Sluggish cooking means you’ll be able to take advantage of cheaper cuts of meat and budget-priced components equivalent to beans, lentils and root greens. A gradual cooker additionally helps retain all of the goodness within the meals cooked, making meals more healthy while delivering the utmost flavours typically misplaced in sooner cooking strategies.
Sluggish cookers are straightforward to make use of, with only a few settings, although some have handy additions equivalent to searing, steaming or maintaining heat, which is useful for latecomers.
Sluggish cooker recipes are massively widespread and can be utilized to prepare dinner a variety of scrumptious stews, casseroles, soups and curries, in addition to much less apparent dishes equivalent to yogurt, grains, dhal and puddings. Learn on to study extra concerning the completely different sorts of gradual cookers available on the market.
The most recent additions had been examined and reviewed by Elaine Lemm.
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Finest gradual cookers 2025 at a look
Finest gradual cooker: Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker rice and gradual cooker MC1101UK, £99.99Best gradual cooker for batch cooking: On the spot Pot 7.1L gradual cooker 7.1L, £124.99Best giant gradual cooker: Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker 8L gradual cooker, £149.99Best multi-cooker gradual cooker: Ninja 9-in-1 multicooker OP350UK, £229.99Best gradual cooker with timer: Morphy Richards EasyTime, £64.99Best gradual cooker for entertaining: GreenPan Elite 8-in-1 gradual cooker, £198.95Best small gradual cooker: Crock Pot Carry & Serve digital gradual cooker, £35Best finances gradual cooker: Daewoo gradual cooker, £28.99Best hob-safe gradual cooker: Crock Pot Sizzle and Stew, £48.99Best gradual cooker with automated features: Crock Pot Time Choose, £63.58Best no-nonsense gradual cooker: Tower 3.5L Cavaletto Sluggish Cooker, £34.99
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Finest gradual cookers to purchase in 2025
Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker Rice and Sluggish Cooker MC1101UK
Accessible from Very (£99), Home equipment Direct (£99), AO (£99), Ninja (£99.99), Currys (£99.99)
Finest gradual cooker
Professionals:
VersatileHob-style searing functionEasy to useFully recyclable packagingAccessories included
Cons:
Exterior will get very popular in use
Star score: 5/5
Wattage: 1400W
With no hob-safe cooking pot, searing your meat earlier than it goes within the gradual cooker typically comes with the admin of getting to switch it from one vessel to a different – creating twice the quantity of washing-up. Ninja solves this concern with its latest six-litre gradual cooker, which has sear/sauté performance, in addition to settings for steam, pasta and porridge.
We have examined loads of gradual cookers over the past 5 years, and this mannequin is definitely among the many finest we have ever used. Its easy push-button interface and brightly lit digital display screen are a doddle to navigate – even newcomers want solely look on the handbook to get a deal with on use it.
Because the title suggests, the PossibleCooker doubles up as a rice cooker too, providing particular presets for white and brown rice, in addition to equipment like a rice spoon and measuring cup, that will help you obtain fluffy outcomes each time.
Maybe the one gripe we had was that the outside will get very popular in use, so watch that young children do not come close to it. That mentioned, there’s a daring security warning on the cooker base that serves as a useful reminder.
Accessible from:
On the spot Pot Superior Sluggish Cooker 7.1L
Accessible from Amazon (£79), On the spot Pot (£79.99), Currys (£79.99)
Professionals:
Sear and prepare dinner in oneServe the pot straight to the tableEasy to cleanSimple to useSturdy building
Cons:
Extreme non-sustainable plastic packaging
Star score: 5/5
Wattage: 800W
Lifting the On the spot Pot gradual cooker from its field, we had been delighted to discover a strong, well-built giant cooker full with a glass lid plus an interior pot that goes from kitchen to desk. This cooker is massive at a whopping 7.1-litre capability and dishes up ten parts, and we instantly noticed it as the proper companion for batch cooking.
Utilizing the On the spot Pot couldn’t have been simpler. There are 4 features: sear, steam, gradual prepare dinner and preserve heat. Sluggish cooking excessive and low warmth; sear, which is finished within the cooker and saves on washing up; steam is beneficial for delicate meals equivalent to fish, and preserve heat, is good for latecomers, second parts and events to maintain scorching meals heat.
