The only downside I found with the design was that the base material was quite tinny and thin, which made it feel a bit flimsier than other slow cookers I've tested. That said, this means it's pleasingly light, so it's easy to manoeuvre around the kitchen, even when it has the ceramic pot inside. The controls tend to be similar on most slow cookers with a ‘low’ setting for longer, slower cooking throughout the day and a ‘high’ setting for faster cooking with similar slow-cooked results.

You can place the cooking pot in the dishwasher or wash by hand fairly easily. The Ninja Foodi Multi-Cooker also has a basket insert and can be used to air fry other treats when not in use as a slow cooker. Is this the future of slow cooking? We think so.Basic slow cookers won’t get hot enough to sauté meat or vegetables, so you’ll need to do this in a pan before transferring the contents to the bowl. However, more expensive models offer a different one-pot solution. This can either be bowls that you use on your hob or in your oven in place of a pan (some will even be induction compatible). They will need to be moved to the slow cooker base. Machines with a sauté function for high-heat browning can simply be switched to slow cooking.

Not quite what you’re looking for? Discover more ways to make tasty hearty meals using our vast range of air fryers to microwaves, you can find everything you need at Robert Dyas. Find more ways to save on energy around the home with our super handy blog post. You can activate a keep warm setting to keep your food ready for as long as six hours after your cooking mode has finished. The sear mode took only a few minutes to pre-heat and we were able to brown our onions before adding curry ingredients, which delivered a lot of extra flavour.The slow cooker's 'reduce' function was useful for bubbling away excess liquid after slow cooking.

How easy is the Tower 3.5L Cavaletto Slow Cooker to clean?

As with many slow cookers, the inner pot can't be used on the hob (although it is oven safe), so I did need to sear meat and soften vegetables in a separate pan on my hob first before adding them to the pot. This did create a bit of extra work with washing up, but it wasn't too much of a chore. Tower is an iconic British brand boasting over 100 years of quality in manufacturing and design excellence. Tower is the UK’s fastest growing SDA & Housewares brand loved by millions of households Some things can deter us all from cooking. Having to transfer food from a pan to a pot, cleaning up or that annoying puddle of water you get from putting the lid down on the worktop when it comes to the best slow cookers. If that's you, you need this model, which can act as a cooker and a serving pot that you can plonk down straight on the dining table. This function starts your cooking off on a high setting before automatically reducing the temperature to the low setting for the remainder of the cooking time. I have had a slow cooker for over 24 years ( a Tower 3 litre). Still going strong. But decided on this as an addition as have found the 3 litre capactiy often insufficient. So opted for this 6.5 litre monster! I often like to cook bigger batches and freeze some. But I will still keep the smaller one for smaller batches!

This function can be found on the majority of slow cookers, helping to retain the temperature of your food without cooking it further – handy when you’re struggling to round up the family! The Ninja Foodi Multi-Cooker is certainly mighty, but if you like your gadgets it could be a great investment. You can of course just use this multi-cooker as a slow cooker, for which it has a generous 6 litre capacity, but you can also take advantage of the sear setting to brown meat and veggies before slow cooking for a more rich flavour.

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Helps to retain natural moisture and minerals whilst serving as a large viewing window to keep an eye on your cooking The advantage of this is not leaving all that lovely seared flavour behind in a pan, and it reduces washing-up. Finally, look for a slow cooker with a transparent lid, so you can keep an eye on your food’s progress. Lifting the lid of a slow cooker while it’s in use lets out heat and steam, prolonging cooking time. It’s always best to be able to see what’s going on without doing so. Are slow cookers easy to clean?