Morphy Richards Sear & Stew
A practical slow cooker (3.5L, manual dial, sear-in-pot) for easy, budget-friendly slow-cooked meals.
Slow Cooker Buying Guide: How to Choose (UK 2026)
Slow cookers are simple appliances, but a few choices make the difference between one that suits you and one that doesn't. This guide covers size, controls, the pot, the sear function and running costs.
Size and capacity
Match the capacity to your household. As a rough guide: 1.5-2L mini models suit one person, sides and dips; 3-3.5L suits one or two people; 4-5L suits a small family; and 6L and up suits big families or batch cooking and freezing. Remember the stated litres are the total capacity - the usable amount is a bit less, and slow cookers work best between half and three-quarters full, so size up rather than down if you're between.
Controls: manual or digital
Manual slow cookers have a simple dial (Off / Low / High / Warm) - cheap, reliable and all most people need, but you switch them off yourself. Digital models let you set a cooking time and automatically switch to keep-warm when it's up, which is handy if you're out longer than the cook time. Both cook identically; the choice is purely about convenience and budget. A clear glass lid is worth having either way, so you can check food without lifting it and losing heat.
The pot and the sear function
Most slow cookers have a removable inner pot (usually ceramic) that lifts out for serving and washing - check whether it's dishwasher-safe for easy cleaning. Some pots are hob-safe (a sear or saute function), letting you brown meat and soften onions in the same pot on the hob before slow cooking - more flavour and one less pan, as made popular by Morphy Richards Sear & Stew. If you like browning meat first, a sear-in-pot is well worth it; otherwise you'd use a separate frying pan.
Running cost and what to expect
Slow cookers are one of the cheapest ways to cook a hot meal: they draw low power, so even running for hours they use far less energy than an oven. They excel at hands-off, budget cooking - stews, curries, casseroles, soups, pulled meats and tenderising cheaper cuts. What they don't do is cook fast: meals take several hours, so you plan ahead. And they're not pressure cookers or multi-cookers - if you want fast pressure cooking or air frying too, that's a different appliance. For easy, economical, set-and-leave cooking, a slow cooker is hard to beat.
Our top picks
#1
#2 
Morphy Richards
A practical slow cooker (3.5L, manual dial) for easy, budget-friendly slow-cooked meals.
#3 
Morphy Richards Sear and Stew
A practical slow cooker (6.5L, sear-in-pot) for easy, budget-friendly slow-cooked meals.
#4 
Crock-Pot
A practical slow cooker (1.8L) for easy, budget-friendly slow-cooked meals.
#5 
Morphy Richards
A practical slow cooker (6.5L) for easy, budget-friendly slow-cooked meals.
#6 
Morphy Richards DuoServe
A practical slow cooker (3.8L) for easy, budget-friendly slow-cooked meals.
Frequently asked questions
What should I look for when buying a slow cooker?
Capacity matched to your household first, then controls (simple dial or digital timer), whether the pot is removable and dishwasher-safe, and whether it has a sear/hob-safe function. Size is the biggest decision; the rest is convenience.
What can you cook in a slow cooker?
Stews, curries, casseroles, soups, chilli, pulled pork and other meats, bolognese, and even some cakes and puddings. Slow cookers are brilliant at tenderising cheaper cuts of meat and developing flavour over hours of gentle cooking.
Bottom line
Our top pick is the Morphy Richards Sear & Stew (our score 9.6/10) - A practical slow cooker (3.5L, manual dial, sear-in-pot) for easy, budget-friendly slow-cooked meals..