Last Updated on 9 March 2026 by Dan Wilderness
Hello everyone! Adding to my array of various kitchen gadgets we recently obtained in a slow cooker – a Morphy Richards 6.5l sear and stew slow cooker. I’ve been making a lot of use of this during the winter for making various stews and curries, and thought I’d share my thoughts today on our classic question – is it a slow cooker worth it?
So far my favourite recipes to make have included a rich beef stew with root vegetables, a deep tomato ragu to accompany some pasta and a lovely chicken satay with peppers to go with some stir-fry noodles. I cook with my slow cooker about once a week now.
(Please note: The Financial Wilderness may also receive a small payout if you make a purchase through a link on this site. It won’t affect the service you receive and we recommend only what we honestly believe to be the best available, not what gives us commission. You can read more about our affiliate policy on our disclaimers page.)
Quick Verdict on if a Slow Cooker is worth it
Yes, we absolutely think so! Slow cooking tends to be more flavoursome from a taste output with moneysaving coming from the ability to use cheaper cuts of meats in your dishes, and has a slightly lower running cost than the oven.
We use ours multiple times a week now, and only use the oven for when looking large multiple dishes at once which aren’t practical in the single machine.
How does a slow cooker work?
A slow cooker uses a small heating element on the underside of a large pot to heat food very slowly and evenly, but with a heavy secure lid that keeps both steam and heat sealed in the pot.
This effectively becomes self perpetuating and despite being as a lower temperature allows the food to slowly stew away.
Most slow cookers will come with a couple of heat settings, but this are mainly low, medium and high options. Some of the more advanced models may come with a timer as well – however we’d say you don’t actually need one, as the slow cooker is extremely forgiving of even quite a bit of extra time without spoiling your dish.
Advantages of the slow cooker
Slow cooking maximises flavour
Let’s start with the biggest incentive in my eyes – everything I’ve made so far in the slow cooker has been delicious. The process of slow cooking is less disruptive to the food and sees flavour slowly meld into the dishes.
A big part of this connects to the next point.
Slow cookers can use cheaper cuts
Not only is it a choice, but cheaper cuts will often work best in the slow cooker compared to more expensive cuts.
The reason for this is because the cheaper cuts tend to be a bit more connective tissue – this can be a bit of pain to cook or be a quite tough cooked conventionally, but in the slow cooker fade away and add huge amounts of flavour.
You’ll actually find a lot of the top chefs tend to focus on these because of the amount of delicious taste that you get from them.
Not only that, but purchasing these cheaper cuts can be helpful to your wallet as well. As a personal finance site, when we get something that hits that wonderful place of getting a better result at a cheaper price we’re always going to be thrilled.
It’s not just meat as well – I’ve found root veg and tomatoes in particular has a delicious flavour profile from the slow cook process.
Further down this article I’ve highlighted some of the best meats to use in the slow cooker to try and get the most out of your cooking.
Slow cookers don’t require attention
Many slow cooking recipes are quite literally involve throwing everything in the pot and leaving it.
Some will suggest doing extra steps like browning meats or softening veg, but these are entirely optional and just for that little bit of extra flavour, rather than essential steps.
Personally, I’ve found this particularly useful for cooking whilst working – I can find a gap in the day to quickly get the slow cooker going, then know that’s saving me time in the evening because dinner will largely be ready for me.
Slow cooking is a cheap process
More on this below where we’ll talk running costs, but I also need to list in advantages that slow cooking is a cheaper process than cooking on the hob or oven.
Slow cooking can be big batch
We are big fans of cooking lots at once and storing it at The Financial Wilderness, and have written an article here about if batch cooking is worth it.
Whilst you’ll also need a sizeable slow cooker, it’s something really perfectly designed for cooking dishes in bulk to be able to manage those weeknights or put stuff in the freezer for another day.
You can pre-prepare for slow cooking
If you’re cooking to do some slow cooking whilst you’re at work but don’t have much time in the morning, you can find a number of recipes where you can prep everything the night before and keep it in the fridge, so you can throw it in the slow cooker in the morning as you’re heading out of the door.
Disadvantages of slow cooking
Can’t adjust slow cooking as you go
As a slow cooker works by retaining steam and heat, this means you can’t really remove the lid as you’re going (you can, but you’ll need to add on about half an hour to the cooking time for each time you do it).
So if you’re a chef who likes to taste and then adjust your cooking with seasoning to your taste, slow cooking doesn’t particularly work well with this, and needs done at the start or end rather than during the cook.
Slow cooking is slow!
I mean given the name this if one is a surprise to you it would be a shock, but obviously it takes a while!
To put things in context, it’s relatively rare I come across a slow cooker recipe that takes less than 4 hours when being cooked on a high setting, with most being 6 to 8.
