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Published 17/09/2025

How to use a slow cooker

Slow cooking is a fantastic way to cook dishes for the whole family. With its hands-off approach, you can prep the ingredients, pop them into the slow cooker and leave it to work its magic for the next few hours until it’s time to serve up.

Whether you’re busy but still want to come home to a hearty meal, or you enjoy batch cooking, slow cookers are amazing gadgets that can offer conveniency to your kitchen. If you’ve never used a slow cooker before, we’ve created this handy guide to show you how to get started along with trusted tips that’ll add depth and flavour to your dishes.

What is a slow cooker?

A slow cooker is a kitchen electrical appliance that slowly cooks food at a lower temperature than other cooking methods. Because of this lower temperature, you can usually leave food to cook for numerous hours before serving.

A slow cooker will typically have a removable inner pot, a lid to trap the heat and steam in, and two cooking settings – LOW and HIGH. Perfect for cooking one-pot dishes like curries, stews and soups, but can also be used to cook rice pudding, fruit crumbles and sticky toffee pudding.

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    Top slow cooking tips

    Although slow cooking conjures up images of autumnal feasts and winter warmers, your slow cooker can be used all year round. To make sure you get the most out of your slow cooker, no matter the time of the year, here are some of our favourite top tips.

    Brown before slow cooking

    While some recipes do not require browning beforehand, browning meat (especially mince) and certain produce like onions caramelises the outside, adding greater depths of flavour and colour to your dishes.

    Avoid putting in too much liquid

    Liquids don’t tend to evaporate when slow cooking, so be precise and avoid adding more than you need. Too much liquid means a soupier base, which may not be desirable, especially when you want a thicker sauce.

    Avoid overfilling

    Never fill your slow cooker pot more than three-quarters full – half to two-thirds is ideal as it can reduce spills and splatters while promoting even cooking results.

    Try batch cooking

    A slow cooker is perfect for batch cooking. Not only is slow cooking low maintenance, but you can spoon the finished dish into food storage containers and store in the fridge or freezer. If frozen, always defrost beforehand for the best results.

    Add dairy last

    If adding dairy like cream, milk and cheese, add within the last hour to avoid curdling. You should also add soft vegetables like spinach and courgette in the final 30 minutes.

    Experiment with recipes

    A lot of slow cooker recipes are designed to be winter warmers, but that doesn’t mean you can’t cook a variety of recipes all year long. Slow cooker risotto, pulled pork and chilli can be made in your slow cooker and used during the spring and summer months too.

    Secondary image for image of Digital Slow Cooker 4.8L Main image for image of Digital Slow Cooker 4.8L

    £49.00

    4.8552631578947
    (76)
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    Secondary image for image of Multi Cooker 8 in 1 4.5L Main image for image of Multi Cooker 8 in 1 4.5L

    £149.00

    3.7692307692308
    (13)

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