Slow cooker

[annachan]

I've had one of those cheap, $10 ones for several years and it's treated me well. It did what it needed to do without giving me any troubles.

Now that I'm in Australia, I thought I can just pick a cheap one and be happy with it like before. I was WRONG! I got one of the cheapest, $35 for 5L model, at the store. This thing is a piece of sh*t! I've been cooking a pot of bolognese (2 lb grounded kangaroo, carrot, onion, celery, garlic, tomato products) for 10 hours (on and off) on HIGH. The vegetables (1/2 to 3/4 inch dice) are still barely cooked. I mean, I can smash the carrots with a wooden spoon, but need to use some force. The garlic has not fallen apart. This is extremely slow for a slow cooker!

So, this slow cooker will be returned to the store very soon (as soon as my bolognese is done!). Any suggestion on which slow cooker to get over here in Australia? I would really like to keep it under $100.

TIA!

[ChrisZ]

Hi Anna,

I've been casually looking at slow cookers for the past few months, but have yet to choose one. Can you let me know which brand you bought (and where from) so I can avoid the same mistake?

I browsed the Egullet forums for advice and one thing I read was to look for a slow cooker that had a variable thermostat, rather than a simple low/hi setting. However I haven't seen a single slow cooker with that feature! Even the really expensive ones are just low/hi.

In Australia there is a magazine called "Choice" which reviews products after testing them thoroughly. A search on the Choice website found a review of 15 different slow cookers, ranging in price between $44 and $200. Unfortunately I'm not a subscriber, so I couldn't skip straight to the results, but if you have a local library they will almost certainly have the magazine and you will be able to read it there. I'll have a look next time I'm near my own local library, because I'm just as interested in what they recommend and luckily I'm not in a hurry to buy.

For free you can look at other review sites on the internet, which can be interesting but they're not unbiased or very thorough.

But I'll probably end up going for one of the usual suspects in the mid-price range - Breville or Sunbeam.

[annachan]

I saw that same article on Choice! But also not a subscriber and not sure I want/need to do that. I also saw the reviews on the other review site you listed. Just wasn't sure how reliable since most of them have very few reviews.

The brand is Homemaker; I got it from Kmart.

I think I'll end up with a Breville as well. I saw it at Bing Lee and on Peter of Kensington's website. I'll see if Bing Lee will give me the lower price.

[ChrisTaylor]

'Homemaker' is, I think, Kmart's home brand. For future reference: cheap rubbish. You can get a Cuisinart for a touch over $100 from KitchenwareDirect. They're supposed to be good.

[annachan]

'Homemaker' is, I think, Kmart's home brand. For future reference: cheap rubbish. You can get a Cuisinart for a touch over $100 from KitchenwareDirect. They're supposed to be good.

Slow cookers just aren't things I thought I needed to spend tons of money on. It's really not a complicated machine. The cheap store brand ones in the US generally work just fine. I guess that is not the case here so I'll just have to pay more for one that works....or just don't bother with one.

I also bought a Homemaker rice cooker ($30) and it's been working fine. I just didn't have the heart to spend $200 on a Japanese model, even though that's all I would use in the US as I can get them for much less.

[ChrisTaylor]

Kitchen appliances are stupidly expensive here. Just wait until you see how much they want to sting you for a KitchenAid mixer.

EDIT

Oh and books (i.e. cookbooks). Never buy locally. Even when I worked in a bookshop and had (well, I still have it) a 30% discount card at two of the major book retailers, it was still almost always cheaper--often by a fair amount--to buy from Book Depository or sometimes Amazon (depending on the exchange rate).

Edited January 30, 2011 by ChrisTaylor (log)

[mgaretz]

While very expensive for a slow cooker (and I'm not even sure you can get it in Australia) I love my All-Clad with the aluminum insert. I can brown meat, saute onions etc. on the stovetop and go right into the slow cooker. If there are leftovers, the insert with lid goes in the fridge and then straight onto the stove for reheating. It also cooks very well.

[andiesenji]

I suggest you try asking at Forum Thermomix

Brazen, one of the moderators of this segment has three crockpots or slow cookers and has posted about them in other threads.

I can't recall who else has them but several Australian members use them in addition to the TMX and they are always very helpful with purchasing information.

[annachan]

Kitchen appliances are stupidly expensive here. Just wait until you see how much they want to sting you for a KitchenAid mixer.

