Slow Cooker at Aldi

[Clair]

Aldi have a big slow-cooker (6 l) on sale Sat. 9 Feb.

The one I have is 3l and I can just about fit a 1.2kg whole chicken with chunks of leeks, celery and carrots, and enough water to get 1 litre of stock.

Considering the price of a branded mijoteuse in French shops, it might be worth buying...

[Chancer]

Identical to my Tesco one but a lot more expensive.

Highly recommended though!

My word I have just seen the prices of those in your link [:-))]

I would say that the Aldi and Tesco ones are identical to the Kenwood one although it does pretend to be 65 litres!!!!

I have a biryani sitting in mine at the moment soaking up the flavours for finishing off on Wednesday.

[Patf]

Sounds like a bargain Clair. I have one which I use regularly, and at that price could afford a back-up!

[mint]

Hey, someone, quick, tell me how you would use it and what you would cook in t?  Before Saturday, SVP [:)]

[Clair]

[quote user="Patf"]Sounds like a bargain Clair. I have one which I use regularly, and at that price could afford a back-up![/quote]

Just what I'm thinking too... and I could do with a larger model.

I use mine a couple of times a week at the moment. I did a whole chicken yesterday and I plan on cooking pork loin in milk tomorrow...

I bought a similar model (also from Aldi) a few years ago for a French neighbour who had seen mine, but I had to return it to the shop. I think there must have been 2 heating elements around the inside of the outer casing, and one of them just wouldn't work, so only half the cooker was heating up.

No problem when I asked for a refund.

PS: recipe links added for Sweet's benefit [:)]

[Clair]

[quote user="sweet 17"]Hey, someone, quick, tell me how you would use it and what you would cook in t?  Before Saturday, SVP [:)][/quote]

During the summer, It helps me use up the garden produce like tomatoes, courgettes and peppers.

I use my slow-cooker to make a version of ratatouille (without aubergines though, as I can't stand them!). Stick them in with onions, garlic and some herbs, turn the thing on and do whatever for a few hours, then cool and freeze for the winter.

Also very useful to turn tomatoes into a nice and plain tomato sauce for freezing.

[mint]

Thanks for the links, Clair.

BTW, this evening Michel Roux cooked a wonderful-looking pork rib joint with crackling you can hear when they cut into it!  Made me want to detour to the butcher's on my way to French class tomorrow.

[Clair]

[quote user="sweet 17"]BTW, this evening Michel Roux cooked a wonderful-looking pork rib joint with crackling you can hear when they cut into it![/quote]

The worms were crunchy too!![:-))]

[woolybanana]

Nothing like a good crunch

[Patf]

SW17 - I've just put on a beef and bean stew:

Soak beans overnight - I used haricots de Tarbes.

Fry up some cubed stewing meat with chopped onions, herbs.

Add drained beans , chopped tomatoes, beef stock to cover.

Then I poured this into the pre-warmed slow cooker and will leave it like that until this evening.

Add s&p at the end, to taste.

Hopefully by then the beans will be soft. You can also substitute tinned baked beans in tomato sauce.

I made a lot so will put into plastic bags and freeze.

[mint]

Pat, I swear I can smell your beef hotpot from here!

After reading your post, I rushed to make something similar with some chicken pieces in the fridge.  I didn't do the beans, but I had lots of veg including peppers.  Did it on top of the hob in a large pan.  Used tinned tomatoes because I don't buy many fresh tomatoes in the winter on account of the price and the lack of flavour.  Oh, I had some smoked sausage from the Alsace so I sliced some into the mixture.   

Cooked salmon poached in milk (nicking the milk idea from Clair's link) for OH.

I will go down to Aldi and have a look at the pot.  I am not sure if I do need one as I bought a remoska last year and it's so cheap to cook with bottled gas that I am not sure it will save me money  in fuel to have a slow cooker.

You know, that's about the one thing I really miss from our other house and that is the wood stove.  I swear that if I put some old boot soles into that oven, they would come out tender and delicious!

[Clair]

[quote user="sweet 17"]... I am not sure it will save me money  in fuel to have a slow cooker.[/quote]

For me, the slow cooker isn't so much about saving money as it is knowing I'll have a few meals ready to eat or to freeze, with minimal input and attention on my part by just putting something in the slow-cooker and leaving it to do its thing, unattended, for several hours, all day or all night.

[mint]

Oh, I see now, Clair, all day and all night unattended does sound tremendously tempting!

Thank you for explaining. 

[Ivor Nidea]

I bought a Cocotte from Aldi a month or so ago and it's brilliant for slow cooking.

My favourite is Tunisian Lamb Stew Surprise. "Surprise" because I can rarely afford to buy lamb so I use chicken, pork or beef depending on what takes my fancy.

2 chicken legs

A bit of flour

Couple of onions

Some garlic

Quite a bit of fresh chopped ginger

2 tsp cumin

3 tbs tomato paste (or one small tin)

1 chilli (with or without seeds)

2 tsp ground coriander

Tin of tomato's

Enough chicken stock to make it worthwhile.

A bit of honey and some sultanas.

This will do a couple of meals.

