With working near enough full time and having house to run and the school run to do, one essential in my kitchen is my slow cooker as I tend to put the tea on in the morning, let it cook while I am at work, then I come home to a gorgeous smelling kitchen and the tea already cooked for me!

I'd had my previous slow cooker for a good few years but a couple of months ago I cracked the bowl so decided to purchase a new one as my old one had served me well but I didn't feel confident using it with a cracked bowl.

I decided to go for the Breville ITP138 slow cooker just because I know Breville is a good brand and the price as about right. This slow cooker is available from Argos for £34.99 which I think is a decent price for a decent brand.

This slow cooker has a 5.5 litre capacity which is perfect for our family and is really simple to use as it only has three settings which are low, high and auto which is exactly the same as my previous one so I presume this is standard for most slow cookers. It comes with a really good quality ceramic bowl and has non slip feet so you shouldn't have any problems with the slow cooker moving around and having an accident. It also has a toughed glass lid which is dishwasher safe.

The slow cooker is a decent size so it easily takes enough ingredients to cook a meal for the whole of our family, but it is small enough that it fits easily into a cupboard after use as I don't like having too much clutter on the worktops.

For those of you who may not have used a slow cooker before, I highly recommend it as you can cook all manner of things such as stews, casseroles, roasts, spaghetti bolognase, chili etc and it takes very little effort. You simply throw all the ingredients into the slow cooker, put on auto (I recommend this setting if you are leaving it unaccompanied all day) and leave it to took. On the Auto setting, your tea cooks perfectly and evenly throughout the day without it being undercooked or overcooked when you come to serve it. If you are in a bit of a rush and only have a couple of hours or so to cook tea, you can still use your slow cooker on the High setting and this cooks your food relatively quickly.

You can get a lot of slow cooker recipes online. I use a website called 'All Recipes' and search 'slow cooker and you will be amazed at just how much you can do in the slow cooker.

Although I wasn't planning on purchasing a new slow cooker, this one has turned out to be just as good as my first one. So far it has proven to be reliable and is really simple to use. It really is a godsend in our home and I wouldn't be without a slow cooker now as it saves time and leaves your home smelling divine and welcoming when you come home from work and after a hard days work, all you have to do is serve your dish up which I love.

I have not had one single problem with food being over or undercooked with this slow cooker though if you have never used a slow cooker before it may take a day or two to work out which setting is best for you but I just tend to use Auto unless I need something cooking more quickly.

Overall my Breville ITP138 has proven to be the perfect slow cooker so far and I recommend it to all.