Tower 3.5L Cavaletto slow cooker review

How easy is the Tower 3.5L Cavaletto slow cooker to use?

With just three components, this slow cooker is straightforward to use. The ceramic cooking pot features two handles either side of the lip, making it easy to lower the pot into the main base or lift it out when the cooking is done. Be sure to handle it with gloves when removing it, as the pot gets hot.

There are just three settings on this machine. The controls are clearly displayed and it's intuitive to use. A useful red light turns on to let you know that the slow cooker is running.

The glass lid sits comfortably on top of the ceramic bowl. It doesn’t sit super snugly on the pot, but equally it doesn’t move around too much. The lid is clear, so you can check on the progress of your food.

For quick and easy clean up, the main ceramic pot is dishwasher-safe.

Results

This Tower slow cooker performed well in our tests. We made a slow cooker beef stew to see how it cooked meat and veg, and to test the consistency of the finished product. The ceramic pot on this slow cooker is tall and deep, meaning our beef and veg were nicely submerged in all the liquid – this resulted in tender meat and vegetables with a little bite. The sauce was flavoursome, but lacked the rich, thickened consistency we were after.

How sustainable is the Tower 3.5L Cavaletto slow cooker?

The manual includes details of how and where to recycle the slow cooker after use, but there was no information about spare parts if the bowl or lid were to break.

Except for a single cardboard insert, all the packaging is polystyrene or plastic, which was disappointing to see.

Conclusion

This is a fuss-free slow cooker that does a good job when it comes to cooking meat and vegetables. It's compact in size, making it easy to store, and the three simple settings mean it's easy to use. The design is simple and attractive, plus this model is available in a few colours, though we did feel it was a little plasticky in places.

If you’ve got a much-loved recipe, like a stew, we’d recommend cutting down the amount of liquid you put into this model as our test recipe was more liquid than we’d have liked.

Key specifications

Capacity: 3.5 litres
Size (cm): HxWxD 25 x 35 x 25cm
Settings: low, high, keep warm
Pot: ceramic
Lid: glass and plastic
Dishwasher-safe: yes, the pot
Made in: China

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