Slow cooker liners
What are slow cooker liners? Why would I want to use them? Which type are the best?
Slow cooker liners sit inside your slow cooker's interior pot. There are two main types of slow cooker liner, disposable (plastic) and reusable (silicone). Personally, I would avoid disposable liners on environmental grounds.
Why would you want a slow cooker liner?
Liners are designed to make it easier to wash up after cooking and to extend the life of your slow cooker, protecting it from scratches, cracks, leaks, sticky residues, and burnt-on food stains.
Some recipes suggest that lightly oiling or greasing the inside of the pot before cooking will prevent food from sticking.
At the end of the day, the only alternative to using a liner is to soak and scrub the pot as usual, or to pop it in a dishwasher if you have one (I don't) - and that's assuming that your slow cooker has a dishwasher-proof pot.
Sizes
Be careful to check dimensions when you buy liners. "Product dimensions" often refers to the packaging, and capacity may be in Litres or Quarts, which are not exactly the same. Manufacturers may also confuse matters by measuring the top or the bottom dimensions of either the liner or the slow cooker! For reference, my Swan Retro Slow Cooker capacity is 3.5L and its interior base measures 19.5cm x 15.5cm.
Let's look at the reusable silicone liners first.
Slowseal Collapsable Silicone Liner - 1.8L and 3.5L
This is the only liner I have found to fit a small or medium sized slow cooker. There are separate versions for 1.8L and 3.5L litre slow cookers - make sure you check the dimensions of your slow cooker and pick the right one!
I rather like this liner as it's collapsable and easy to store. It pulls back into shape quickly, and looks as if it will fit neatly inside most slow cookers (there's a list of some of the cookers it fits on the listing). I'll be trying it out in my slow cooker soon!
Standard Silicone Liner - 6.5L
These silicone liners are readily available for 6.5L slow cookers, but unfortunately not for 3.5L models. They are made of food grade silicone, they're BPA free, heat resistant and safe up to high temperatures. They are more structured than disposable liners, and more environmentally friendly than single use plastic.
They are easy to clean after use, so there's less soaking and scrubbing when you're washing up. They'll go in the dishwasher too! They are light and totally shatterproof, making them easier to handle and wash up than the crockery pot. They are especially useful if you have a ceramic sink and you don't want to risk chipping either your crockery pot or the sink itself. Most are also dishwasher proof.
Next we will look at divided slow cooker liners. They are only available for large 6.5L slow cookers. They come in two types, as a single unit with a built-in divider, and as a pair of individual units which slot into the slow cooker together.
Dual Compartment Silicone Liner - 6.5L
These come as a single unit with a built-in divider. They are only available for large 6.5L slow cookers.
Twin Compartment Silicone Liner - 6.5L
As with the dual liners, these are only available for large 6.5L slow cookers. They consist of a pair of individual units, which can be evenly sized, or one larger than the other. Here's an evenly sized one:
And here's one with one side larger than the other:
Disposable Plastic Liners - one size fits all
These disposable liners are sheets of food grade, BPA-free plastic. They are resistant to high temperatures and they do not affect the flavour or texture of the food. Personally, I would avoid these on environmental grounds.
They are usually available in just one size, which fits round or oval slow cookers, and both 3.5L and 6.5L models. You may occasionally find manufacturers making a choice of shapes, but rarely a choice of sizes.
To use them, you simply place them in the slow cooker overlapping the rim, as you would a bin liner, and put the food inside. Most manufacturers wisely advise against lifting the liner out with the food inside it, in case it breaks and you get scalded.
Here's an example if you'd like to try them.
Can you get disposable greaseproof paper liners?
It was impossible to find any greaseproof baking paper liners for slow cookers, although they are readily available for air fryers. This surprises me, as I can't think of any reason why they wouldn't do the job for drier recipes. However, I'm not sure that they could retain cooking juices and sauces over extended cooking times.
The ones below are from Hausprofi and they're designed for air fryers. They are 18.5cm long x 11.5cm wide x 6.5 cm tall, so they're a little smaller all round than my 19.5cm x 15.5cm slow cooker, and they're more rectangular than oval. To be honest, the fit would be poor. If a recipe calls for a greaseproof liner, the best solution would be to use greaseproof paper on a roll, and cut it to shape.
I hope that was useful. Do let me know how you get on, with or without liners!