A Nesco 6 qt electric roaster oven with the RoastAir lid kit. It's what I have and I threw out my crockpots.

I absolutely LOVE my Hamilton Beach Stay & Go oval shaped crock pot. It was very reasonable, doesn't heat up the kitchen and I make roasts, stews and most of all lots and lots of lovely chicken and beef stock. I highly recommend!

Many people have been very disappointed with new crock pots for one main reason... because of the Food Safety Police, you'll find that new models do not go as low in temp as the old ones did. So things cook a lot faster, and I guess it's not not great for leaving the pot on for 8 hours while you are away.

I have two older ones and I'll never ever get rid of them. ;-)

I'm with cynic, go for the 6 qt roaster oven. I have a slow cooker that's only a couple of years old and it doesn't slow cook, it boils things. I got a large roaster oven and like it so well that I'am now looking at a 5 or 6 qt one.

Not oval, but I really like my 3-in-one slow cooker - with the 3 different sized crocks; what a great idea. (I think it's Hamilton Beach?)

I'm not sure I understand the difference between a roaster and a crockpot. I saw Bryansda's other post of the Nesco roasters with the link. They look exactly like crockpots. How to they cook differently than a crock pot?

Cookebook, a roaster will do just that, roast things. It has adjustable heat, from 150 or so to 500 or something similar. A crockpot usually has low/high/warm or a similar setting to cook and then to just hold food at a temperature fit for serving.

The new crockpots cook so hot because they have to get up to a safe temperature within a period of time specified by the government, in their ever present efforts to keep us safe. Ahem.

Anyway, do NOT buy a Rival, mine was awful and thankfully stopped working in a year or so and I don't use it all that much.

I'm in the process of replacing mine, it went to some potluck or family function and never came back. No one will confess to having it, so I'm going to buy one of those 6 quart roasters instead.

Annie

I have the same one as pixistix and I love it. It is made by Hamilton Beach and is well worth it. No fancy bells and whistles but it's very reliable and eaualizes temperatures better than any other I've had, except for my old Rival that DS now has (darn LOL). It seems to cook at a "lower" low temperature than most popular ones out there. I had a newer Rival that I hated. No matter what I cooked at a low temperature it always came to a boil. I sent it packing to the local consignment store.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hamilton beach 3-in-1 slow cooker

Thanks everybody! I currently have an 80's vintage Hamilton Beach Crock Pot that I will keep for stews and soups. I don't need the versaltility of the 3 crocks with the Hamilton Beach 3-1. When I cook, I don't mind leftovers and I will freeze. I wanted one of the new oval shaped cookers because they seem to be better suited for roasts, chicken, and such. I have heard the complaint that slow cookers get too hot these days. Thanks for clearing up the reason why. I think the Nesco Roaster is what I need to look at. (I've always wanted a large one at Thanksgiving, but could never justify buying one for just a few times a year.) I also like that it has a Porcelain Cookwell. (I'm weird, I'm not a fan of non-stick.) Does anyone use the one with a Porcelain Cookwell. This is the one I'm leaning towards.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nesco 4816-25PRG

One more question. I know I can buy a Nesco Roaster on the web, but who carries them so I can go look at one? Bryansda and cynic, where did you purchase yours?

My 18 quart has a porcelain insert and I like it, my crockpot didn't have non-stick, it had ceramic or stoneware type inserts and I was always figuring I was going to drop it and break it, or thunk it against something when I was taking it somewhere.

Those roasters are available on Amazon, BTW. I'm thinking it might stay "warm" enough reliably to make cheese and yogurt too...

Annie

redfeatherbutt, you may be able to see a roaster at Sears. I got mine there, it's a Kenmore brand, but they got in the Nescos after I bought mine. Mine has the porcelain insert. Target also may have one to look over. Nesco has some of the oval 6 qt on sale at there sight right now.

You asked the difference in the slow cookers and the roasters. Slow cookers have the heating elements in the bottom and the roasters have them around the sides, I think they call it circle heating. The roasters you can slow cook, roast, bake, etc., basicly what ever you can do it an oven you can do in the roaster. You can also use pans in the roasters and cook more than one thing at a time, so I've read, if you get the large one.

bryansda, I've baked brownies in my big Nesco Roaster, just set the pan on the rack and it's great for roasting beef bones and then making a huge batch of stock.

