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Best slow cookers for soups, stews and stress-free cooking
Matt has been putting products through the mill for more than a decade, from complex heating systems, to his true passion, bikes and bike accessories
We tested the most popular slow cookers from brands such as Crock-Pot, Greenpan, Lakeland, Morphy Richards and Ninja to find out which produce succulent stews with a minimum of fuss and running costs.
We found slow cookers can cost from 2p to 5p per hour on their lowest setting, and from 4p to 32p an hour on their most energy guzzling settings.
There's a big difference in how easy each slow cooker we tested is to use too, some even have casings that get too hot to touch.
Why you can trust us to reveal the very best slow cookers: Which? is a not for profit organisation and has been testing products and calling out rogue businesses for almost 70 years.
In an increasingly chaotic world, filled with so-called 'experts', it's good to know that brands still can't buy their way onto our testing or influence what we write. We buy every product we test and we'll tell you the worst as well as the best slow cookers.
The best slow cookers
Only logged-in Which? members can view the slow cooker test results below.
Join Which? to get instant access to our test results and Best Buy recommendations below.
| Slow cookers | Cost per hour on low setting | Quality of stew | Ease of use | Does more than slow cook? | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sign up to reveal Get instant access to this and all our scores and recommendations Unlock tableDigital Access for £8.99 a month, cancel at any time. Already a member? Log in | 3p | Excellent | Very easy | No | |
| 2p | Good | Very easy | Yes | ||
| 3p | Excellent | Average | No | ||
| 2p | Good | Good | Yes | ||
| 6p | Excellent | Very easy | No | ||
| 3p | Good | Very easy | No | ||
| 4p | Good | Very easy | No | ||
| 5p | Good | Average | Yes | ||
| 2p | Good | Average | No | ||
| 3p | Excellent | Very difficult | Yes | ||
| 4p | Good | Difficult | No | ||
| 2p | Poor | Difficult | No |
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Get instant access to this and all our scores and recommendations
Unlock tableDigital Access for £8.99 a month, cancel at any time.
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Date tested: November 2023. Pricing and availability last checked May 2025. We're not able to show every retailer and cheaper prices may be available.
The slow cookers we tested
All the slow cookers we tested are listed in alphabetical order below.
Only logged-in Which? members can view the best slow cookers from our tests.
Join Which? to get instant access to our test results and Best Buy recommendations below.
Cookworks 3.5L Slow Cooker
Available from Argos (£22.00)
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Features Low, high and keep warm settings, removable ceramic bowl
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Need to know Size 18cm x 26cm x 35cm (HxWxD); cable length 90cm
Crock-Pot TimeSelect 5.6L Digital Slow Cooker
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Features Removable ceramic bowl; slow cook on low or high; keep-warm function; preset timer up to 12 hours in advance
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Need to know Size 22cm x 30cm x 42cm (HxWxD); cable length 65cm
Find out how Crock-Pot multi cookers fared in our reviews of the best multi cookers
Crock-Pot 4.7L Hinged Lid Digital Slow Cooker
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Features Removable ceramic bowl; slow cook on low, medium or high; keep-warm function
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Need to know Size 20cm x 33cm x 38cm (HxWxD); cable length 64cm
Daewoo 6.5L Stainless Steel Slow Cooker
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Features Removable ceramic bowl; slow cook on low, or high; keep-warm function
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Need to know Size 21cm x 45cm x 30cm (HxWxD); cable length 84cm
Greenpan Slow Cooker 5.6L
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Features Removable bowl with non-stick coating; slow cook on high or low; brown, steam, keep-warm, simmer and reheat
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Need to know Size 23cmx37cmx54cm (HxWxD); cable length 70cm
Find out how the Greenpan frying pan fared in our reviews of the best frying pans
Lakeland 3.5L Slow Cooker
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Features Removable ceramic bowl; slow cook on low or high; auto (keep-warm) setting
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Need to know Size 19cm x 35cm x 26cm (HxWxD); cable length 86cm
Lakeland 6.5L Searing Slow Cooker
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Features Removable non-stick cooking pot; slow cook on low or high; steam, yoghurt maker, sauté, keep warm
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Need to know Size 22cm x 45cm x 30cm (HxWxD); cable length 102cm
Morphy Richards 6.5L Easy Time Slow Cooker
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Features Removable non-stick bowl, easy time selection, slow cook on low, medium or high, keep warm
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Need to know Size 22cm x 37cm x 22cm (HxWxD); cable length 90cm
Morphy Richards Evoke 3.5L Sear and Stew Slow Cooker
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Features Removable ceramic bowl; slow cook on low, medium, or high
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Need to know Size 19cm x 35cm x 26cm (HxWxD); cable length 86cm
Ninja Foodi PossibleCooker 8-in-1 Slow Cooker
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Features Removable non-stick cooking pot; slow cook on low or high; steam, prove, sear/sauté, braise, bake, simmer, keep warm
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Need to know Size 33cm x 48cm x 33cm (HxWxD); cable length 80cm
See our Ninja air fryer reviews
Salter Chalkboard 3.5L Slow Cooker
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Features Removable ceramic pot;, slow cook on low or high; keep-warm, casing doubles as a chalkboard
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Need to know Size 22cm x 27cm x 27cm (HxWxD); cable length 66cm
Tower Cavaletto 6.5L T16043BLK Slow Cooker
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Features Removable ceramic bowl; slow cook on low or high; keep-warm setting
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Need to know Size 22cm x 45cm x 30cm (HxWxD); cable length 68cm
How we test slow cookers
We select the UK's best selling slow cookers and put them through our rigorous test programme to determine our Best Buys.
We pay for every slow cooker we test.
- Energy use We'll tell you how much it costs to run your slow cooker on both its lowest and highest setting. The best only cost 2p an hour to cook a stew.
- Cooking The best slow cookers produce a beautiful stew on their lowest setting. The worst will still have hard potatoes and undercooked veg.
- Ease of use We assess each cooker for how easy it is to use and programme.
- Versatility Some slow cookers have extra features, such as searing, yoghurt making, baking, proving and simmering. We rewarded slow cookers that come with these kinds of useful extra features.
- Durability We use our laboratory scratch pen to try and scratch the cooking bowls on each slow cooker. Some are almost impossible to scratch, whereas others have non-stick coatings that we found peeled off easily with just a light scratch
Are slow cookers energy efficient?
Slow cookers are an efficient way to batch cook large quantities of food, such as a stew, soup or curry.
The most efficient only cost 2p an hour to run, which means one stew will cost you about 16p to cook over eight hours. The least energy efficient will cost about 40p to cook the same stew.
By contrast, it costs about 30p an hour to keep your oven on.
For more ways to lower your energy bills look at the best and worst energy companies
What size slow cooker do I need?
A good rule of thumb is that every litre in volume the slow cooker can cook equates to one serving.
So a four litre slow cooker is good for four servings, a five litre is good for five servings, and so on.
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How to cook gammon in a slow cooker
Gammon in a slow cooker is one of the most popular slow cooker recipes.
It will take approximately two hours per 450g in a slow cooker. See our step-by-step guide on how to cook a gammon joint.