If there is one kitchen appliance to get your hands on this winter, it’s the slow cooker!
Considered a wintertime essential, the slow cooker prides itself on delivering delish meals with little fuss involved. Designed for busy families, these cooking machines are the perfect solution for weekly meal planning in the cooler months.
With a ‘set it and forget it’ usability, you can assemble the meal in the morning, set the timer, and come home to a ready-made dinner. This might sound too good to be true, but slow cookers work similar to ovens, allowing for food to be cooked at a low temperature for a long time.
To make it all the more simple, we have rounded up the top eight slow cookers available to shop this year. With something for every budget and kitchen space, we have you are your cooking covered.
2024’s top slow cookers
- Russell Hobbs, $89, Amazon (here’s why)
- Sunbeam, $85.95, Amazon (here’s why)
- CrockPot, $99, Amazon (here’s why)
The best slow cookers for 2024
Our food editor’s top picks:
Sarah Murphy has given us her expert advice on what her top three choices for slow cookers are. Overall, we’ve got some great quality and affordable slow cookers that will guarantee a delicious dinner every time!
01
Russell Hobbs 6L with glass lid
from $89, Amazon
Best for: searing before slow cooking
This option from Russell Hobbs gives you high-quality slow cooking at a reasonable price. With your usual slow cooker features, you’ve also got the option of auto-mode, that allows you to switch it on, put in your ingredients, and then leave it to do its thing! It will even turn off itself after the cooking is complete.
This slow cooker is a top pick for our food editor Sarah Murphy: “The removable bowl is stovetop safe which means less washing up! Remove the bowl to sear your meat in the bowl on the stovetop for delish flavour, then transfer the bowl back into the slow cooker, add your remaining ingredients, and simmer away.”
Key features:
- Auto Mode: Operates on high until the slow cooker reaches temperature, then switches to low until manually turned off.
- Cool touch handles.
- Double heating element.
- Tempered glass lid.
02
Sunbeam electric slow cooker
from $85.95, Amazon
Best for: no-fuss cooking
Not as costly as other slow cookers, this unit from Sunbeam offers generous bang for your buck. Featuring high to low cooking functions, get on with your day as dinner brews away.
Sarah Murphy says it’s “perfect if you need a simple, no-fuss cooker. It has a simple dial with low, high, and keep warm settings make cooking easy. It features a wrap-around element, which means no more overcooked bases!”
Key features:
- Capacity 5.5L
- Low, high and keep-warm settings
- Dishwasher-safe pan and lid
03
Crockpot digital slow cooker with hinge lid
from $99, Amazon
Best for: having the perfect timing
The best feature of this one is, of course, the digital element! As our food editor explains:
“The digital control panel is simple and easy to navigate, plus features a countdown timer, so you know exactly how long is left for your dish. The clever hinged lid makes it simple to add extra ingredients without needing to find bench space to rest the lid!”
Key features:
- Capacity 4.7L
- 3 Heat Settings: Low, High and Keep-Warm
- Digital Timer: Set your cooking time from 30 minutes to 20 hours for total versatility
Other slow cookers we recommend
04
Breville the fast slow cooker
from $249, Amazon
Best for: speedy slow cooking
Who knew a slow cooker could be so fast? Automatically adjusting temperature, pressure and time, the fast slow cooker delivers flavourful meals just as you like.
Key features:
- Capacity 6L
- Automatic cooking functions
- Select low, medium and high setting
- Three-way safety lock
05
Philips viva collection all-in-one multi cooker
from $249, Amazon
Best for: multi-functional cooking
Slow cook, pressure cook, sauté, sear, steam and bake all your comfort food favourites in this popular product. The all-in-one multi cooker cuts preheating time by 25 per cent, putting dinner on the table a whole lot faster.
Key features:
- Capacity 6L
- Features nine safety protection systems
- Seven pressure cooking modes
- Automatic keep warm and reheat function up to 12 hours
06
Kambrook Meal-Master Mini slow cooker
from $55, The Good Guys
Best for: single-person households
Affordability is the top feature of this slow cooker from Kambrook. With an included measuring scoop and serving spoon, your small kitchen will rejoice at the mini size of this option! Works perfectly for couples, small families or dishes that only need one element slow-cooked.
Key features:
- Makes 1.5 cups of rice
- Simple one-touch cooking operation
- Auto Keep Warm Function
- Non-stock removable cooking bowl
- Measuring scoop and serving spoon included
07
Instant Pot duo 7-in-1 multicooker
from $149, Amazon
Best for: smart cooking features
Instant satisfaction is a guarantee with the Instant Pot Duo multicooker. Featuring the best of built-in settings, and an adjustable pressure scale, cook your winter favourites as you like.
Key features:
- Capacity 5.7L
- 13 one-touch smart programs
- Cooks 70 per cent faster than traditional methods
08
Healthy Choice 8L slow cooker in black
from $89.95, Myer
Best for: family dinner
Our favourite feature of this slow cooker is the 4-hours long keep warm mode. If you’ve prepped your dinner in the morning, and it’s finished up before dinner time, then simply press a button and keep your stew, or soup, or stroganoff warm and ready to go! With 8L capacity, this choice is perfect for large dinners or meal prepping on a Sunday afternoon.
Key features:
- Single control knob to adjust low or high heat settings, and a 4 hours-long keep warm mode.
- Large capacity 8L inner ceramic cooking pot with tempered glass lids.
- Comes with a serving spoon, and three lid holders.
What to look for when buying a slow cooker?
When cooking for a household of two, you’ll only need a three to four litre model but if your family is double in size, go for a five to eight litre model. Depending on what you plan to cook, size can matter. Oval-shaped slow cookers are best for longer cuts of meat.
There are several features you won’t want to compromise on. Make sure it includes a timer, is dishwasher-safe, and has automatic settings so it can reduce the temperature if you’ve stepped away.
“Food can be left unattended to bubble away in the slow cooker for approximately eight hours if on the low setting. However, there are slow cookers on the market that have timers which can switch the machine to ‘keep warm’ at a set time,” says Fiona Mair, Choice expert and test coordinator.
Another important but not entirely necessary slow cooker feature is the sear function. Fiona suggests, “When cooking with a slow cooker, searing the meat first is very important. This allows the meat to caramelise and more flavour to develop”.
Looking to save money on slow cookers? Check out our coupon codes for Amazon, Myer and more.
