Now the evenings are closing in, its time for the barbeque to step down and the croc pot to take over. Invented by the Crock-Pot company, the croc pot, or slow cooker, is a low-energy way of cooking food over a period of several hours. Because the temperature never reaches anywhere near boiling point, food gets cooked without losing any of its natural flavour or nutritional value. This is a cooking pot that is excellent for preparing rich stews. The length of cooking time is ideal for complex dishes that rely on binding diverse flavours. And modern croc pots are ultra-economical.

The concept has caught on. Well-known brand names such as Morphy Richards and Breville make super-efficient slow cookers that are affordable and easy to use. They have become popular because they are so easy to use. Modern families often find it difficult to prepare nutritious meals just as everyone is coming home from work or school. For many, that’s the most chaotic time of the day – and the worst possible moment to start preparing dinner.

A croc pot allows you to choose the best moment to prepare your meal. You can chop your vegetables and prepare your meat in the morning, place it all in the slow cooker and turn it on before you leave the house. Early crock-pots would cook the ingredients at a set, low temperature controlled by a simple thermostat. Contemporary cookware now offer a host of features that essentially allow you to expand your culinary repetoire beyond the limit of simple stews. Some feature more complicated temperature control so that food can be kept warm once its cooked automatically. Others feature a probe that can detect when a joint of meat is done the way you like it, and stop cooking as soon as that point is reached. More advanced slow cookers can be programmed to begin cooking at high temperatures like a conventional oven before dropping to slow cooker temperatures, or vice versa. But it is worth bearing in mind that an increase in performance can also mean a fall in cost-efficiency. A modern, simple croc pot is still the most efficient way to cook your food.

There are two main sizes of slow cookers and croc pots. These are the ‘4-quart’ and the ‘6-quart’, which hold exactly what they say on the tin. A 6-quart slow cooker is best suited to a big family with a big kitchen. But one factor that has made croc pots so popular over the years is the prevalence of ‘pot-luck’ dinners. In this case, a 4-quart, handled croc pot would be ideal. Just carry the pot to the party and plug it in as soon as you arrive. Many croc pots feature a detachable ceramic bowl. This makes serving directly from the bowl very easy – and a little more elegant. And the crockery pot is sufficiently heavy to make sure the food stays warm.

Now that there have been so many croc pots and slow cookers on the market for such a long time, there are also plenty of recipes to go with them. Once you have familiarized yourself with the basics, the only limit is your own imagination.