My mother bought me and my sister one of these for Christmas last year and I have found it very useful. There is nothing better than coming home from work, and your house smelling of a lovely meal which has been cooking while you've been out!

Now, to use a slow cooker you have to be organised, and patient. So if you are working all day, you have to plan tomorrow's dinner the night before, so you start the machine up before you leave work the day after.

The good thing is, you can make a stew out of anything, and most of it can come straight from your cupboard. For example tins of tomatoes, beans, lentils, that kind of thing. Fresh vegetables also retain their flavour better and when using meat, the slow process makes it even more tender. It also means you can use cheaper cuts of meat (which you need to seal in a frying pan first). So it's also a great way to make a nutritious meal if you're on a budget.

It comes with a few recipes which are good, but I would recomend getting at least one book to accompany the purchase.

It can take a while to get the hang of and different foods take a longer time. One problem I have, is that I am out of the house often for 9 hours which is a long time, so I have just purchased a timer, so it can turn off automaticly at a set time.

I use mine often, but more in the winter admittedly