Slow Cookers and Morphy Richards 48721 Slow Cooker, 3.5L (Black)

Reviews by Andrew Coles for Morphy Richards 48721 Slow Cooker, 3.5L (Black)
Rating:
Bought the Morphy Richards 48721 3.5ltr because it was cheap, a known brand and where ever I looked seemed to come up smelling of review roses. I bought mine from the local Co-op for a mere £19.99

Having looked at quite a few along the way my shortlist was the 6.5ltr Russell Hobbs with the divided pot which was my first choice but nobody seems to sell them. Next was a 4.5ltr Breville, just that bit larger without being OTT and had an auto mode (starts on high then auto reduces to low) which I found would have been useful. The 6.5ltr Morph Rich looked so big you could have a bath in it (but only £30 at the Co-hop) so ended up with this little beauty and never looked back.

It appears to be very well made and looks very good on the work surface. Heaps better than the aluminised exterior of the 48710 and does not get noticeable finger marks on it. The controls on the front feel good and the inner pot is sturdy. MR say the pot is not oven proof (the lid certainly is not) but I have had no problems whatsoever putting it under the grill to crisp off sliced tatties or a bit of cheese before serving. As regards the dishwasher MR cover their arrises by saying ‘Non’ but again I have, so far at least, not had any issues. Having said that the pot is so easy to clean under the tap with a squirt of fairy you do not need to shove it into a dishwasher like you would an oven a casserole pot.

The cooker finds it very hard indeed to overcook your food in fact, unlike many of the reports on Rival slow cookers, I have not yet overcooked the food. If the recipe says 8-10 hours on slow and you leave it for 15+ I have never had any crispy crud up the sides of the pot. Even when I have put the pot on a bit late for slow cooking and cooked instead on high and then left it for 2 hours longer than the max time there was no issue at all. Just make sure the pot is reasonably full.

Have to say that even the toughest of cuts that you would normally not buy from Tesco/Sainsburys/Morrisons/Asda etc i.e. their ‘basics’ range of cuts of lamb (usually as tough as old boots), stewing steak come out so tender it brought tears to my eyes and comfort to my credit crunch impoverished pocket. I pushed the boat out and bought some braising steak and cooked it as steaks rather than cutting into chunks and it was incredible and far more flavour than fillet.

For four hungry adults the pot is really only just large enough. If you have a particularly large family go for the 6.5ltr version but remember to work well the pot needs to be fairly full so it may not be so good for cooking smaller quantities. For most peeps I recon a 6.5ltr would be OTT, the 3.5 will give 4 decent portions but a 4.5ltr Breville, if full, will feed 5 hungry rugby players.

The Instruction booklet is clear enough and contains a moderate selection of recipes to get you going. In my travels after asking, without success, in WH Smiths for a book called ‘Slow Cookers for Dummies’ I found a really good little number for a fiver called ‘Slow Cooking Properly Explained’ by Diane Page. Bought it, don’t need anything else.

The only real downside I have found with slow cooking, so far at least, is teenage ladies withiin the household being picky on what they will or will not eat (and this very frustratingly seems to vary almost on a weekly basis !!) so keeping everybody happy with the ingredients has be troublesome – now I just tell white lies as to what I put in and low and behold the issue has all but evaporated. Oh yes, if I used the pot too often I suspect it might go the way of the sandwich toaster.

The exterior of the unit does get a bit warmish, as I guess most slow cookers do, and it was good to warm my cold hands on when I came in from the garden. Whilst hot(ish) I do not believe it would burn a small bairn should they happen to inadvertently touch the container.

So, to sum up: This pot looks good, appears well made in all departments, cooks well and in my experience doesn’t burn, very easy to clean, in practice is dishwasher and grill proof, can serve the inner pot direct to the table (even for a dinner party), is incredibly competitively priced…….. need I go on.

Reviews by Cressi for Morphy Richards 48721 Slow Cooker, 3.5L (Black)
Rating:
Black looks great. Definitely marks much less easily than the silver version and its identical to the silver version in performance (my sister has the silver so I have compared both). Internal casserole dish is glazed black and looks good to serve straight to the table.

Case gets hot when cooking, so keep it away from toddlers reach.

Bowl and lid are both dishwasher proof.

Which? mag reviewed the larger model (the 6L version ) and it knocked spots off the competition and produced best roast chicken on test(the cookbook doesnt tell you that you can do this). My sister has just tried a roast chicken in the smaller version today and she rang with the verdict a few minutes ago to say it was great – she cooked it on high for 5 hrs and the meat just fell off the bones.

Re cookbooks, normal casserole etc recipes would be very easily adapted for use, so no need to buy a special cookbook unless you are really keen or dont have many cookbooks already.

Very happy with it.

Reviews by Oliver Twist for Morphy Richards 48721 Slow Cooker, 3.5L (Black)
Rating:
Recently having been widowed and now having to fend for myself, a friend suggested I get a slow cooker. I had only vaguely heard of such a piece of equipment and certainly no great cook. However, this seemed good advice so I chose this one and couldnt have been better pleased. New to cooking skills, I found I can now make excellent stews,soups and other dishes previously only dreamt of. The cooker itself is sturdily made and easy to keep clean The detachable black dish is attractive and would not look out of place on the dining table if ever I decide to entertain in the future.The Price was very reasonable with delivery included. Perhaps I should add that a smaller appliance might be more appropriate for a single person but I find the 3.5ltr size useful and economical for making 4 servings at one go and freezing the remainder I dont use.