EDIT

Oh and books (i.e. cookbooks). Never buy locally. Even when I worked in a bookshop and had (well, I still have it) a 30% discount card at two of the major book retailers, it was still almost always cheaper--often by a fair amount--to buy from Book Depository or sometimes Amazon (depending on the exchange rate).

I know about the KA mixer. It's insane! So, I shipped mine over along with a transformer....

I checked out the books at some bookshops and they are really pricey. I checked the prices on a few books and they're double or triple the price of what's in the US or even from online here. Good thing I will have visitors coming from the US. They will all end up having to bring me a few cookbooks every time they visit.

[annachan]

I suggest you try asking at Forum Thermomix

Brazen, one of the moderators of this segment has three crockpots or slow cookers and has posted about them in other threads.

I can't recall who else has them but several Australian members use them in addition to the TMX and they are always very helpful with purchasing information.

I forgot about the Thermomix forum. Thanks for reminding me.

[Kerry Beal]

Given the relatively low power requirements of a slow cooker - it would be a suitable to use with a converter/transformer. Anyone from the US coming to visit soon?

[annachan]

Given the relatively low power requirements of a slow cooker - it would be a suitable to use with a converter/transformer. Anyone from the US coming to visit soon?

No, as we haven't settled in yet. It'll be at least several months until someone comes over. Not sure if anyone is willing to bring over a slow cooker though.

Since we do plan to stay here permanently, I'm trying to get appliances that doesn't need to use a transformer. I guess I will have to get over the much higher prices at some point.

[Snadra]

I do get Choice (although it can be annoyingly prissy in a domestic sciences teacher sort of way) and I looked up their recommendations. The Breville Ikon and Kenwood came at the equal top of the list of the ten tested. Considering the Breville Ikon is $200, I'd go for the $70 Kenwood.

The comments section said there will be another test of slow cookers coming out before winter.

Besides Bing Lee & Peters, also check out The Good Guys when shopping for small appliances. David Jones can also have surprisingly good prices on these kinds of things at this time of year.

And from an acquaintance who deals in refurbished electrical goods (ie store returns, etc), appliances from Aldi are apparently quite good - keep an eye on the catalogues, as they are likely to bring out a slow cooker as we head into autumn.

As far as cookbooks go, I use booko.com.au to find the best price for books shipped in/to Australia, but if you sign up for Borders VIP you can get excellent occasional discounts via email as well (frankly, considering the prices at Borders I need a discount to shop there).

[Kerry Beal]

Does Oz have the quantity of thrift stores you find in North America?

[Snadra]

Does Oz have the quantity of thrift stores you find in North America?

There are a lot of thrift stores (there are two in my tiny, tiny suburb for example), mostly run by individual churches or larger church groups like the Salvation Army or St Vincent de Paul, but as far as I know they have largely stopped selling electrical appliances due to liability issues.

But that does remind me that eBay is a good source for these things.

edited for clarity

Edited January 31, 2011 by Snadra (log)

[ChrisZ]

I do get Choice (although it can be annoyingly prissy in a domestic sciences teacher sort of way) and I looked up their recommendations. The Breville Ikon and Kenwood came at the equal top of the list of the ten tested. Considering the Breville Ikon is $200, I'd go for the $70 Kenwood.

Thanks for this, I really appreciate it. The reason I haven't bought one yet is because we don't have room for the common 5.5l ones, and the smaller 3-4 litre sizes are much harder to find.

[annachan]

I do get Choice (although it can be annoyingly prissy in a domestic sciences teacher sort of way) and I looked up their recommendations. The Breville Ikon and Kenwood came at the equal top of the list of the ten tested. Considering the Breville Ikon is $200, I'd go for the $70 Kenwood.

The comments section said there will be another test of slow cookers coming out before winter.

Besides Bing Lee & Peters, also check out The Good Guys when shopping for small appliances. David Jones can also have surprisingly good prices on these kinds of things at this time of year.

And from an acquaintance who deals in refurbished electrical goods (ie store returns, etc), appliances from Aldi are apparently quite good - keep an eye on the catalogues, as they are likely to bring out a slow cooker as we head into autumn.

As far as cookbooks go, I use booko.com.au to find the best price for books shipped in/to Australia, but if you sign up for Borders VIP you can get excellent occasional discounts via email as well (frankly, considering the prices at Borders I need a discount to shop there).

I did see the Kenwood one and was considering it. It's good to know that it performs well. I'm at the mall often so I'll check David Jones.

booko.com.au is just what I'm looking for! I love that it does all the comparisons.