Slow Cookers can’t sear or brown without intervention.
As mentioned above, whilst an optional step to really maximise flavour you would want to sear meat before slow cooking – but you can’t do this in the slow cooker alone.
As a result, you need to add in an extra step of searing your meat and vegetables in a pan if you are looking to do this.
(Note: I will caveat that with there are some slow cookers that are set up in such a way as that the inner pot can be put on your hob to do the searing bit, and then transferred to the slow cooker – the Morphy Richards Sear and Stew is an example of that).
Slow Cookers require care with liquid
You can mitigate this with good recipes but just have to be a little bit careful you don’t have too much liquid in your slow cooker.
As you slow cook food it’ll naturally give off some juices and water and ended up with too much in your recipe can give you too much liquid, with a dilution of flavour.
With particularly liquidity recipes you’ll also want to make sure there is enough ventilation for a bit of steam to escape.
Is a slow cooker cheap to run?
Yes, very. Despite running for a long period of time, a slow cooker uses very little energy to get itself going and once up to temperature largely remains self sustaining, in comparison to an oven where a large amount of energy can be wasted.
The key figure to look at is wattage, as this will show the power output of your specific model – the more wattage, the more power hungry it is.
You can expect most slow cookers to run at an absolute maximum cost of between 4p to 7p per hour depending on size and temperature, with most recipes taking between 4-8 hours. This puts cooking a family meal (before ingredients) somewhere in the region of 50p, but your costs will vary depending on your specific electricity tariff.
How does an Oven and a Slow Cooker Compare on Costs? Our calculation
We’ve based this on the April 2026 electricity price cap of 24.67p per kWh.
- The Electric Oven: A standard oven uses about 2.0 kWh to heat up, then cycles on and off to maintain heat. A 2-hour slow roast uses approximately 2.5 kWh. This gives us a total cost of approximately 62p per meal.
- The Slow Cooker: A typical slow cooker uses a tiny 200 Watts (0.2 kWh). Over an 8-hour shift, it cycles and uses roughly 1.2 kWh in total. This gives us a total cost of a tiny 30p per meal.
The Verdict: For a single meal the slow cooker works out at about half the cost of an oven.
An oven can be a better choice if you’re cooking multiple items at once, such as part of cooking a roast with lots of sides as it generally has more space.
The saving is relatively small per meal, but if you cook a meal in the slow cooker rather than the oven twice a week, the slow cooker will pay for itself in that period.
Small savings add up over time, but we actually think the more compelling argument here is also the fact that the food tastes better out of the slow cooker, and you can reduce the meal costs with cheaper cuts.
What meats cook best in a slow cooker?
Most meat will work well but definitely experiment with cheaper cuts!
Here’s some recommendations to try:
- Pork or lamb shoulder
- Lamb shanks
- Beef short ribs
- Beef brisket
- Chicken thighs
- Beef Oxtail
- Braising steak.
We’d absolutely love to hear of some more recommendations for meats to try, along with some of your favourite recipes – please let us know in the comments below.
What size of slow cooker is best for me?
We suggest going bigger for efficiency purposes if you have available counter or storage space.
A 3.5L slow cooker will be enough for consistently cooking for 2 people with some leftovers, a 6.5L is best for families or for batch cooking.
What are the best slow cookers available?
I’ve pulled together a range of what I think are the best slow cookers available today here.
It’s worth spending some time thinking about what you need. My advice is that because I find the slow cooker such a good tool for batch cooking that it’s worth going with a larger size (6.5L is about right) if you have the cupboard space.
Beyond that, you largely just want a secure lid and good cooking performance!
The Personal Recommendation
Morphy Richards Stand and Sear 6.5L
This is my one and as such my personal recommendation – I really can’t fault it through several uses so far.
It has the advantage of being able to sear on the hob beforehand and has consistently cooked absolutely delicious meals whilst being easy to store and clean. The only real disadvantage I can point to is that the dish used to ensure you can sear on the hob means it’s heavier than some other options, but not ridiculously so.
It’s also available in a smaller 3.5L option if counter space is an issue for you, or you just want to cook smaller dishes.
This is available from Amazon, or the range can be found direct at Morphy Richards.
The Luxury Option
GreenPan Slow Cooker 6L / 5.6L
The GreenPan Slow Cooker is a smart looking bit of kit that really looks like a modern kitchen appliance.
Whilst more expensive than the other names on this list, it offers additional functionality to roast and steam items as well with timers.
If you’re looking for something that you might want to keep out on the kitchen counter, the modern looks of this make it a great choice to consider – plus it also outputs delicious stews and food.
Available from Harts of Stur or Lakeland.
The budget option
Tower Caveletto 6.5L Slow Cooker
I have a few kitchen items from the Tower range, and think they make some really good quality kitchenware at a really strong price point.