We cooked a scrumptious beef stew and had been thrilled with the outcomes. The meat was meltingly tender; the gravy was shiny and thickened by the gradual discount and tender greens. If you’re cooking for a big quantity or like to batch-cook your meals, that is the gradual cooker for you.
Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker 8-in-1 gradual cooker
Finest giant gradual cooker
Professionals:
Consists of serving spoon and steam rackExtra-large 8-litre cooking potFully recyclable packagingTender leads to brief time
Cons:
Giant countertop footprintExterior will get scorching in use
Star score: 5/5
Wattage: 1200W
This extra-large gradual cooker from Ninja has sear, sauté, simmer and braise amongst its eight features, and at eight litres, it is the proper dimension for batch-cooking or feeding a crowd – although keep in mind it takes up a good bit of room. We cherished the huge cooking pot, which has stay-cool handles so you’ll be able to seamlessly switch it from the kitchen to the dinner desk.
Whereas safe on the worktop, we discovered the remainder of the gradual cooker will get very popular in use, significantly when utilizing the sear/sauté perform, so it is price maintaining children and pets away. Navigating the controls is a breeze, and we relied on the handbook little or no. An built-in spoon and steam rack are thrown in, too.
We put the performance of this gradual cooker to the take a look at by cooking a venison madras, which was completely tender and filled with flavour after 4 and a half hours on ‘excessive’. The veg was additionally mushy with some agency chunk, and the sauce was thick with out being too dry.
Price to run on excessive for one hour: 4.38p (primarily based on a tariff of twenty-two.36p/kWh)
Ninja 9-in-1 multicooker OP350UK
Finest multi-cooker gradual cooker
Professionals:
9 features in a single countertop cookerAccompanying recipe bookClear directions
Cons:
Requires an extra gradual cooker lidLarge footprint for storage
Star score: 5/5
Wattage: 1460W
This can be a newer, extra refined step-up from Ninja Foodi’s 6-in-1 multicooker, packing in 9 features for performing key kitchen duties, plus a pair for enjoyable. We’re speaking gradual cooking (which could be very user-friendly) searing/sautéing, air-crisping, grilling, dehydrating, baking/roasting, yogurt-making, strain cooking and steaming. It has a modern-feel with intuitive controls and an outer casing that solely will get heat to the contact, moderately than excessively scorching. It is the final word kitchen gadget.
Learn our full Ninja Foodi 9-in-1 6-litre multicooker evaluate.
Morphy Richards Straightforward Time Sluggish Cooker
Finest gradual cooker with timer
Professionals:
Hob-safe cooking potAuto-keep heat settingEasy to make use of controlsClear countdown timerNon-stick potLid kinds a superb seal
Cons:
Pot not appropriate for induction
Star score: 5/5
Wattage: 130 – 163W
Easy, handbook gradual cookers are nice for the job at hand, however typically the one factor lacking to raise them (with out overcomplicating issues) is a timer. The Straightforward Time gradual cooker ticks that field. It comes with three settings: excessive, medium and low, and has an automated timer that runs for as much as 12 hours in one-hour increments. Everyone knows that life can throw us curveballs, so when you’re not in a position to get house earlier than the timer is up, the Straightforward Time gradual cooker will preserve your meals on the optimum temperature for 2 hours. A fundamental gradual cooker, with just a bit bit additional.
Learn our full Morphy Richards Straightforward Time Sluggish Cooker evaluate.
GreenPan Elite 8-in-1 gradual cooker
Finest gradual cooker for entertaining
Professionals:
AttractiveEasy to maneuver aroundUseful, intuitive designOutside stays cool
Cons:
Timer somewhat inconsistent
Star score: 4.5/5
Wattage: 1350W
Marking their first foray into the world of home equipment, this gradual cooker from GreenPan impressed us with its wealth of settings and sensible cooking outcomes. There are excessive or low slow-cooking settings, in addition to steam, reheat and simmer/buffet, making it good for entertaining.
There’s no want to achieve for separate pans when prepping meals for this gradual cooker; it’s outfitted with a strong and even brown/sauté setting, which means something that must be seared forward of time will be finished straight within the cooking pot.
We cooked a beef stew on this gradual cooker. We loved superbly tender meat, mushy carrots that retained somewhat chunk, in addition to a richly flavoured sauce. The sauce was somewhat on the skinny facet on the finish of the cooking time, however decreased properly after half an hour on the simmer/buffet setting.
