Quick or slow? Your choice with the Crock-Pot Express Crock XL Multi cooker

  This post is sponsored by the Crock-Pot Express Crock XL Multi Cooker.

I have always had to make a choice before- do I have time for tender slow cooking that takes eight hours? Alright, get out the slow cooker. Do I need this done in 40 minutes? Alright, get out the pressure cooker! But now with the Crock-Pot Express Crock XL Multi Cooker I don't have to choose, it can stay on the bench all the time as it does both!

They don't call it a multicooker for no reason- this versatile machine does so many cooking tasks, you can almost have a night off. I'm going to talk you through the features and explain why this works so well for me.

First up, there are two options, you can choose to do traditional cooking- think steaming, browning/ searing, boiling, simmering, or slow cooking. You can even make yoghurt- more about that later! Or you can choose to pressure cook. And pressure cooking is where this machine means dinner in NO TIME AT ALL.

I used to think that using a pressure cooker you missed out on developing flavours and breaking down tough meat, but I was so wrong, in fact when I got my first pressure cooker- I quickly (pun intended) realised that pressure cooking does everything a slow cooker does but it works better for a busy disorganised Mum schedule. 

So what better way to pressure cook than with a pressure cooker that quite literally can feed your whole family twice over? I'm a firm believer in cooking one for now and one for the freezer- because it makes weeknights that much easier knowing I can just pull dinner out of the freezer and eat!

So what have we used it for? Pressure cooked curries, with browning first. Slow cooked sticky chicky, I've made yoghurt, pressure cooked rice, steamed veggies and also pressure cooked chicken stock. You basically can choose an option from the buttons on the front or go manual, giving you complete control. 

The multicooker comes with two lids- one for use under pressure and a glass lid for slow cooking or things that don't happen under pressure. 

Pros:

• the sheer volume of food you can cook in it- 7.6L of food is enough to feed your family, and have leftovers!
• 8 different cooking functions built in (plus manual modes)
• steaming rack
• two different lids, glass and pressure lid
• non scratch spoon for use on the nonstick surface
• one pot cooking, from browning through to pressure or slow cooking
• keep warm function for when you don't make it home quite when you expected
• the pressure function is quick to heat up

Cons:

• the cord is very short- which can be tricky in a small cluttered kitchen (not that mine would be small or cluttered 😉 )
• The pot is difficult to remove when hot from the base

Price $199 from online retailers.

Don't forget to jump over to the Kidgredients facebook page to win our own!