Do you want to cook more but you don’t have time? Especially when we have lots of work throughout the day and/or a large family to feed, there just doesn’t seem to be enough time for prepping a nice home-cooked meal. And yet, we know all the benefits of nutrient-rich home-cooked food.
This is why slow cookers are such an incredible appliance – they allow us to cook a great variety of dishes, even in large quantities, with as little time and effort as possible. Slow cookers are pretty much perfect for anyone who is looking to save time and money while also getting the most delicious and healthiest food possible.
![Crockpot Slow Cooker | Removable Easy-Clean Ceramic Bowl | 2.4 L (1-2 People | Energy Efficient | Black [CSC046]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31kB1G9ghYL._SL75_.jpg)
We’ll go over the ten biggest benefits of slow cookers below. Even if you’ve never used a slow cooker before or you’re laser-focused on their one or two minor drawbacks, read on and you’ll be convinced that the many benefits of slow cookers far outweigh any nit-picky negative.
The 10 benefits of slow cookers
Slow cookers are used for a type of dishes that some of us just aren’t used to. And that’s a good thing as most of us are used to terribly unhealthy foods that every notable dietitian, nutritionist, and health expert has been advising against for decades. Getting a slow cooker for your home is one of the best decisions you can make not just for your and your family’s health, however, but for numerous other reasons as well.
Slow cookers ensure a much healthier diet
Most of the thousands of slow cooker recipes you’ll find include much healthier and more nutritious ingredients than what we usually consume. What’s more, because slow cookers use lower temperatures, they keep the ingredients we put in them as healthy as possible.
While most other pots and pans break down the minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants of our food with their high temperatures, a slow cooker doesn’t. Countless of today’s health problems have been linked with poorly-cooked food – from diabetes to Alzheimer’s and renal complications. Neither of that is a problem with slow cookers, however.
Meals cooked this way are typically much more affordable
Slow cookers are typically used for things such as soups, stews, casseroles, rice, and so on. These foods are usually much more affordable to make because of their ingredients. Even the meat you can put on a slow cooker is usually more affordable as the slow cooker is one of the few ways to tenderize meats such as chuck steaks, less-lean stewing beef, etc.
Slow cooker dishes are great for large families or multiple meals
If you’re lucky enough to have a large family you know that one of the few drawbacks of it is the amount of cooking that needs to be done every day. Slow cookers are the perfect way to circumvent that problem as they are capable of producing great quantities of a single dish. And, if you live alone or in a smaller household, a slow cooker can feed you for days which is great for people who are always busy with work.
Cooking this way is actually faster
Even though, technically, slow cookers take a while to cook your meal, they also end up saving you a lot of time. That’s because it’s much easier to cook with such an appliance – all you need to do is cut all the ingredients and toss them in – and that’s it. From there you can just leave the slow cooker on and go about your business.
Incredible flavors and aroma even with fewer spices
If you don’t like cooking with too many spices but you want a flavorful meal, the slow cooker should be perfect for you. Because this appliance cooks our food slowly and at low temperatures, it’s much better at extracting all the flavors and aroma of the ingredients placed in it.
The drawback here is that if you mess the recipe you can end up with an overwhelming taste. But as long as you don’t go overboard with the spices you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the taste you’re going to get.
The slow cooker leaves your oven and stovetops free
Many meals require multiple pans and pots – roast one thing here, then mix it with what you’ve boiled over there, then add the thing that’s been simmering on the third stovetop, and so on.
With a slow cooker, all that stops to be a problem as all you’ll need is the slow cooker – nothing else.
Forget about having to scrub pots and pans
Not only will you have fewer pots and pans to deal with, but slow cookers are also easier to clean than any other single pot. That’s because they cook at low temperatures and there are never any scorched meals you have to scrub off the bottom of the pot.
Slow cookers use less energy
This one is straightforward – lower temperatures mean less energy consumption which is another way slow cookers end up being more affordable.
They don’t generate as much heat
If you hate cooking in the summer you’re going to love slow cookers. They still generate a bit of heat and steam but it’s no way near the amount of heat you’ll get from most other meals.
Slow cookers are easy to carry and travel with
While it’s next to impossible to take your whole oven with you when you travel, a slow cooker is actually an excellent travel companion. If you want to go on a vacation but you want to still be able to cook there, getting your slow cooker with you is often the best solution.
In conclusion
As you can see, while slow cookers aren’t suitable for every type of food and they can lead to a bit of condensation if you don’t have a kitchen hood, their benefits are far too numerous to ignore. With one of the best slow cookers, you can get the most delicious meals you’ve had in a while for a fraction of the cost of other dishes. You’ll also find that cooking this way is much easier and effortless, and by cooking in large quantities you save yourself even more time than before.