Until recently, preparing heartwarming, homely and delicious stews and casseroles courtesy of the slow cooker, or crock pot as it was known when introduced in the 1970’, was something of a fading art form.
Slow cooking is now making a major resurgence in the marketplace, with home chefs introducing a modern, healthy twist on an old traditional way of cooking. The slow cooker is once again proving to be an essential piece of kitchen equipment worth its weight in gold.
That the slow cooker is back in vogue is reflected in sales across the country. Kambrook, the popular brand under the Breville group, late last year took first place in the GfK awards in the slow cooker category . The GFK Award measures retail audit data in each category and in each country. The award is based on unit sales for the period from January to December and figures showed the slow cooker is very much back in demand.
Kambrook have developed three distinctive slow cookers to choose from, each to match your needs and style of cooking – the KSC450 profile slow cooker, KSC350 stainless steel slow cooker and the KSC650 profile banquet slow cooker.
The KSC450 profile slow cooker has a large 4.5 litre capacity and auto setting, which allows you to set in the morning and dine at night.
The KSC350 has a three-litre capacity for smaller quantity meals, which makes it perfect for two.
Finally the KSC650 profile banquet slow cooker has a massive 5.5-litre capacity, which also includes an auto setting. It is set to become a kitchen essential for the entertainers amongst us.
Retailers have seen slow cookers as a traditional market in recent years but this is quickly changing, having everything to do with the busy lifestyles we lead today as well as an emerging trend shifting back to more traditional family cooking. Slow cooking is very much a more European-style cooking trend, which is also having a resurgence.
Another note from retailers is that the larger-sized cookers are becoming more popular as people are cooking for bigger families and guests or because they want to have leftovers. However, compared to the slow cookers of years gone by, the modern version is far more sophisticated – cool touch handles, low and high temperature settings, a removable dishwasher – safe crockery bowl and a cook and look glass lid are all features of the modern slow cooker.