I was looking at the WS crockpot yesterday and it is a thing of beauty; I'll be curious to see if anyone has it.

Bon Appetit has a review of several new ones in this months issue.....

In a nutshell, here is what they recommended:

Best Basic - 6.5 qt Slow Cooker by Cuisinart ($100)
Best All Around - 3-in-One Slow Cooker by Hamilton Beach ($75)
Best Deluxe - VersaWare by Crock-Pot ($80)

Hope that helps!

alexa

Oh my! I had no idea they were so expensive! Spend $40 more and get a Le Cruset or a Lodge Dutch oven.
Linda C

I bought the Rival 6 qt. with the timer on it and I love it. It is oval shaped and I can set my hours and then it goes into a warm mode. Normal retail is around $40 and I beleive Costco has it also. I was very lucky and found it for $20 at Fry's electronics in January.

So far I have made lentil soup, lamb shanks, herbed Italian chicken, Portugese beef shanks and camelized 3 pounds of onions in it. All turned out perfect. I did do a black bean soup in it but that seemed to take forever, over 12 hours.

Hope this helps.

Peppi

Peppi, I caramelize onions in mine too, and it works great for that, also does a bang up job on a pot of beans (soup or baked), split pea soup and corned beef and cabbage.

I like it for some things and my pressure cooker for others, my cast iron dutch oven for still others like pot roast and beef stew.

I got a new one for Christmas from Elery's son and DIL, it's a Rival, a big one. I've used it half a dozen times now and I like it better than the older Rival I had/have, the heat seems to be not so hot, the new one doesn't scorch things that are left more than a couple of hours.

Annie

Yes, I'm one of those crazy people who went to W-S and paid big bucks for the large oval All-Clad....and I couldn't be happier with it! I gave away the only other crockpot I'd ever owned 15 or 20 years ago. Couldn't stand the mushy texture of meat cooked in it, and it was a PITA to clean. But then I had a couple of important events coming up, and a cp seemed like the only answer to the logistical problems. For one party, I had to transport and keep a large quantity of food warm for 4-5 hours. For the other, it supplemented the meager oven space in my kitchen when serving a crowd. In both cases, it worked like a charm! After hours and hours, nothing was scorched, and nothing was dried out.

There are 2 models. I got the super-duper deluxe version. :) I know, I'm a sucker. But the more expensive one has a cooking insert that can be used on the stovetop to brown stuff before you begin the actual slow-cooking process. That makes such a difference in taste and appearance, and without the hassle of browning in one pan and then transferring to the cp. Honestly, I think you'd be wasting your money to buy the one without this feature. Better to buy a $35 or $40 one in that case, because you'll have most of the same limitations.

The insert is dishwasher safe. The base is a snap to clean. The digital display is great. And it's just soooo purty!! lol I also find that the recipes available are far superior to the ones I tried a decade or two ago. (No doubt due to all the info available on the internet now.) Although I've actually only used it about 10 times so far, I'd rate 5 or 6 of the dishes a real success.

After years of 'making do', I'm gradually replacing the junk with high-quality kitchen tools now that the kids are grown. Although a crockpot wasn't even on my (incredibly long) wish list to begin with, I'm just delighted now that I splurged.

sm

I have the Rival Smart-Pot that on sale at Costco (with a buddy pot). I bought mine on sale probably 5 years ago and it has a very pretty chile design on the side with a bright red removable stoneware crock inside and a glass lid.
I use it average once a week and I love it. It is very, very simple and lets you select high (4 or 6 hours) and low (8 or 10 hours) and warm. It automatically switches to warm when it finishes the other cycles. On high, I can get just barely almost a simmer. (I just don't consider pots that boil or only heat from the bottom to be "true" slow-cookers)
I didn't want some crazy programmable one that had complicated instructions. Slow cooker recipes just aren't that complicated. Not many of the ones I use require browning (except the ones in my W-S slow cooker cookbook, hmmmm).

Thanks everyone, for all your opinions!

I went to Costco today and no slow cookers there! Next stop, Bed Bath & Beyond, where I picked up the Kitchenaid with a 20% off coupon. They only had two, so I figured I'd buy it, leave it unopened and return it if I find one I like better by the end of the weekend.

They had the regular All-Clad (not the one with the aluminum insert that can go on the stove), but I'm probably the only person on earth who doesn't like the way it looks. I hate shiny metal finishes and know that in my house it will end up looking awful. I didn't like the heaviness or shape of the crock on the VersaWare and the Rivals they had looked like they'd fall apart. Was very glad I saw them in-person.

I tried a slow cooker years ago but I visited some old friends in Maryland last weekend who have become avid users and convinced me to try again, especially with me going back to school in the fall. I'm not comfortable leaving it on if no one's home, but DH works from home a few days a week and I'm thinking it would be great for those days and also weekends, when I'm home studying but can't watch over an oven or stove. This one's a 7-quart, so I should be able to get some dinner and lunches out of it.

Now, I need recipes :)

Sue

Peppi and Annie, would you please share how you caramelize large quantities of onions in a slow-cooker? ... and maybe also what you do with (!) three pounds of them? Thanks!

Alice

I use another approach to slow cooking: an induction unit (Mr. Induction) plus any dutch oven that is suitable for induction (stainless or cast-iron). This gives a lot of flexibility in settings plus you can brown ingredients on high setting before reducing heat to low or medium.

Alice here is a link on crock pot carmelized onions.

Here is a link that might be useful: crock pot onions

What a great time to find this thread, I am planning on buying a crockpot also ... to avoid the stove heat this summer.

$40 is more my range :)

I checked out Beth Hensperger's "Not Your Mother's Slow cooker Cookbook" from my local library & just finished reading it. It had the usual soup, chili & stew recipes. But it also had recipes for pastas & desserts cooked directly in the slow cooker along with some tomato sauces.

After reading the cookbook, I was thinking the same as Ohiomom, that a slow cooker would be a good tool for summer cooking.

Readinglady sent me a cookbook by Rick Rodgers that's all crock pot recipes too, and there are some good ones in there, I'll have to dig it out.

alice, I used the onions to can french onion soup and caramelized onion relish because I grow my own beef and can beef broth, soups, etc. I slice a crockpot full of onions, drizzle with olive oil and turn it on. It takes 12-18 hours but the house smells so good and no stirring or constant attention.

Annie

I bought a Hamilton Beach I think 8qt to replace my old trusty Crock Pot brand that I LOVED and worked so well..
This one has the removable crock..which isn't a feature I found necessary in the 8qt..but I don't think you can get them any other way now..It's got keep warm, low and high, plus off. It does a good job..but like most newer crock pots even the lower temp can climb a bit.
I just (before I sat down here) put in some chicken breasts into it for dinner tonight..I'm trying a favorite appetizer recipe in "big" size. Same ingredients just using whole boneless skinless breasts instead of cubes.
I also have a large digital timmed Monster from Costco..I hate it!! Even on warm that thing will cook the heck out of anything..It's good for soup and that's it!