Regardless of this mannequin being from GreenPan, it misplaced factors for the quantity of difficult-to-recycle plastic packaging it got here with – a disappointing oversight from a model that places sustainability on the forefront.
Price to run on excessive for one hour: 2.62p (primarily based on a tariff of 16.6p/kWh)
Crock Pot Carry & Serve digital gradual cooker
Finest small gradual cooker
Professionals:
AttractiveRobust designHinged lidCan prepare dinner for as much as 20 hoursValue price ticket
Cons:
Lack of element in manualSome controls will be confusingBeeper is just too quiet
Star score: 4.5/5
Wattage: 300W
Crock Pot is the title synonymous with gradual cookers, and this compact 3.5-litre gadget is a strong selection for these with restricted kitchen house. It has a easy interface and durable design, and alongside the same old high and low settings, there’s additionally a keep-warm perform that switches on mechanically as soon as the timer has ended.
The timer itself is frustratingly quiet, a lot in order that we missed it going off the primary time. A number of the controls additionally confused us – the button that appears like an ‘on/off’ change is definitely simply an ‘off’ change, and we failed to search out any reference to this within the handbook.
On the plus facet, the hinged lid allowed us to verify in on our dishes with out leaving splatters or drips of condensation on the worktop. We additionally loved the meat stew we made on this gradual cooker: the veg was somewhat too mushy, however the meat was tender and the sauce was wealthy and thick.
Price to run on excessive for one hour: 2.92p (primarily based on a tariff of 16.6p/kWh)
Daewoo gradual cooker
Finest finances gradual cooker
Professionals:
Two-year warrantyDishwasher-safe pot and lidThree warmth settings
Cons:
‘Hold heat’ setting is not essentially the most highly effective
Star score: 4.5/5
Wattage: 160W
Regardless of the value and its comparatively low cost metal outer, the Daewoo is a front-runner for its potential to prepare dinner gently, creating deliciously tender meat chunks for beef stew and softened greens in a single day with out singeing across the inside. This can be a 160W gradual cooker with the capability to feed a household of 4, or two with leftovers the subsequent day.
Learn our full Daewoo 3.5-litre gradual cooker evaluate.
Crock Pot Sizzle and Stew
Finest hob-safe gradual cooker
Professionals:
Giant capacityMain pot can be utilized on the hobSimple designDishwasher-safe pot
Cons:
Carrots nonetheless somewhat firmNo recipes in handbook
Star score: 4.5/5
Wattage: 180W
The Sizzle and Stew is a superb instance of Crock Pot’s easy however efficient engineering. This mannequin has a big 6.5L capability, supreme for large households, meal-preppers or when entertaining. Not like different fashions that include a hefty ceramic bowl, the Sizzle and Stew’s pot is constructed from heavy-duty aluminium.
This pot is hob-safe (gasoline and electrical), which means you’ll be able to sear any meat or prepare dinner components on the hob earlier than transferring it to the gradual cooker. Not solely does this save on the washing-up, but it surely additionally means you don’t lose any flavour.
Learn our full Crock Pot Sizzle and Stew evaluate.
Crock Pot Time Choose
Finest gradual cooker with automated features
Professionals:
A lot of helpful functionsBowl and lid dishwasher and oven-safeCapacity markings on bowl
Cons:
Star score: 4.5/5
Wattage: 240W
One other mannequin from well-known model, Crock Pot. The Time Choose is much more high-tech than the Sizzle and Stew above, however nonetheless produced incredible outcomes. This mannequin options automated cooking features for meat, poultry, soup and greens. Merely choose your essential ingredient, enter the burden and desired end time, and the Time Choose will mechanically alter the cooking time and temperature of the components to get one of the best outcomes. To your much-loved tried-and-tested recipes, there’s additionally a handbook setting.
Learn our full Crock Pot Time Choose evaluate.
Tower 3.5L Cavaletto Sluggish Cooker
Finest no-nonsense gradual cooker
Professionals:
Accessible in a variety of designsSimple to useDishwasher-safe pot
Cons:
Star score: 4/5
Wattage: 210W
This compact little gradual cooker from Tower is a fuss-free choice. It’s a modest choice owing to the three easy settings: low, excessive and preserve heat, but it surely will get the fundamentals proper. The design is straightforward, however when you’re wanting so as to add a pop of color along with your new gradual cooker, this one is accessible in pink and navy blue, in addition to easy black and gray.
