Slow cook quick meals! (Breville MM14)

Name: alirigby

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Product:	Breville MM14
Date:	30/07/07 (305 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: easy to use, easy to clean, economical

Disadvantages: quite large to sit on worktop

I recently purchased this one pot cooker to make preparing evening meals easier and less time consuming – having a newborn baby means the days can be unpredictable and I just wasn’t getting a meal cooked until late at night.

The beauty of a slow cooker is that you can prepare a nutritious meal in advance, very little preparation time is required as you just throw everything in the pot all at once, switch it on and leave it to cook for hours. It doesn’t matter if you’re running late as the meal won’t spoil if it’s left. I’d never used one before, but now I’ve got one I wouldn’t be without it. You can cook stews, casseroles, soups, risotto and lots of other nutritious meals in a slow cooker, basically almost anything you would normally cook in the oven.

Overview:
The Breville 4.3L One Pot Cooker is oval in shape and has a stainless steel exterior with non-slip feet with a removable ceramic cooking pot with glass lid that sits inside. The base has a temperature control dial (with 3 heat settings low/high and auto) with power indicator and there are handles on either side so you can lift the unit easily.
It is attractive enough to sit on the worktop although is quite big and takes up a lot of space in our kitchen.

Ease of Use:
It is remarkably easy to use, you just throw everything in (meat/vegetables and liquid i.e. stock or wine) and turn to low or high. All you need to do is chop your meat and ,ideally, brown it and chop up your veg. The low setting will gently simmer food for around 8-12 hours on a high setting it will take half the time the low setting does as it will boil the meal. The Auto setting will first cook food on the high setting and then automatically reduce to the low setting which is ideal for cooking meals overnight or for the whole day. When the meal is cooked you can life the ceramic cooking pot out of the base and onto the table which means it’s easy to serve.
A comprehensive instruction booklet is included which gives guidance on how to use a slow cooker and also includes a few basic recipes.

Cleaning:
It is very easy to keep clean – the ceramic pot is easy to clean in soapy water and the glass lid will go in the dishwasher. The exterior can be wiped clean with a damp cloth.

Cost:
This cooker cost me around £30 at my local supermarket which I feel is good value for money. Another good thing is that slow cookers use very little power compared to ovens and are therefore very economical.

All in all I’m very happy with this product and can confidently recommend it to others.

Summary: Easy to use one pot cooker for wholesome home cooked meals - good value.