) so we have enough leftovers for another meal (given that it takes all day to cook!). it handles a 2kg leg of lamb with ease with all the veggies. no timer, but the usual low, high , keep warm. I'm very happy with it. I chose it because of the size & shape (it's a rectangle which fits in my cupboard better & fits roasts easier than round ones).