Put Them in and Leave It! 7 Slow Cookers For Busy People To Cook Healthy Meals At Home
You’ve had a long, hard day at work, and a tiring and unpleasant commute home.
When
you finally get back to your place, you have your heart set on eating a
healthy, substantial meal – but you can’t find the strength or
motivation to begin cooking. Instead, you take the easy way out, and
pick up your phone and order a takeout.
I’m
sure you can relate to the above scenario as it’s very common nowadays.
Preparing and cooking a decent meal usually takes at least an hour. So,
if you’ve arrived home from work, and it’s already late (and you’re
exhausted), then cooking a meal is probably the last thing you’d like to
do.
The problem is, eating out and ordering takeout is expensive, and in most cases an unhealthy choice.
Luckily,
there is a way out of this dilemma, in the shape and form of a slow
cooker. Also known as crock pots, slow cookers have become popular in
recent years with people who are too busy to spend time cooking – but
still want to enjoy healthy, homemade meals.
7 Slow Cookers That Can Transform Your Diet and Life
Slow
cookers offer you the chance to enjoy a delicious, wholesome meal when
you arrive home from work. They do this by slowly cooking your food for a
long period of time at a low temperature.
This ‘slow cooking’ approach brings out the flavours in most foods, including: casseroles, pot meals, soups and stews.
Most
slow cookers have Low, Medium and High settings. The Low setting will
cook food about 6 to 10 hours. The High setting will cook food in 4 to 6
hours. One hour in a conventional oven at 350 F is equivalent to about 4
hours on High, or 8 hours on Low.
If
you prepare your meal the evening before, or in the morning, all you
need to do is switch on the cooker (at Low setting) before you head out
for work. However, all the cookers we list below also have digital
timers, and these will allow you to precisely choose when your cooker
comes on, at what temperature setting, and for how long.
Hopefully, I’ve given you just enough information on slow cookers to whet your appetite
1. Crock-Pot 6-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker
This
slow cooker features a digital countdown control that allows you to
program cook times anywhere from 30 minutes to 20 hours. It also shifts
to Warm setting automatically once your specified cook time has
completed.
The Crock-Pot keeps food safe on the go with robust carrying handles and hinged locking lids.
2. Hamilton Beach Set ‘n Forget Programmable Slow Cooker
Stylish
and easy-to-use, this slow cooker is equipped with protection against
brief power outages, so when you come home your digital clocks might
have lost their time – but your meal will still be hot and ready to eat.
It’s
perfect for cooking large cuts of meat. You just need to set the
desired meat temperature, and the cooker automatically shifts to keep
warm when the temperature is reached.
3. Instant Pot 7-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker
Instant Pot
If you want more features than slow cooking, then Instant Pot could be a good choice for you.
This
top-selling multi-cooker combines 7 kitchen appliances in 1. These are:
pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, sauté, yogurt maker
and warmer.
There are also 14
Smart Programs to choose from. These programs allow you to easily make,
heat or treat the following: soup, meat/stew, bean/chilli, poultry,
rice, multigrains, porridge, yogurt, etc.
4. Cuisinart MSC-600 3-In-1 Cook Central 6-Quart Multi-Cooker
Cusinart Crock Pot
This
slow cooker features Cuisinart’s brushed stainless steel housing and a
6-quart nonstick cooking pot that lets you brown or sauté directly in
the unit.
Three fully
programmable cooking functions let you sauté vegetables, brown meats and
slow cook your favorite comfort foods right in the unit.
5. Cuisinart PSC-650 Stainless Steel 6-1/2-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker
Cusinart Slow Cooker
This
programmable slow cooker offers a removable round-shaped ceramic
cooking pot, brushed stainless-steel housing, glass lid with
stainless-steel rim, and cool-touch chrome-plated handles. The 24-hour
programmable digital timer has Simmer, Low and High modes – all which
feature an auto keep-warm function. it also comes with a cooking rack
and recipe book.
6. KitchenAid KSC6223SS 6-Quart. Slow Cooker
This
slow cooker features an easy-to-read digital display, that ensures
comfortable viewing of the remaining cook time and temperature while the
cooker is in use.
The generous 6-quart capacity is perfect for small and large recipes from soups to roasts.
7. BLACK+DECKER 7-Quart Digital Slow Cooker
Black & Decker Slow Cooker
To
finish on, how about something a little different. The exterior of this
slow cooker is a chalkboard, which makes it perfect for drawing on and
for writing down recipes or allergy concerns. This neat feature is also
great for getting the kids involved in the kitchen! With its inbuilt
digital time, you can simply choose the time and heat, and let the slow
cooker do the rest. (The cooker automatically switches into Warm mode
when cooking is complete.)
And in case you’re wondering, the box includes two chalk sticks, so you can start writing on the cooker from day one.
On
a final note, you may be surprised to learn that slow cookers use less
electricity than conventional ovens. So, now you have no excuses for not
having tasty and nutritious food waiting for you each evening when you
come home.
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