One of the questions I get asked often is what size slow cooker should you buy in litres?
In Australia we have a range of sizes, ranging from 1.5 litres to 10+ litres. For most households a slow cooker within the range of 3 to 5 litres will be sufficient, but if you’re undecided we will cover a few considerations below.
How to decide on a slow cooker
The following will help you decide on the size of cooker to buy:
- How many people do you usually cook for?
- What type of meals do you prefer to make?
- How much counter space do you want your slow cooker to take up in your kitchen?
A good size metric is a whole chicken. Personally I cook bone broth once a week using a slow cooker using a whole chicken – great for me and my dog – and for this you should aim for a 5 litre slow cooker at a minimum.
When it comes to counter space, I usually make my food in the kitchen, but plug in the slow cooker in my laundry. There are two benefits of that – it frees up counter space in my unit, and it keeps the smell out of the main part of the house.
Slow cooker sizes in litres – A comparison
Small (1.5 ~ 2 litres)
These are great for soups, stews, and small casseroles if you live on your own or with a partner.
You won’t be able to cook large cuts of meat, but if that’s not your thing then a small slow cooker will be easy to store or won’t take up much space in your kitchen.
A soup in a 2 litre slow cooker should be enough for 2 to 3 people.
Medium (3 ~ 5 litres)
You’ll find 5 litres (give or take) to be the most common size for average Australian households and should easily cater for a family of 4.
Cramming in a whole chicken is borderline in a 5 litre slow cooker but it’s doable if you don’t care too much about veggies. If it’s just for two you can squeeze a smaller chicken into a 3 litre.
However, if you’re not too bothered about big cuts of meat you should find medium slow cookers perfectly suitable for soups, stews, casseroles, curries, chopped meats and smaller cuts of meat.
Large (6 ~ 8 litres)
My slow cooker is 6 litres, and I’ve never needed more than this. We have a family of 3 (one child), and with appropriate recipes this covers our dog as well!
6+ litres should give you ample room for a whole chicken plus veggies and potatoes, which makes this size bracket a good choice for medium sized families.
Having a large cooker can also allow you to cook in batches so you can save some for later – a great cost saving!
Extra large (10+ litres)
Slow cookers of this size are more for commercial use, but if you like to entertain guests then you can rustle up a feast in one of this size.
If you have a large family and like to batch cook to save time during the week then you may opt for 10+ litres, but given the price it’s only worth doing so if you plan to use the slow cooker enough to justify it.
If you like your booze, an extra large slow cooker would obviously be ideal for brewing up delicious mulled wine!
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