Setting this mannequin up is straightforward to do and it dealt with our beef stew recipe with ease; the meat was tender and the veggies nonetheless had some chunk. Our solely quibble was that the sauce was nonetheless somewhat watery.
Learn our full Tower 3.5L Cavaletto Sluggish Cooker evaluate.
Different gradual cookers tried and examined
What to look out for when shopping for a gradual cooker
With so many various gradual cookers on the market, choosing the proper one for you will be complicated. Listed below are a number of questions you may wish to contemplate.
Design: Are you on the lookout for a easy, budget-friendly choice that simply slow-cooks (however does it extraordinarily effectively) or one thing extra versatile that sous-vides, strain cooks, bakes and roasts too? Do keep in mind that the extra technological the gradual cooker, the upper the value.Dimension: With sizes beginning at 1-litre by means of to a whopping 6.5-litres, choosing the proper dimension for you is crucial. The smallest sizes are appropriate when cooking for one or two. 3-litres to 4.5-litres (one of the widespread sizes available on the market) serve 4, and the big 6-6.5-litre fashions are tremendous for households and batch cooking. It is also price taking into consideration that the capability acknowledged on the gross sales blurb is the scale of the bowl, not the working capability, which might generally be half that.Area: A gradual cooker takes up house on the worktop and within the cabinet. There are two shapes, the spherical and tall, which has much less of a footprint, and the oval, which takes up extra room however will be extra versatile.
Find out how to use a gradual cooker
No liquid escapes from a gradual cooker, so when adapting a recipe not particularly written for a gradual cooker, cut back any added liquid by a 3rd.Do not take away the lid too typically to keep away from warmth loss.The interior pot must be at room temperature earlier than you begin cooking. When you’ve stored a gradual cooker dish within the fridge, you will need to look ahead to it to heat up earlier than turning it on.Sluggish cookers fluctuate significantly, so observe your producer’s handbook for pointers on temperatures and cooking occasions.Rice and pasta dishes work finest cooked on excessive for the shortest time potential. All the time use easy-cook rice, rinsed effectively first – the extra starch you rinse from the rice, the higher the completed consequence.Take time to brown your meat very well. Sluggish cookers are likely to leach meat of its color, so it’s essential for look and flavour that they’re effectively browned to begin with. Flavours will not turn into extra concentrated as a result of the liquid would not cut back, so attempt to pack in as a lot flavour as you’ll be able to.
How we examined gradual cookers
We put many of the gradual cookers by means of their paces by cooking Good Meals’s gradual cooker beef stew recipe, and used a venison madras recipe for the newest fashions on this information. Because the meat requires searing earlier than cooking, if we had been in a position to do that straight within the cooking pot, we did so. We regarded for 3 key qualities in our closing stews: tender and succulent meat, effectively cooked greens that retained some chunk, and a flavoursome, barely thickened sauce.
We additionally scored the gradual cookers towards the next standards:
Capability and dimension: the bowl capability and the footprint for utilizing and storing within the kitchenHeat retention: how the cooker holds warmth for security on the worktop and whether or not the meals catches or burnsEase of use: how straightforward it’s to assemble and useFunctions: further features on the gradual cooker together with browning, reheating, lowering and whether or not it’s hob or oven-safeVersatility: does the cooker make a variety of dishes?High quality of fabric: the fabric and the development of the machinesDesign options: the kind of lid, handles, automated warming, countdown timer and indicator lightsFinished outcomes: the tenderness of the meat and greens, the consistency of the cooked sauce and the warmth of the meals when servingManual: how useful was the instruction guide and did it embody recipes?Sustainability: extreme use of plastic in packaging was scored negatively. We wished to see manufacturers pointing us within the route of spare elements and transparency round recycle the product after use and the place the product was made.
We take a look at lots of of merchandise from kitchen home equipment, cooking instruments and meals yearly – learn extra about how we take a look at merchandise.
All costs-to-run calculations had been measured towards the variable tariff on the time of testing (16.6p/kWh), which has since modified – learn extra on the present vitality value assure charges.
Sluggish cooker recipes
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