My mum gifted me this £30 kitchen appliance when I left for university seven years ago, and I still use it all the time – it’s the only appliance a fresher needs

When I packed up and headed to university back in September 2019, the one thing my mum gave me was a Crockpot Slowcooker (£31, Argos). And now, four years later, it’s the one kitchen appliance I can’t live without.

If you have a loved one heading to university this autumn, I’d argue that one of the best slow cookers is possibly the best thing to send them off with - it definitely was for me. Slow cookers are cheap to run, make meal prep a breeze, and don’t take up as much worktop space as one of the best air fryers.

I’m always waxing lyrical about my slow cooker and how much I love using it. I genuinely whip it out every week, and now it’s the kitchen appliance I’d recommend to anyone moving out for the first time.

Until I was given an air fryer, I didn’t really see their merit, to be honest. If I’m being really honest, coming home from school to see the slow cooker was on the side was fairly disappointing. It wasn’t until I started using my own that I realised you could make a lot more than stew.

My mum firmly told me she swore by hers, and after school stew aside, I took her advice. I’ve never looked back either. As an 18-year-old essentially let loose in London for the next three years, I had better things to do than spend my evenings slaving away behind an oven, and I really didn’t have the budget to rely on takeaways.

Here, my slow cooker maths came into play. Before heading into lectures in the morning, I could simply dump my ingredients into the cooker, set it to low, and when I arrived home I’d have a hot meal waiting for me (and leftovers to feed me over the rest of the week).

At home I’d cooked for my family, but now cooking for just myself, I found it frustrating and expensive buying ingredients only to not be able to use them all up before they went out of date. But being able to quickly batch cook in my slow cooker meant I could use all my ingredients up and leftovers could be deposited in the freezer or fridge. Now, I practically worship slow cooker dump bags, which make prep even easier, and swear by the OXO GoodGrips Silicone Bags (£20, Amazon) to do so.

Slow cookers are also really cheap to run. In fact, it’s probably your cheapest kitchen appliance, making it very student-friendly. Plus, my experience of slow cookers is that they can deepen the flavour of the dish you’re cooking. I’ve learned this the hard way by adding slightly too much spice to curries and consequently blowing my own head off.

Throughout university, I used my slow cooker to make a range of dishes from bolognese, curries and casseroles to mulled wine at Christmas and joints of pulled pork for dinner parties and BBQs during the summer.

Now aged 25, I still use the same Crockpot on a weekly basis. It is genuinely my favourite kitchen appliance. And while I keep thinking I need to upgrade my slow cooker (I’ve been looking at the Ninja Foodi 8-in-1 8L Possible Cooker, was £150, now £120 at Argos), I can’t quite bring myself to part with my trusty Crockpot.

My mum was absolutely right in gifting me a slow cooker over any other kitchen appliance or utensil when I headed off to uni seven years ago. I now recommend the same appliance to all my friends and extend the same recommendation to any freshers this year.