However, you take the lid off and you lose a lot of heat, so if you're going to bake in it, leave the lid on!

Annie

bryansda & annie1992, Going shopping today! Sounds wonderful when you don't want to heat up a big oven. Just what I need right now in Texas when it's 104 degrees outside!

redfeather, it's great for outside cooking too, put that batch of brownies in there and set it outside on the porch!

Annie

No luck today at Sears. Tomorrow I'll try Target and Walmart if I have time. I think this is going to be hard to find locally.

Red - what about Walmart? Can't you order it online and have it shipped it to the nearest Walmart? I know Sears does that also. I ordered some black porcelin drip pans and picked them up at the nearest store.

Teresa

red, I've never seen a Nesco brand roaster at Walmart and ours didn't have any brand the other day when I was in there. Good luck finding a roaster this time of the year, it seems that they are around in the fall near Thanksgiving more than now.

I bought my 6 quart oval Nesco at Mills Fleet Farm and I bought several more at Target and gave them as gifts. I bought a 4 quart Nesco on clearance at Walmart but this was probably 20 years ago now. I think Walmart carries a Hamilton Beach brand or something like that. I like the heavier build of the Nesco.

Mine both came with the enamel cookwells. I bought the non-stick cookwells for them from QVC. I believe the 6qt cookwell I bought with the Roast-Air kit on QVC. That's a higher domed lid with a 2-way rack. Use it one way and it's like the normal one but it has higher "handles" on it so you can turn it over and it'll raise it up so you can have 2 levels of cooking if you like. I do like the fan for crisping up turkey breast. I really like the 6 qt oval Nesco for turkey breast.

The electric roasters ARE portable ovens. They adjust from warm on up to 450 - 475° or so depending on the model. They heat from the sides and Nesco calls it the "circle of heat". They keep the temp very consistent. They'll do everything a slow cooker will do (crockpot is a trademarked name for a slow cooker, much like Kleenex is for facial tissues) and they'll do far more than slow cookers. I cook meat in there, make soup, stew, chili, etc, I've baked bread in there, I know people who made pancakes in it. I've cooked lots of different stuff. You can use it to dehydrate if you like but I haven't tried that. Pot roast, meatloaf, all are great.

I was sold on electric roasters growing up with my mother using the big one on holidays. I couldn't justify a big one for myself. My dad gave me Ma's roaster and I made the critical mistake of loaning it to my sister and never got it back. :( But I bought my little Nescos and have been happy with them. I bought the 6 qt. first, then the 4 qt. I wish I would have gotten a 5 quart when they were around but actually having the two is not all bad.

I kind of damaged the porcelain well on my 6 quart. I didn't have a humidifier here one winter and I thought NESCO! So I filled it up with water and turned it on to add some humidity. I didn't think about the junk in the water and it kind of coated the cookwell so it's not as easy to clean as it was. I'll often just line it with heavy duty foil though and cleanup is a breeze. I recently bought some of the crock pot liner bags to try in it and see how they work. I've taken it camping, to the cabin and to friends places.

Everyone chants crockpot or slow cooker. No more for me. I threw them out and will never buy another. This does so much more, so much better. Why on earth would I want to be stuck with one or two temperatures when I can have fully variable? Not this dude. I'll use the stove or oven before going back to a slow cooker.

And yes, you lose a lot of heat when you oven peep but the same thing happens in a crock pot. The good news is that it recovers rapidly since it's such a small area and the heatwell surrounds the cookwell, and it's thermostatically controlled so that's not a big issue unless you're baking something very sensitive. I try not to oven peep much if I'm baking a loaf of bread but you do have to check it occasionally. You can also pull the cookwell out, put the top on the heatwell and keep some heat in there if it is a big deal to you but it isn't to me.

