Slow cooker....Am i really missing out?

Ok, so a few friends have them and love them, others i know are not fans. I am undecided but really think it may be a good buy. However i have a few reservations/questions which i am hoping can be answered for.

1. do you feel safe leaving them on all day? or can they be started at about 3pm after school and ready for dinner. I am al ittle unsure about leaving it on if i am out all day, maybe not just to go to school to do pick up but def all day.

2. Do you actually use yours, or is it just another appliance that rarely gets used? Hang on silly ? on my behalf, there is a whole thread or more about them on here :doh:.

3. DH reckons we are never organised enough to know what we are having for dinner till dinner! I guess that just comes down to planning....Hmmm??????

4. My eldest child(7) is very fussy, getting him to eat stroganoff with the sauce had only been accomplished in the last 6 months, so i am concerned i would be making two meals if i used it.

Amyway, i just wanted to get some perspective before i decided. Any feedback would be great. Thanks ;)

i made a whole heap of stuff at the weekend that took about 4 hours to cook on low - so would have been able to be cooked on high in half the time.

i love my slow cooker - i don't use it daily or even weekly cos most of the time i'm single - but it makes for fantastic food to freeze ready for DH to take to work - he loves the meals (cos i put everything in them - heaps of veg). you can cater to what your family like

i have no drama leaving a pot of soup or something on for hours while i go out. i wouldn't do it while working (with travel etc my work day was 10 hours minimum gone from home) - but we put it on and go out shopping for four and five hours with no drama.

with your son - all you can do is try

how bout you speak to one of those friends you say don't like their slow cooker and ask if you can borrow theirs for a few weeks so you can test it out for your family...

I love my slow cooker and I do leave it on while I am at work without any issues. I don't think after school is long enough, most meats you use in casseroles are tougher cuts which need alot of cooking to make them tender.
I also do corned beef in mine and it's so tender!
Briggy's suggestion of borrowing one from a friend for a while is a great idea - this is the perfect time of year coming up to try one out!

Ive had mine for nearly 2 years. TBH its something i only pull out of the cupboard in the cooler months (say from now till Sept). It doesnt get a look in during the summer months - but who wants casserole on a 40deg day. So for us, its seasonal. But boy....it sure does get a work out when its out of the cupboard.

Luckily im a SAHM, so most days home for the most of it. So may put cooker on at 1pm for dinner at 530pm (low). No, i wouldnt leave it on whilst i leave the house.


I just love the fact, that at 10am i can cut some chicken up, throw in some herbs, a frenchonion soup mix pack and some water and dinner is done so to speak...it really is that easy.

In saying ALL that....i dont actually eat any meat - so i cook 2 meals anyway. But i figure the slow cooker doesnt have me slaving away at the stove top at 5pm, so i dont mind making that extra meal for myself.....

ETA; there are dessert and non vege recipies i must try for myself......they all look yummy....

I love my sc. I put just about everything in it.

Yes I feel safe leaving it on all day.

I use mine all the time.

You do have to be a bit more organised, but trust me, after having a roast or something in there you will go out of your way to make sure the meal is in there all day!! Its scrummy!!

Buy a sc cook book or google recipes, there is just so much you can put in there!

Mine is fairly seasonal too.
During summer I ony use it for roasting and the odd curry but come winter I use it for soups, lamb shanks, casseroles, stews, meatballs - all the yummy winter dishes.

I leave mine on while I go out. It's lovely going to the park or similar on a brisk day then walking into the house in the evening to the smell of a delicious meal.

My boys are fussy sometimes but I only cook one meal each night. They usually eat some of it.

Mine is on at the moment with one of BG's recipes. For me it is an every now and then thing, but while I cant stand at the stove, and sitting becomes a bit dangerous with more than 1 pot at a time, I am using it for lots of sauces and casserole type things, to be turned into pasta or shepherds pie for meals that are quick and easy for DH to finish. My freezer is being filled to make life easier for him, especially seeing as I will be having a CS with intensive physio following and am likely to be in hospital for a week.

I also cheat and rather than cutting finely everything (I have a 5.5L cooker so it fits a lot in it) I use a food processor to finely chop all of the ingredients. I do chop them a bit with the knife, but then throw them in the FP to make the chop fine.

Honestly I am more concerned about leaving a ceiling fan on than the slow cooker, because my slow cooker is well away from the walls, and they heat so gently that to be a hazard they would have to have been on well over the recommended time (which is 8 hours) and most recipes dont actually need to be left for that long. I happily do the kindy run with it going when I am able to.

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TBH its something i only pull out of the cupboard in the cooler months (say from now till Sept). It doesnt get a look in during the summer months - but who wants casserole on a 40deg day. So for us, its seasonal.

