Slow cookers?

They are great for things like stews etc.

I have a Tefal 3 in 1 (slow cooker, rice cooker and steamer), which was a gift from my mum. I wouldn't really recommend it for the slow cooker alone as there is no low-medium-high settings, which sometimes recipes asks for. It does the job though and steams vegetables beautifully.

I would buy something like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Morphy-Richards-48721-Cooker-Black/dp/B0010YPB2M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1234886277&sr=8-2 if I was buying one myself as I would like the ceramic pot and temp control

They seem to be quite popular on here so I'm sure you'll get more positive responses shortly, but I'm not a fan. I have found that they "taint" the food cooked in them- i.e. it has a particular "slow-cooker" taste which one wouldn't get using the same ingredients in an oven. I much prefer casseroles/stews etc cooked conventionally in a low oven to the slow cooker. I've tried two brands so I don't think it was a flaw relating to my particular machine. However, given the situation with your wood fired oven it might be worth you trying a cheap one- like I say, plenty of people on here enthuse about them. It just wasn't for me.

They are fab and Tesco are selling one for £12 odd It looked pretty ok to me.

I love my slow cooker, Its a CrockPot one and its a breeze to work. Shove everything in it in the morning, come home to a lovely stew. It has 3 settings, low, high and keep warm

Another slow cooker fan here, i use mine about 3 times a week

Mine's an ancient Tefal that my mate gave me, along with half the rest of her kitchen, when she decided she didn't want 'green' anymore.

Wouldn't be without it, some weeks it's not switched off at all.

Have you thought about a small, tabletop oven? We use one in France instead of a big oven for pretty much everything precicely because it gets too hot in the summer.

You can get really nice ones by Krups and Cuisinart - you can make them work as a normal oven, a grill etc. and they don't have anywhere near the warming effect on the room as a main oven.

The other thing is, in the summer, I'm not really big on long-cooked stews, and I think a smaller oven is more versatile.

I'm cooking chilli ginger chicken in mine at the moment! It's only the 2nd time I've used it though... seems ok for everyday cooking but I wouldn't use it for special occaisions or if we have guests.

From What Seraphina said would you be better with a Remoska?

Mmm, maybe a slow cooker isn't the best option. A table top oven is not really an option as it will cause our electricity to trip (we only have solar-charged batteries).

Will look into a remoska as I haven't seen one of those before!

I agree with this, my mum used to cook loads of stuff in a Crock Pot and it all tasted the same.

I think its me but i dont "get" them, and for a quick casserole i d just use a pressure cooker. you get the effect of 3 hour stewing in about 50 minutes, and that includes the time it takes to get to pressure. i know some people love slow cookers though, so i ts probably just me.

I'm also not impressed. I think I might be doing it wrong, but everything I've made in ours is just vile and tastes of slow cooker ?

We have one we got as an engagement present that I have never used. Le Crueset in the oven is grand for me.

I'll RAHK it to you if you want to try it.

If electricity consumption is a problem, try a remoska - I'm not sure a mini oven type thing would be that gentle on electricity.

Otherwise for stews, i would go for a pressure cooker.

I'm glad it's not just me that doesn't get slow cookers - in particular I'm not sure how any vegetables stand up to being cooked for that long.