Beautiful 1.5 qt slow cooker

I was hesitant to order this since there were only two reviews and one was very negative. I have had it about 5 days and have made at least three meals with it. It is very like the the slow cooker that it replaced another brand but the same wattage etc. This one appears to work just fine and I very much like the red color. It also has a defrost setting which I have used one time and found it very useful. Otherwise it is just like my old 1 1/2 quart model. That one lasted 7 years. For one or two people this size is ideal. For soups beans spaghetti sauce and small portions of meat like pork chops it can not be beat.More detail ...

Elite Gourmet 8.5 qt.

We have a family of 7 and required a larger crock pot. This one is excellent as it holds twice what we could normally get in our old crock pot. As the exterior is stainless steel it does get hot. But the upside is that the cooking time is about the same if not better than with the smaller pots. Definetely worth the investmest if you are cooker for larger groups.More detail ...

I chose this over the All Clad Non Stick slow cooker

I spent a year looking for a good slow cooker that (1) When set on low did not boil food too hot (2) Could hold enough for large batch cooking (3) Did not have a hinged lid (hard to clean and breaks easily) (4) Is programmable for a set amount of time then switches to warm (5) Was reasonably priced. I tried cheapo store brand round slow cookers which nuked my food - no need to explain since most people have had one at one point or another. Last fall I purchased the top of the line All Clad slow cooker with non-stick insert from Williams Sonoma. After sales tax it cost me a little over $300 which made me nervous. The first meal I made in it was braised short ribs. I browned the ribs in the slow cooker insert on the stove and set it on low for several hours. The food was delish and it kept a gentle simmer but I was horrified to find light scratch marks on the inside of the insert as I was washing the dishes. I used the All Clad for several days and then finally returned it because I couldn't bear the thought of having paid that much money for something that wasn't going to last. Besides I felt a bit weird about simmering food for many hours in that non-stick coating that may one day start coming off. I then decided to look for a traditional crock pot with a timer - if I need to saute or brown I now do it in a cast iron pan the night before deglaze then dump all of the contents into a container that goes into the fridge if I am going to start the crock in the morning. When I get up I fill up the crock pot with the prepped food from the night before hit the buttons then leave for work. So far this ELume version has been great.



Pros: The low setting is actually a low simmer. I've made Indian lentil/dahl curries bbq pulled pork baked beans Chinese jook/congee Beef stew Chili verdered chili soups stock the list goes on. I typically program it to cook for 10 hours on low and it works like a charm. Food is really slow cooked and there are no hot spots burned stuck on food like previous appliances I've owned. The polished stainless finish looks beautiful - although not it does not have as high of quality finish as the All Clad.



Cons: The programmable button/pad area can be improved - the numbers are difficult to read unless you are looking at it directly at eye level meaning you have to bend down to see what you're pressing. Mine came with a burned-out area on the keypad but I didn't bother returning it since it didn't affect the function - you can still see that it's the "on" button it just doesn't light up. The black keypad part feels a tad cheap and you can almost pry it off if you wanted to (esp. when it gets hot) because it's glued on (!) albeit very sturdily - hopefully this lasts for a while. The crock pot itself gets a bit hot when cooking but not excessively hot like ones I've had before.



Bottom Line: I paid about $75 for this including tax. Purchased at Linens N Things with a coupon. I'm giving this a four star rating - good quality for that price but I would pay no more. Compared to my week of owning a $300 slow cooker this is a bargain.More detail ...

Not really programmable but better than average quality.

This cooker has a digital timer that you can set to cook at your chosen setting (Simmer Low High) for any time up to 24 hours. At the end of the set cooking time it automatically switches to Warm and then switches itself off after another eight hours. IMO a truly "Programmable" cooker would change heat settings during cooking and perhaps have a delayed start function; this unit does neither.



On the other hand the Simmer setting is what's missing from some other slow cookers and perhaps that's why foods get burned. This cooker heats to 185°F on Simmer 200°F on Low 212°F on High and 165°F on Warm. Some cook books including Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook assume that Low is 180°. 180°F is the oven temperature I've always used for slow cooking a leg of lamb London broil and other roasts so the lower Simmer setting is something I appreciate.



The stainless steel housing glass lid control panel and ceramic pot are all nicely constructed and finished - nothing's cheap-looking or flimsy - and looks like they'll last for years. The 3-1/2qt oval pot holds a 2-1/2lb chuck roast without the meat touching the sides and there's enough room for a layer of vegetables (a couple of cups chopped) a layer a meat a couple inches thick and new potatoes on top. You could cook a complete meal in this for three or four people. Mine is a one-person household and this is the ideal size for me; anything smaller wouldn't make enough leftovers.



The included cookbook has nutritional information - number of servings calories carbs fat protein sodium and more - for all 50 recipes. I gave it four stars instead of five because it's not what I consider programmable but I'm very pleased with it for the price.More detail ...

This stuff is awexome!

By mixing this with a little olive oil and smearing it over the chicken it provides a spicy easy to grill (no/low sugar hence not blackened) chicken.

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