Save your money. I have two electric slow cookers but the setup I use most is my homemade one that was inspired by the latest high-dollar slow cookers. I use a round cast iron casserole (with lid) on top of an electric skillet. I brown the meat in the casserole on top of the stove first then just move the casserole to the electric skillet for long, slow cooking at a bare simmer. I'm using a Zojirushi electric skillet because I had it but any inexpensive skillet or grill that your casserole fits into/onto should work fine. I wondered if there would be any difference because there is no side heat but if that affects anything I can't detect it. Also, the casserole doesn't cover the whole skillet surface so I'm sure some heat is lost but again, that doesn't seem to affect anything and may even make it easier to get the heat down to a bare simmer. You do have to fiddle a little to determine the skillet setting that produces a suitable simmer but that's easy and a one-time thing - just mark the spot. BTW, if your electric skillet has sides and you can turn the heat down low enough, it's a great place to poach fish. If not, try it in an oval iron casserole on an electric skillet or grill. Once you've poached wild-caught salmon you won't want to fry/bake/broil it again, especially since it's nearly impossible to overcook and dry out the fish. If you like to experiment, try variations on the standard court-bullion as your poaching liquid.

LindaC, it's all in what you're comfortable with. Remember, I'm the person who has had a couple of house fires and so I don't ever light a fire in the fireplace and I refuse to burn candles. It's my own particular phobia... I do have an old Presto pressure cooker which I don't use a lot but I really like it for certain thins. Elery uses it to make beans, I'd prefer to just dump mine in the crockpot in the morning. I do use it to make chop suey for Ashley, even slightly tough round comes out fork tender. I don't like taditional chili in the crockpot, the ground beef "overcooks". I am a huge consumer of vegetables, though, and sometimes make a vegetarian chili that's delicious. Plus, like Chase, it gets used as a "warming" device for office potlucks, to keep soup warm and even to make oatmeal because I'm not a morning person and would never make oatmeal before I go to work, and I detest the instant stuff. Annie

Thanks! I use a very similar recipe for meatballs in the oven. It is an old family favorite, so this will be great to come home to after work!

There's a reason you cannot find a comparable cooker today. Those old cookers weren't safe. The problem is, those old cookers didn't get hot enough to cook food safely--so the newer ones are hotter to prevent the growth of bacteria. I don't think you're going to be able to find a new crockpot that cooks as slowly as those old ones do. And that's a good thing--your family's health is far more important. Look, why not adapt your crockpot recipes to FAST cooking. I haven't found a crock pot recipe yet that I can't convert into a 30 minute (or less) meal. The less time you run your appliances, the more energy $$$ you save. The faster you cook your food, the more nutrients and flavor you conserve. I'd rather cook 20-30 minutes in the evening, and serve my family healthy, fresh food, than save 5 minutes of my prep time and give them something that's been heating all day. Isn't that the complaint people generally have about cafeterias and other inexpensive restaurants? That the food has been sitting around and sitting around? If it's not good enough for you when you go out to eat, WHY would anyone consider that adequate for the family they love? Sorry, I get a little over-the-top about crockpots. It's such a wasteful (in so many ways) way to cook food, and I'm such a proponent of fresh, nutrient-packed dishes for my family, that I really become passionate when this topic comes up.