Another slow cooker

I love slow cookers, they are a very easy way to turn cheap cuts of meat into deliciousness, and because the cooking is so gentle, it is almost impossible to spoil something by overcooking it.

Up to now, I have used a very small slow cooker – only a litre – which is great for a single guy – it turns out 1-2 portions of food, depending on my appetite. Most often, I will have a good plateful for my dinner, and then either have a smaller portion for my lunch, or freeze it for another time.

However, today I had the chance a good deal on a large – 6.5 litre – Morphy Richard Sear and Stew. This differs from normal slow cookers in that the pot is non-stick aluminium, and can be used on the hob to brown meat as well as in the slow cooker – true one-pot cookery.

So what is a single guy, living alone, going to do with a 6.5L cooker? Well, there are several designs on the internet for a hobbyist sous-vide setup, using a slow cooker and an Arduino, to control it at low temperatures. For that you need a pot bigger than my little 1 litre model. Also, as I host my boardgame group’s monthly get-together, I am frequently cooking lunch for anything from 12-18 people. While the BBQ makes this easy to do when the weather is fair, 25 quid is worth it just for easy-to-cook chillies and stews for that number. Plus, it will take a whole chicken or ham in one go!