Not only can slow cookers help you knock up some seriously delicious dinners, but they are also energy efficient, with energy company USwitch noting that they use a little more energy than a traditional light bulb to run. Non-slip feet provide stability on the countertop, while a removable pot makes the cooker easy to clean after use. Nevertheless, the vegetables held their shape and weren’t mushy, plus the soup was rich and flavoursome. Although slow cookers are rightly associated with dishes such as soups and stews, we were able to branch out with a wide variety of meals during testing – we even proved and baked a loaf of bread successfully in a slow cooker.

We could adjust the default cooking times of 8 hours for high and 4 hours to low in increments of 30 minutes from anything from 30 minutes to 20 hours to suit a particular recipe. There is no getting away from the fact that the Green Pan slow cooker is a big unit but there is also no getting away from the fact that it does a great job. I started by using the Low setting to make rice pudding – a dish that’s prone to burning when cooked on a hob, usually requiring frequent stirring. We prepared a simple spicy butternut squash soup using the high setting that was perfectly cooked in three hours. She reviewed the Morphy Richards Sear and Stew from her own kitchen, testing it for quality cooking and ease of use.This is not the sort of cooker you can leave all day while you’re out of the house, but it is a useful and adaptable piece of kitchen kit that does an excellent job of slow cooking. Plus, if you switch to the transparent bowl set, the Cook Expert acts like a traditional food processor for mixing, chopping, emulsifying, slicing and grating. After ten hours the lamb pulled away from the bone very easily, and I then left it for a little longer to soak up the juices from the sauce while I cooked my rice. I love to cook off onions, garlic, ginger, soffritto, and meats before slow cooking them, which locks in flavour and makes sure that your end dish will have a more rich flavour. We cooked a number of dishes in each of the cookers, assessing their capacity, functionality, ease of operation and use and the flavour of the finished results.

I found that the kale was very easy to eat, in comparison to some dishes when it comes out a little tough and chewy, and the lentils and chickpeas were very tender. Finally, I made vegetable soup, again sautéing a mixture of vegetables on the hob in butter and encountering the same problems of slippery pot base and wearing an oven glove. If you’re looking to optimise a relaxed form of cooking and not have to stand by the pot, you’ll want to choose recipes featuring ingredients that can be added in altogether at the beginning and then left to cook.Once sautéed, I transferred the pot to the cooker’s base and set it on High, which translated to a time of four to six hours (it can be extended up to 10 hours on Low). These include the ability to sear meat and veg on the hob before popping in the base, and a choice of three heat settings to shorten or prolong the cooking time so meals will be ready when you are.

Decorated in black steel with rose gold accents, it makes for a practical and stylish addition to your kitchen.The box the Morphy Richards Sear and Stew arrived in was lightweight and didn't take up too much space. By signing up to our newsletter you accept to receive Tower’s latest news, offers and promotions directly to your inbox. We achieved great results using the function to cook a whole chicken with tomatoes, chorizo and peppers, with the very roomy cooking pot accommodating the bird with ease. Sous vide – A French term that means “under vacuum”, some models come with the ability to cook with the sous-vide method using a sealed pouch.

The cooking process was pretty easy, but I noted that the handles of the non-stick pot were hot to touch while cooking.

It's also easy to clean by hand though, because the pot has a very sturdy non-stick coating that allows sauce and stuck-on lentils to glide off. We were delighted with the chilli we made, transforming basic range supermarket braising steak into super-tender meat in about four hours. The roast programme worked well too, producing evenly cooked peppers, although at about 90 minutes the process did take longer than it would have in a conventional oven.