Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.
Take note, winter, we are ready for you! As the evenings draw on it’s time for a different kind of dinner and those in the know use a slow cooker. It’s not just that you can cook food for longer and get a better texture to meat and vegetables, but if you time the slow cooking properly, you can either come in from work or when you are out of the evening and the whole house smells amazing, plus dinner is ready! Swan have sent us a slow cooker from their Nordic Range to try out, and we couldn’t wait.
If you’ve never used a slow cooker before then it’s great for beginners. There’s a ceramic bowl in the middle, a lid on top (to keep the heat and the steam in) and it’s all surrounded by the slow cooker itself which heats the whole ceramic pot to one of 3 temperatures; low, high or on auto. With the ceramic pot in place, add the food (more on that later) and anything else like vegetables, herbs, spices etc and the lid as well. If you don’t add the lid then the pot and therefore the food doesn’t heat up enough to cook. You’ll notice that the lid isn’t the best fit. This is to allow tiny gaps for the steam to escape. Once the food is cooked, you can lift the ceramic bowl from the cooker or as I do, I just take the food out and let the rest of the cooker cool down before I wash it up.
What are the temperature settings?
Low Setting – this is typically around 75C-80C and is great for vegetables or reheating. Food rarely burns at this temperature so if you’re not sure how long you’re going to be out for, this is your safest bet. If you do cook meat at this setting though, you’ll need to brown it off first.
High Setting – everything else is cooked at this temperature, which is around 85C-90C and therefore there can be times when there is a touch of boiling, and the steam will need to escape. This temperature is great for baking and for meats.
Auto Setting – this is a great alternative to both previous setting as it starts cooking on the higher temperature, then switches to low for the remained of the cooking time.
What about the timing though? Slow cookers don’t have timers on them, they’re designed to cook food slowly over 6-9 hours. The secret to cooking the food well is learning about the timings needed. Like with all new ovens, you have to learn how it works to be able to judge what time you need, but as a general rule, if something takes 15-30 minutes to cook then try it on 4-6 hours on low. If the traditional cooking time is 60 minutes, then 6-8 hours on low or auto setting.
When it comes to adding food, you can prepare it in the ceramic pot the night before, store in the fridge then transfer to the slow cooker the next day and start cooking. Alternatively, preparing dinner around lunchtime and throwing in all your favourite vegetables with whichever meat you choose, you can create a masterpiece with whatever you have in the fridge. You don’t need to stir the food and lifting the slow cooker lid means the whole cooker loses temperature and puts back the cooking time. What you do need though, is some kind of liquid. It’s usually half of what you would use in a traditional recipe though, but it really helps the cooking if you have some kind of sauce, gravy or stock with the meat. It’s at this point that you can add the spices and herbs that add all the flavour to the meat you’re cooking.
Using the Swan Slow Cooker couldn’t be easier and it’s great for anyone who is new to cooking, students or if you’re busy with family life. It’s an alternative to the oven, air fryer or BBQ too, giving a different texture and a different flavour to anything you cook. There’s only 1 control on the front with the temperature settings and as long as you can plug it into electricity, there isn’t much else needed. When we were young, my Mum used to take a slow cooker on holiday with us in our caravan and it was fabulous coming in from a day out and being able to eat straight away. Like with a BBQ, the same food cooks differently than in an oven so you get a completely different experience.
I’ve loved experimenting with the Swan Slow Cooker and trying out beef, stew, sausages and even baking. There’s so much you can use it for, that’s half the fun!
Swan Nordic Slow Cooker currently on sale at £28.99 online: https://shop.swan-brand.co.uk/collections/slow-cookers/products/swan-35l-nordic-slow-cooker
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