If you really want a versatile cooking appliance rather than a one-trick pony, there's no choice. I'm still debating about getting an 18 quart to cook and freeze turkey and ham. But I am a white meat person so turkey breast fits in the 6 quart perfectly, so like I said, I can't really justify the big one except now I only have a single oven stove so possibly for some baking it could be useful...

I have a Williams-Sonoma. Extravagant gift from DH. I like it because I can brown on the cooktop and then put the insert directly into the cooker. It does cook hotter than my old Rival. The main flaw is the flimsy lid - I put a heavy silicone hot pad on top to keep it down. At least the thin lid lets a bit of the heat out. It's oval shaped; another plus.

I'm still using the original Rival Crockpot (tall and round) I received as a wedding present in '74!

The heating elements are in the sides of it.

I bought a newer Rival (oval) a few years ago and my Roast was tough, so I threw it out! It was awful!

I have the large Nesco roaster but I only use it to keep things warm when we have a holiday dinner. It doesn't brown any meats so it's basically a waste of space for me.

If any of you have used the original Rival Crockpot, what crockpot on the market "rivals" it? :)

I use a small crockpot for dips only. But I want to have something on standby, just in case.

I just wanted to say that from your recommendations, I ordered the Nesco 6 qt roaster from Amazon, received it this past week and am really happy with it. I've just used it once so far to roast a chicken. It browned beautifully, was moist and, best of all, kept the kitchen cool. Thank you, thank you!
Pam

Pfmastin, below is the link to Amazon's page for Nesco's. Which one did you buy?

I have a question. My old crockpot has the "circular" elements in it and it never browned chicken. How does the roaster brown meat when the condensation drips down on it from the lid?

Although most of the reviews are good, many say it's too hot on the outside & you can burn yourself. How does that help keep the kitchen cooler?

I'd love to bake a chicken in there and have it crisp up! And is the 6 qt. big enough for a large chicken?

oakleyok,
I got the NS4816-14-30. When you asked this question, I went back to look, thinking "oh my gosh, I should have gone with the stainless steel for a few more dollars!". But, I had read some good reviews on this model on sites other than Amazon, if I recall correctly. Amazon's rating isn't stellar but once you read them, you'll see why. I'll report back if I have any problems with this roaster since I've only used it once.

redfeatherbutt, I'm wondering how your shopping went for a roaster or slow cooker. Did you find something you liked?

Pam

Hi everybody! I ended up ordering it from Sears and it arrived today. I am currently "smoking it out" in the garage. I'm surprised at how hot the exterior is. Is this normal? I do realize the temp is at max and no food is in it, but does the exterior get too hot to handle during normal cooking?

red, mine definitely gets hot enough on the outside that I don't want to touch it, but so does my crockpot.

Oakley, my cricjoit diesn't brown anything, but my roaster does. That's one more reason I like the roaster better, but I only have the big one. I want a small one...

Annie

Made a roast chicken in my roaster on Sunday and it was to die for!!! (Ina Garten's Recipe.) So tender and the meat fell off the bones! I want to braise some short ribs next and was curious if any of you sear meat in the roaster? They say you can, but does it do a good sear? and at what temperature?

I do use it to sear/brown meat when I'm making a large batch of stock, I like to sear the bones and then let them roast for a bit, add the other ingredients and let them simmer all day, so it works well for that, or to sear a pot roast, but I haven't tried much searing/browning in my big roaster past that.

Hey, let me know how it works!

Annie

Been thinking about a Nesco roaster for a while but it looks like it would be hard to clean. Anyone have tips on easy cleaning methods? The removable crocks in crockpots make them easy to put in the sink or dishwasher.
BC

annie1992 - That sounds wonderful! I'll give it a try.

bean counter - The 6 qt. roaster I just bought has a removable porcelain lined (Not non-stick) insert. (They call it a cooking well.) It can removed for cleaning. It cleaned up beautifully after a short soak.

my Nesco also has a removable insert, so into the sink it goes. Mine is the big 18 quart and I have one big sink, not two smaller ones, so it just barely fits...

red, it makes great stock, I can simmer it all day and can it that evening, it's way bigger than my crockpot or my biggest stockpot which is 8 quarts.

Annie