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I also tend to use mine more in the winter months too. I would most probably use it once every week-fortnight for things like stews, lamb shanks and currys. I also make a yummy corned beef in it, in fact I just bought a corned beef today with the very intention of pulling out the slow cooker over the weekend!:)

I dont have a problem with putting it on at around 10am and leaving it for the day whilst I come and go. I know of quite a few people who put it on before work and then leave the house for the day...I suppose it is just what you feel comfortable with really.

what one ya makin ali?

Kind of the spaghetti bolognese, but DH forgot the pasta sauce and tomato paste, so I did it with 4 diced tomatoes and some tomato sauce, not as tomatoey as it should be so it might become the base for shepherds pies, even with the pasta in it.

poor dh = he seems to forget one thing each time doesnt he??

Good thread Kas...I've been wondering the same things as you. But most of my questions seem to have been answered now thanks to this thread.

Can I then ask a final question, what brand do you's have or recommend?

:lol: he is doing a good job though, there is enough veggies to make it at the moment, and we havent had any more 'creative' attempts at dinner. By the time I am back on my feet he probably wont let me do the grocery shopping, saying I spend too much :rolleyes: but getting it all at once actually is cheaper than him going multiple times per week. I think I left just enough space in the SC to mix the pasta in it, but if there isn't then I will partially mix it in the pasta pot and then carefully add it bit by bit.

i have a 7L breville (with rectangular crock pot) and a 6.5L Kambrook - i'd choose the Kambrook any day. the rectangular one just seems to be too hot even on low, and lots of stuff sticks to it. we use it for making soup though - so much room for vegies in there! and enough fluid that it doesn't stick

mum has a sunbeam 6.5L and it's pretty good as well. i think maybe it's just the rectangular shaped pot (the breville was a cheap one we were given when we'd bought our other one so we now use both when doing a cook up - the other day we got a heap of them together and had half a dozen on the go at once!)

ETA - sounds good Ali - hope it turns out ok. i love our spag bol (we make with home made sauce for us - the recipe was done for my aunt who wouldn't make her own sauce if her life depended on it!) - so much veg - tastes sooooo good

Mine is a cheapie form Big W, Abode brand. I dont find it sticks and it doesnt seem to get too hot, most things take the length of time specified on the recipe.

I bouth mine at Aldi - it's their Lumina brand. It's quite big, about 6L I think from memory. Would do a family of four no worries except that DH is a BIG eater! :jawdrop: And I rarely fill it more than half full (shouldn't go above 2/3 full anyway). I find the oval shape cooks well and it's got the ceramic lift out bowl which you can serve from (is quite nice) and then chuck in the dishwasher, so very handy.

TBH, mine doesn't get the workout I planned for it, but that's because I'm not as organised as I'd like to be. I quite often have SC jags where I'll want to cook a couple of meals in a row in it, usually on weekends! Leftovers freeze well too.

I have no problems leaving mine on overnight or when I'm out of the house. Homemade baked beans for breakfast is a favourite around here :thumbsup:

I have one, and can't decide whether to keep it or get rid of it. I got it second hand somewhere, so it didn't cost me much. I have mixed results with it, even if I make the same thing twice, to the tee (I write down how I did things so I know what to do or not to do the next time), no two batches will be the same. Or even close most of the time. I find it so frustrating actually.

I'm not happy with how meat turns out (roasting, corned beef is the ONLY thing that is consistently 'good' though), and veges never seem to get cooked. I don't cut them too large (well, I don't think I do anyway), and they cook FOR AGES (*sigh*), but are still raw! Not just a bit underdone, but uber hard and yuk! I would go as far to say that sometimes I truly despise my SC because of these such mixed results. GRR. It is gathering dust on my benchtop as I have no cupboard space to stash it.

I have never been game to leave it on while we were out, so from that point of view, I may as well use the oven or stove top. I did buy a powerpoint timer to do a roast one day, but chickened out of that idea. Sorry, some of all that was more of a vent, but that's about how I feel about my SC. I would rather get a big enamel cast iron casserole (have a little one) or a pressure cooker. I wish I had the success stories of the other ladies here:pray: they really seem to have the whole SC caper under control.

Does anyone have any suggestions for more 'successful' or happy slow cookery? PLEASE (without hijacking your thread Kas :redface:)

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Homemade baked beans for breakfast is a favourite around here :thumbsup:

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Please post your recipe in the SC recipe thread if you have time :angelic:

Netix :hug: I think that you have to take the step of leaving it on while you are out. It uses the same amount of power as a lightbulb and if it is sitting on a bench with a clear space around it it isn't a fire hazard. Do you put the veges at the bottom with the meat on top? That is how they recommend doing it.

Oh Netix that doesn't sound good.

I use my SC on Tuesday & Thursdays while I'm at work, Tuesdays is soup night and Thursdays is curry night or casserole etc etc...

I turn the SC on around 7am and I put my meat in frozen and my veges frozen. I turn it off at 4pm (or MIL or DH). I've always had everything cook through.

