Slow Cookers

Cost of using a Slow Cooker versus an Oven.

A lot of slow cookers are rated at about 200w but they have a thermostat so only use that power when heating up-it comes on and off to retain temperature during the cooking.

It won’t need to heat up for long periods, only the initial heating up will use that much power.

Now an electric oven is possibly between 2 kW and 5 kW and is on for most of the time your food is in it.

To compare 5 kW (5000 w) for an hour to 200 w for maybe 8 hours (even though it won’t use that in reality) and you can see the difference in cost.

An oven can use up to 25 times as much power as a slow cooker.

Consider the thermostat and at a guess, the slow cooker is only heating up about a quarter of that time so 200w for 2 hours rather than for 8 hours.

Cost

Now to the real cost. Everyone pays differently for electricity so I will base it on 20p per kW.

A 5 kW oven would cost £1 to use for 1 hour.

A 200 kW slow cooker (or anything the same power) would use 4p per hour and the reality is that as it is only heating up part of the time probably 1p per hour.

If your oven is on a low setting and only 2 km then 40p per hour.

So the oven could cost approx 40 times more than the slow cooker to run.

Lightbulbs

People often quote that a slow cooker uses the same as a light bulb.

That was basically true in the times of 100 w and 60 w bulbs but todays’ bulbs (or you may prefer the term lamps) are only used between 5 w and 11 w generally.

This is why people often argue as to whether they are cheap or not to run because of the new light bulbs.

Types of Slow Cooker

There are various types and sizes with various controls

The most confusing control to a lot of people is Auto. Auto is not a timer. It generally heats the slow cooker on full for about an hour then reverts to low. This means that if you are out at work all day it gets a speedy start by heating up faster than cooking slowly.

Apart from that, you have low medium and high.

Some also have a keep warm facility. It states warm but its’ function is to keep your food warm after cooking and is NOT for warming up food.

There are some now where you can sear the meat in the slow cooker first and then add everything to it.

The slow cookers I’ve had

My first slow cooker would have been bought from one of my “club books”. These were huge mail-order catalogues much like an Argos book but about 3 times the size.

I remember it was white and had 3 settings. Low high and auto.

I started using this when I was about 18 and living alone. It was wonderful to come home to a cooked meal after a long day at work.

I also had a plug-in timer so I could set it to come on later if I wished so food was not overcooked.

I had that slow cooker for a long time, about 20 years and eventually one of my children pulled it out of the cupboard and the lid broke.

I replaced it with one from Freecycle and that had high medium and low. I missed my auto setting. I later donated it to someone else and bought another one-an an oval one because if you wish to cook a whole chicken then the round ones are not the best.

As my family grew and there were now me, hubby and 3 children, I bought a couple more slow cookers in different sizes for different dishes. At Christmas, we used them to keep me hot in gravy ready to serve so they acted rather like a hostess trolley.

I did buy a little 1.5l one a while ago but have since given it to a friend. It only had one setting on it-full power and it was more like a boiling pot than a slow cooker. I also found it too small to be useful although one person on their own may find it useful.

That brand has now upgraded their small one to having 2 settings.

Sizes

There are various sizes available and if you look on the internet you can find some huge ones great for a cafe or whatever but not for the average home.

Most of them are as follows:

• 1.5 litre
• 3.5 litre
• 5 litre
• 6 litre
• 8 litre

There are variations to the above sizes-that is just a guide.

What size should I buy?

The most useful size in my experience is a 3.5-litre oval one. This will serve 4-6 people and will accommodate a whole medium chicken

I also have a larger 6-litre one which I tend to use for chicken also. I did also have a 3 litre round one and the 1.5-litre small round one.

What you need really depends on your family size. They are fairly cheap to buy and are often available pre-loved so you can afford to change your mind.

If you are a family of four, I would recommend a 5 or 6-litre oval slow cooker-it won’t be a mistake! It does not have to be full at all times after all and the difference in power usage is minimal.

Which make? What is a Crockpot?

A crockpot is just a slow cooker-a well-known brand.

Most slow cookers look pretty much alike and apart from the label are probably made in the same factory somewhere in China.

I’ve had various makes over the years and they all perform well. I have a Russell Hobbs and a Daewoo at present but that was down to special offers. I also have a 3-litre Cookworks one I think which is just as good as any. The Daewoo is my latest one and is digital with all sorts of settings on it. Well for those of you with oven timers, clocks and microwave settings, you probably know it takes so much time to figure out that you just go for the easiest setting!

So digital is to avoid unless you are comfortable with it. Manual is easy-just switch to low medium or high. If you decide to use a timer with it, as in, a plugin the wall type, a manual one is easier to set. I also had digital timers over the years but gave them away-too much trouble setting them

Gadgets need to be a joy to use and not frustrating.

I hope you find this blog informative. Do join the Facebook group also for any questions and recipes.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1693774794273422/