Swan SF17021RN Retro Slow Cooker with 3 Temperature Settings, Keep Warm Function, 3.5L, 200W, Retro Red

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They aren’t just for stews and casseroles either. In fact, they're real multi-taskers, even up to the challenge of cooking a whole cut of meat – including sweet and salty coca cola ham or a tender beef joint. Vegetarian family favourites such as macaroni cheese are also a go-to. Take a look at our collection of must-cook slow cooker recipes for more inspiration. You can place the cooking pot in the dishwasher or wash by hand fairly easily. The Ninja Foodi Multi-Cooker also has a basket insert and can be used to air fry other treats when not in use as a slow cooker. Is this the future of slow cooking? We think so. The controls are a little cluttered, but the illustrations make the Sage The Fast Slow Go easy to use and very clear. The lid his hinged, which we don't love, but it does mean the Sage The Fast Slow Go will transition easily between slow cooking and pressure cooking for a range of the cooking modes. Below you'll find the best slow cookers according to our experts, as well as everything you need to know before shopping – from must-have features to their energy efficiency. How we test slow cookers Anything of a nature that for hygiene or associated health and safety - this includes the Outdoor Spas, Mattresses and Divan Sets

An increasingly popular way of cooking, sous-vide is a French term that simply means ‘under vacuum’. You place your food inside a sealed pouch and then pop it into a temperature-controlled water bath to cook. This function can be found on the majority of slow cookers, helping to retain the temperature of your food without cooking it further – handy when you’re struggling to round up the family!Cook delicious meals the convenient way with this easy-to-use and stylishly retro 3.5-litre slow cooker. Once you’ve chosen your ingredients, simply pop them in the cooking pot, adjust the timer and choose from either the high or low heat setting. You can then let the appliance do all the work and safely leave it to cook while you go about your day.

The sides of the slow cooker did get quite hot, so you do need to keep it out of reach of little ones, but the cool-touch handles are a nice feature and make it easy to manoeuvre. It's also relatively lightweight for moving about the kitchen. You really can't beat the Swan Slow Cooker when it comes to design; available in 10 colours and with a covetable retro aesthetic, it was a clear winner for the top stylish buy on our shortlist of the best slow cookers. Size: With sizes starting at 1-litre through to a whopping 6.5-litres, choosing the right size for you is imperative. The smallest sizes are suitable when cooking for one or two. 3-litres to 4.5-litres (one of the most popular sizes on the market) serve four, and the large 6-6.5-litre models are super for families and batch cooking. It's also worth bearing in mind that the capacity stated on the sales blurb is the size of the bowl, not the working capacity, which can sometimes be half that. If you cancel you must return the goods to us at your own expense. You are responsible for the risk of loss or damage when you return the goods, so you should take out adequate postal insurance to cover their value.The advantage of this is not leaving all that lovely seared flavour behind in a pan, and it reduces washing-up. Finally, look for a slow cooker with a transparent lid, so you can keep an eye on your food’s progress. Lifting the lid of a slow cooker while it’s in use lets out heat and steam, prolonging cooking time. It’s always best to be able to see what’s going on without doing so. Are slow cookers easy to clean?

Finished results: the tenderness of the meat and vegetables, the consistency of the cooked sauce and the heat of the food when serving When we tested its slow cooking mode we found that it's almost too good at retaining moisture. Recipes that came out more saucy in some slow cookers were a little less rich because it's also designed to be an airtight pressure cooker. That can be remedied though by adding less liquid or taking into account the liquid that will come out of meat and veggies when you add them. Scottish Highlands & Islands postcodes: AB, FK, HS, IV, KA, KW, PA, PH, ZE, LL58-LL78, IM, TR, PO30-41Please note that during particularly busy periods, it may take a little longer to receive your delivery and our carrier may attempt to deliver to you on a Saturday. The Swan Slow Cooker was impressively easy to clean. Both the pot and lid are dishwasher safe, although the instruction manual stresses that care must be taken so the pot doesn't chip. The controls tend to be similar on most slow cookers with a ‘low’ setting for longer, slower cooking throughout the day and a ‘high’ setting for faster cooking with similar slow-cooked results. A competent and good-looking slow cooker, but shop around and you can either spend less or get more features for your money.

Removing the need to sauté in a pan before transferring to the pot, the Sage Fast Slow Go is as useful for slow cooking converts as it is to experienced cooks. Functioning as both a slow cooker and a pressure cooker, it includes sensors at the top and bottom to monitor temperature. This makes inconsistently cooked stews a thing of the past. When testing these slow cookers we were keen to try out each of their main cooking settings, so while a more simple manual slow cooker was used to make a stew or simple curry, we pressure cooked meat and steamed fish in the more complex slow cookers on the market. When slow cookers came with digital settings we attempted delay-start recipes and tested how easy they were to use. While the stated capacity is 3.5 litres, the working capacity is more like 2.5 litres, to allow room for bubbling and simmering. Swan 3.5 Litre Slow Cooker – What’s it like to use?

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