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 verde,red 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. Crock-Pot SCVT650-PS 6-1/2-Quart Programmable Touch Screen Slow Cooker, Stainless
My mother used to make slow cooker dinners for us back in the early 70s. They were awful. I don't know if she had a beta model of the slow cooker, or that no one had yet figured out the science of cooking with crocks, but I was a bit traumatized by the dinners that didn't taste like anything but all tasted the same (sorry mom!). 40 years later, I thought a Crockpot might help me prepare food for my family because chaos always breaks out when dinner preparation starts (i.e. client calls, etc). A friend of mine is an expert cook and she swears by her crock. I decided to give it a shot. I researched models, and decided that this large size, easy to program model was a good fit. I was right. The first dish I made was chili, the second stuffed peppers, the third was navy been, beef brisket, chicken & sausage gumbo, then I moved on to steel cut oatmeal, unstuffed cabbage, and am cooking up a sausage chicken dish as I write this. Each dish has turned out better than the last. Here's the surprising thing: I NEVER COOK, ever. My husband does all the cooking. No one is more surprised than I am that I am cooking and the food is amazing. The unstuffed cabbage is a family specialty- and the crockpot made the dish better than anyone has so far.
For non-cooks, I completely recommend this Crockpot! If someone actually knows how to cook, I only imagine that the flavor is even better.
The controls- simple to use. Cooks evenly. The size is perfect for our family (4 people) with plenty of leftovers. Easy to clean. The best part is that I am able to make a meal for my family before the unexpected craziness of the day starts. This Crockpot has changed they way I think about slow cookers, and changed the way I think of myself as a cook. - Touchscreen - Programmable Slow Cooker - Rival - Slow Cooking'
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