Sometimes during summer I do a roast chook where I actually put a partially frozen chook in the SC for the entire day and it comes out perfect! I serve it with salad and mashed potatoes for the kids. We love it.

netix - i'll post the stuff i made at the weekend tomorrow - almost fool proof! all made with base ingredients that i knew my aunt would buy (she has a disablity so i had to simplify the stuff heaps!) not a single failure (and we tested them all at the weekend!)

Goodness! I feel as if I really have hijacked this thread! My apologies!

Thanks for the hugs Brontide, makes me feel a little better. I do put the veges at the bottom. So far have tried with sliced potatoes, another time with carrots, and another time with onions. Several attempts with both the potato and carrots actually, including making stews, where the meat and veg were both waaaay underdone (meat was cooked, but not tender, and it was on low for about 6-8 hours).:wall:

Hang on, I did once make a pea and ham soup that turned out well. Which didn't end up being that great, seeing as the Man doesn't actually eat pea and ham soup. Again :wall:.

Christy; you put frozen things in your SC? :o Waaaaaaaaaa!

BG; thank you. But you know what they say about things being idiot proof don't you.... (me idiot, no one else)

netix, no offence, but if my aunt can make it, anyone can (she has an intellectual disability and never progressed beyond about 12!) the recipes we did up for her are THE most basic we could find - so we cheated and used jars and things rather than making from scratch as i would for DH and I - she didn't manage to stuff any of them up on the weekend which i'm mighty impressed with!

will go post in the SC recipe threads now - these are truly simple recipes!

Great thread Cas - with baby # 2 due in July I've been debating about getting a slow cooker!!

You ladies sold me!! No more 5pm rush hour for me!!!! :D:D:D:D

okies, four or five SUPER basic recipes posted https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...r-19-a-12.html. have some non slow cooker super easy ones too if anyone wants them posted. as i said, if my aunt can make them with no drama, they are pretty damn simple!

Thank you BG, and no offence taken. I feel so :redface:. Everything else, I can cook. SC.... :(

I kept my SC because I was so annoyed with myself that I couldn't get things right. I would always think to myself, surely it couldn't be that difficult to get something going well in there!

I will be trying to make soups, (not pea and ham) and if the Man doesn't eat them, then he'll have to get himself something to eat (much to his displeasure though :rolleyes:)

Let's see these new recipes..... BG...

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(or those who've had issues in the past) these might get your mojo happening again!

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You could have just said it was me! I'm a big girl ;). What size SC do those recipes do? Is it the 6.5L? I will be trying the braised lamb, and beef, and the soup. Doesn't the broccoli over cook and go brown? Thank you for re-inspiring me to try and make friends with my SC once again. :)

Is it true that taking the lid off to look/stir adds extra cooking time?

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Is it true that taking the lid off to look/stir adds extra cooking time?

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Yupp, every time you take the lid off to look/stir, you should add at least 15 mins to the cooking time. The thing with slow cookers is that because they're on so low, it takes quite a while for them to get back up to that accumulated cooking temperature.

Brontide, I'll try and put it up tonight. Not an original, but adapted from an EXTREMELY sweet American recipe (can you say a half CUP of maple syrup?! :jawdrop:)

i've never had brocolli change color - it cooks long and slow not hard and fast and i've never had it change color at all!

Thanks ladies, your advice and info is swaying me closer to a purchase. I might investigate tomorrow whilst i am at the shops.

Netix, don't worry about hijacking the threads, anyway your ?s have been most helpful.

Thanks Kas. I didn't want to tread on your toes. Thank you also for starting this thread, as it has renewed my interest in keeping and getting the most out of my SC.

I have a SC with a divider, it divides about a 1/3 of the way along. Whilst I find it a pain as it stops me from roasting, or using large ham hocks, it is good for cooking 2 different dishes at once. I have done a dinner (chilli con carne) and a dessert (apple crumble) at once. It might be an option for those of you that often cook 2 dinners.

Astrid, that sounds like a great design for me - could you tell us what brand you have please?

Brontide, FYI I've added the baked beans recipe in the slow cooker forum.

I only just got mine a couple of months ago. I love it! I made the BEST roast turkey in it... I have never had it so tender. I had it on low and it took 8 hours.
I left it on while I went out for an hour. Didn't even cross my mind actually...
There is a thread on here with recipes?!? I am off to hunt it down!

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Astrid, that sounds like a great design for me - could you tell us what brand you have please?

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It is a Russell Hobbs one, got it a few years ago so not sure if they still make it with the division.

There are only two things I don't like about my SC. One is that its a pain to clean. The other is that I kind of find that most things I make in it (most red meat dishes, anyhow) all kind of have the same taste. Its a very nice taste, but its like this kind of generic slow cooker taste, doesn't seem to matter the kind of sauce- anyone else get that?

But I agree with all the others- they are seasonal, but really awesome. And so, so, so, easy.