Should I Buy A Cheap Slow Cooker?

We've all been there, come home from a hard day’s work and the last thing you feel like doing is cooking a meal. Not being able to face cheese on toast again, you ended up spending money you don’t have on a takeaway. You then feel guilty for succumbing to straying away from your new year’s goal of eating healthier. This is where slow cookers come to the fore.

You arrive home and are greeted by a hot, healthy meal, ready to be served straight away. You are greeted, not by the question of what to cook, but by the lovely aromas emanating from below the bubbling lid. And think of all that time saved from being stuck in the kitchen when it really doesn't appeal. No preparing and cooking the ingredients when you get in, all you need to do is dish up the food, serve, and enjoy!

Slow cookers have been around for a while, having been introduced in 1970s, and are still popular now. They have increased in popularity in recent years due to the economic turmoil as they are very inexpensive to use, requiring only a similar amount of electricity as a light bulb to cook. In addition to being cheap to run, they are also excellent at tenderizing cheaper cuts of meat and for making perfect soups and casseroles from cheap root vegetables. The trick to avoiding bland meals, which is often the criticism of slow cookers, is seasoning. Use a selection of herbs and spices to add flavor and enhance the taste of the main ingredients and you will have tasty meals that you will want to have again.

You can spend a lot of money on a slow cooker but you don’t really need to. Most cookers are made in similar way and a cheap model will serve you just as well for most occasions. There are three main parts; the lid, the inner pot and the outer body. The lid is often clear so you can see the lovely food inside. The inner pot is where the food cooks, and most can be removed for washing. Look for a model that has a dishwasher safe inner pot if you use one. The outer body of the oven contains the heating element. Heat from outer body warms the inner pot to cook the food.

The cheapest models are usually smaller than more expensive options but still sufficient for 1-2 persons. They will usually have at least two settings; high and low, and some will have a keep warm or auto setting as well. More expensive models can have timers for a delayed start, some will be oval in shape to cook whole birds, and size and design can be larger and more stylized. But, for most occasions, and for 1-2 persons, a cheap slow cooker will be ideal for providing cheap and easy, tasty and wholesome meals.