Which size is best depends a lot on how many people you plan to cook for, and what type of food you plan to cook. Overall, the Crock-Pot SCCPRC507B is a reliable and convenient slow cooker that offers a range of cooking options for a variety of meals. We have had a beef curry with rice, beef stew and also chicken thighs twice (skins removed) and cooked in a tin of condensed soup. Usually there’s also a setting for keeping food warm, which you can use when the food is ready but you’re not yet ready to eat it. It’s useful when you want the overall cooking time to be quicker, as it still enables food to be slow cooked.

Megan has an MA in Magazine Journalism and has previously written for Stylist, Glamour, TimeOut, SquareMeal, and YOU magazine. This function can be found on the majority of slow cookers, helping to retain the temperature of your food without cooking it further – handy when you’re struggling to round up the family! This robust, multi-functional slow cooker is another one that's ideal for large families with its 6. The countdown timer is a great function, though, the large capacity is great for families and batch cooking, and results are superb. But if you just want a dedicated slow cooker then the Aldi/Lidl versions work well (Ambiano and Silvercrest brands).You place your food inside a sealed pouch and then pop it into a temperature-controlled water bath to cook. Hannah has also previously worked in a florist and can normally be found caring for her house plants or sewing something new for her home or wardrobe. Innovative items like robot vacuum cleaners and wine coolers are among her favourite tests to date, and her most notable accomplishment is toasting 360 slices of bread in a determined bid to find the best toaster.

Hannah is also interested in sustainability in the home and has completed a course with the University of the Arts London in sustainable textiles, so she can help cut through the noise on what’s green and what’s not.

So speed isn't necessarily an issue as if I need something quick I can fire something together fairly easily.