If you just want a no-frills slow cooker, the Tower Caveletto is a great option for simple cooking, with the only feature really being multiple temperature settings.
Available from Amazon, Currys or Harts of Stur.
Alternatives to a slow cooker
Multi Cookers vs. Slow Cookers
There’s some heavily advertise multi-cookers that do a bit of everything advertised.
My own experiences here have been a little bit disappointing – I’ve found the slow cooking function has been less tasting and often quite bland as output compared to simply using a straight slow cooker.
Part of the reason for this is their use of large metal pots, which even on a low setting tend to cook meat too quickly and burn it slightly, limiting the ability of juices to melt for slow cooking purposes.
The machines are helpful for versatility, but I haven’t found one that that doesn’t do everyone just ok, compared to a few things well.
Pressure Cooker
If you’re looking for an alternative to a slow cooker a pressure cooker might be worth considering.
This works on a similar principle as a slow cooker but works much more intensely to use a tight seal against a higher amount of steam.
The net result is a much quicker result than a slow cooker – I generally like my pressure cooker and the practicality is better, but I’ve found that I generally found that I’ve got more flavour in a slow cooker dishes.
I have the Instant Pot Duo, available here from Amazon.
I would note that whilst I would happily recommend using this as a pressure cooker, even though it has a slow cooker setting I would not recommend this bit. In practice, the results were disappointing compared to the real slow cooker.
All-in-One Cookers
So far I’m a bit cynical about all in one cookers – they’re helpful for limited kitchen space but I have yet to find one that does everything as well as those designed to do a task specifically.
Readers, do write in and let me know if there’s one you particularly love!
Our Verdict: Is a slow cooker worth it?
Yes, we absolutely think a slow cooker is worth it and it’s become my most used kitchen gadget alongside the coffee machine!
It’s the perfect combination – a food cooking system that uses less energy but gives more flavour. Whilst there’s the arguable disadvantage of requiring setup in advance, you can mitigate this with timers or smart plugs to manage the time of cooking, plus slow cookers are very forgiving on some extra cook time.
A slow cooker is also a great tool for batch cooking, meaning you can make a lot very efficiency at the same time (obviously you’ll need a larger size to do this, so may need to consider kitchen space).
Finally the icing on the cake is that a slow cooker is relatively cheap to buy as well in the scale of kitchen gadgets. There are few things we rate as an absolute must-buy, but we think a slow cooker is one of them.
FAQ’s about slow cookers
Here’s some of the most common questions we’ve had about slow cookers, but please let us know in the comments if you have any more questions you’d like to see added.
It uses a lower wattage of power and has a smaller surface area designed to retain heat, meaning it can operate much more efficiently.
We suggest going with a 6.5L slow cooker for a family of four – a 3.5L might just about work, but it’ll be tight with no leftovers and particularly bulky recipes may be problematic.
No, this isn’t a good idea from a food safety perspective. It’s better to prepare your food in a dish and put that in the fridge overnight, then decant this into the slow cooker in the morning.
Technically yes but we still advise not to, and it’s an absolute no with meat.
Whilst it will cook your food, a slow cooker isn’t really designed to cook from frozen – there’s a real danger your food defrosts unevenly and as a result isn’t necessarily cooked though (or cooks unevenly).
It is much safer to have food fully defrosted before putting it in a slow cooker, and I would not advise doing anything else.
Yes! Whilst you’ll need a slow cooker of a big enough size to cook your roast they can cook bigger items really well.
No, you won’t generally need to unless you get the odd recipe calls for it.
The slow cooker simmer point with some liquid won’t be hot enough to cause your food to burn (even on high), but removing the lid to stir will result in heat loss that will generally add about half an hour to cooking time.
You shouldn’t put in leftovers for a start (use the microwave instead) as slow heating already cooked food isn’t the best approach from a food safety standpoint.
Beyond that, it doesn’t particularly do pasta very well (use the hob for this instead)
Delicate vegetables with higher water content (peas, peppers etc.) can become mushy in a full slow cook cycle. If you need to use these, most recipes will suggest adding these in to cook only at the very last bit of the cook time.
Yes, as long as you’ve bought one from a reputable brand they are designed to operate safely at low temperature for a long time.
We always recommend leaving your cooker on low when out in any case.
A smart plug like this one can be a really good idea for that – you can turn on the slow cooker then set it via your phone to only power on at certain times – gets around needing a timer function.
You’ll just need to make sure your slow cooker will activate on power being received (the Morphy Richards Sear and Stew does this).
Any questions?
We’d love to hear from you if you have any questions about slow cookers or want to share the best things that you’ve made with them! Just drop us a note in the comments below.
And that’s it!
Thank you for reading! You can sign up below to get our new articles delivered to you on a range of financial topics, or remember you can follow our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.
