Morphy Richards Sear, Stew and Stir slow cooker review

The Morphy Richards slow cooker is robust and well-made. It comes with three settings, low, medium and high, and has some interesting features.

In our test of the best slow cookers, we loved being able to sear meat in the lightweight, aluminium pot directly on the hob (not including induction), and its unique automatic stirring facility.

The cooker has a motor unit fitted into the lid which holds a removable stirring paddle that can auto-stir or pulse. On auto, after two hours of cooking, the paddle stirs for 5 minutes, then repeats every 30 minutes until cooking has ended. On pulse, it will stir for 1 minute whenever you choose.

Stirring is not recommended for every recipe, especially large pieces of meat like the chicken leg used in our curry recipe. We tested the auto-stir on the beef stew recipe and though the dish was rich and flavoursome, the meat and veg were starting to break up. The chicken curry, tested without stirring, was delicious, the sauce thick and tasty, the chicken about to fall off the bone.

We also tested the auto-stir function with a spicy mung dahl, with excellent results. The recipe cooked on low for four hours, resulting in a soft creamy texture and zingy yellow colour.

This ability to stir means the cooker is bulky. The lid clips on to the base unit, and we found these worryingly awkward and tight to close, especially when the cooker was hot.

The large motor on the lid doubles as the handle, which makes it quite easy to press the release button when lifting the lid. With regular use, this became less of a problem.

Available from:
Morphy Richards (£57.99)
Amazon (£54.99)

Specifications
Type: regular slow cooker
Capacity: 3.5-litre
Size: 28 x 23.5 x 21 cm
Settings: high, medium, low
Functions: sear and stir, power indicator light
Pot: hob safe aluminium
Lid: glass
Guarantee: 2 years when registered online
Dishwasher: inner pot (lid with stirring motor reoved)
Oven and hob friendly: hob except induction
Instruction manual: yes
Recipes: yes

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This review was last updated in January 2020. If you have any questions, suggestions for future reviews or spot anything that has changed in price or availability, please get in touch at goodfoodwebsite@immediate.co.uk.