Stick it on the woodstove at about 2pm, ready at 5 or 6.

Cook some rice on the woodstove in a separate saucepan to go with it.

It also does two other jobs. It makes the house smell nicely and you can whizz up the remaining juice for a tasty soup. My dog loves Tunisian Lamb Stew Surprise Chicken Skin.

I also cook a joint of pork with apples in the pot, and it makes a lovely curry.

[Clair]

[quote user="sweet 17"]... the one thing I really miss from our other house and that is the wood stove.  I swear that if I put some old boot soles into that oven, they would come out tender and delicious![/quote]

That's what slow-cookers do. They're ideal for long, slow stewing at a low

temperature (80-140°C).

For info, most slow-cookers (like the one in the Aldi link) have 3 setting: Low, High and Auto.

Slow cookers only have one temperature. The settings are for how fast it will work to maintain the heat.

Low = slow cooking

High = faster cooking and although this setting increases the speed (and wattage used) to reach the max temperature, it is slow when compared to an oven.

Auto = automatic fast start (High) to reach max temp quickly, then automatic switch to slow cooking (Low).

Avoid lifting the lid, as it can take 20 mn for the cooker to recover from the heat loss each time the lid is removed.

[Judith]

[quote user="sweet 17"]Hey, someone, quick, tell me how you would use it and what you would cook in t?  Before Saturday, SVP [:)][/quote]

As much as I can - soup, casseroles, fruit .... I have 4 of different sizes and would not be withoout them - anything that needs long slow cooking is perfect.

Some of mine cook more quickly than others, so I have got to knww what to put in which and also depending on time available .

I like you, I still miss my wood burning cooker which I too left behind when we moved!

At least you can now find them in France - when I first came you could not find them, hence mine are all English bought with an adaptor for each - and yes, I have had all 4 on at once, once!

[Russethouse]

I use mine for cooking and reheating Christmas pudding,(and lots of other things, soup today for instance) it doesn't use up a valuable 'ring' and is there is no steam to worry about.

[mint]

Lovely replies, thanks everybody.

Right, off to Aldi on Saturday then.  Our Aldi is only about 4 or 5 km down the road and I think I'll buy one of their chickens at the same time.  Very good value free-range chicken, can't remember the exact price but certainly below 5 euros a kilo.

[Judith]

Lakeland have big slow cookers (said to be 3.5l) for £29.99, which look rather similar to the Aldi one, so this is a good price, but I rather doubt the capacity stated in the Aldi one as I cannot see much difference in size of the two. 

The Lakeland one at 5.7l, looks much different (completely different bowl shape and front design) and costs £64.99 - which reinforces the above statement.

[Clair]

[quote user="Judith"]Lakeland have big slow cookers (said to be 3.5l) for £29.99, which look rather similar to the Aldi one, so this is a good price, but I rather doubt the capacity stated in the Aldi one as I cannot see much difference in size of the two.  [/quote]

Having bought (and returned) one before, I can reassure you that the slow-cooker is indeed 6 l.

In fact, the elderly neighbour I had bought it for was very concerned at the time that it would be too big for her to lift when filled.

[Clair]

[quote user="sweet 17"]Hey, someone, quick, tell me how you would use it and what you would cook in t?  Before Saturday, SVP [:)][/quote]

More inspiration:

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/r80231/Slow-Cooked-Green-Olive-and-Lemon-Chicken

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/r80072/Slow-cooked-lamb-and-carrot-casserole-with-barley

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/r80332/Cream-of-Celeriac-Soup

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/r80423/Mexican-Pull-Apart-Pork

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/r80410/Lamb-Stew-with-Artichoke-and-Peas

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/r80377/Spiced-Chicken-with-Dates-and-Chickpeas

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/r80330/Ribollita-Soup

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/r80397/Soured-Cream-Cheesecake

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/r80358/Spicy-Lentil-Soup

[mint]

Ah, Clair, I am converted!

You're not a Jehovah's Witness by any chance?

[5-element]

I must be the only one for whom a slow-cooker has been a terrible disappointment. So much so that after trying 3 different stews, I have now put it away in the garage and don't even know which kind it is - I'd bought it off an acquaintance at a vide-grenier, she was getting rid off a lot of kitchen equipment. It's a very basic crock one (and like Clair says, I remember the 3 different settings high-auto-low).

I remember what I didn't like about it is that I had to have all the ingredients ready beforehand, and couldn't add this or that to change the flavour - like I do with ordinary cooking.

The results of my slow-cooking experiments were all rather tasteless, compared to what I usually make. [:(]

I have no idea where I went wrong, I followed instructions!

Still, it's too late for my miserable post to put you off Sweet, so now I am awaiting with baited breath to see how you fare with your brand new Aldi slow cooker, I wish you a resounding success!

[woolybanana]

I seem to remember that one has to put some herbs and some spices in towards the end to get the best results.

[Kitty]

Like RH, I also use my slow cooker for Christmas pudding.  I pour in hot water and place the pudding (in a basin) in the slow cooker on Christmas morning.  I then leave it in there until after the main course and hey presto, it is steamed.  Perfect.