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Slow-Cooker recommendations, please

12 years ago

We had a 4-quart CrockPot. It served us well for many years, but alas, we have had to bury it. When I buy the new one, I want to get at least a 6-quart. Also, I'm thinking a non-stick interior would be nice. I have always worried that the heavy ceramic insert would get broken. Of course, it never did, but it dang sure was heavy.

During my initial search I could only find one that had a metal insert, a Nescoe that doubled as a roaster, too. Do any of you have a slow-cooker that has a metal insert? If so, how do you like it? And, if it is non-stick, how has that part of it held up? TIA

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Comments (7)

John Tebbs
12 years ago
AllClad makes a slow-cooker that is stainless steel with a metal, non-stick insert that you can go from stovetop to cooker to oven. It is pricey, and ONLY available from Williams-Sonoma. You can get the cooker elsewhere, but it will have a ceramic insert, not the metal. The metal insert model is only available from Williams-Sonoma.
seagrass_gw Cape Cod
12 years ago
I have a 1980's Hamilton Beach slow cooker - very large, several gallon capacity, thick pottery crock pot. It will automatically switch from "Hi" to "Low" after a few hours if I set it on that mode. Because it's so large and because there's just the 2 of us to cook for mostly at this stage of our lives, I bought a smaller Crock-Pot brand slow cooker. Oval-shaped (which I like), but it doesn't have the automatic switch-to-low feature. Plus, the "low" setting is too "high" just to keep things warm without continuing to simmer. My experience with it so far is it cooks too hot to be called a "slow-cooker" lol.

I'm not opposed to spending money on good quality cookware, but I honestly can't bring myself to spend over $250 for a slow cooker and I really don't like the way the All-Clad looks.

Maybe I'm just too Yesterday :0)

seagrass
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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?
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The best slow cooker is no slow cooker. Get an electric roaster. Does everything a slow cooker does and much more. It's actually a portable oven. After buying a Nesco 4 qt and 6 qt I threw out my Crock pots. No comparison. And often they're cheaper too. That said, they do have a problem. 12 hour days are going to cause problems even for a roaster oven. And I totally agree about putting food in there to become a petri dish. Some have spoken highly of things like the AdvantiumÃÂ® oven but I've never used one nor experienced food from it so I can't comment on whether they're any good or not. Their problem is price. You look at probably $1500 or or more for one of them. Not sure they're worth it. Probably a better alternative for them is to start OAWC or OAMC and reheat.
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Sorry! I just saw there is another post asking the same thing. I should have checked first. Clare
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Jasdip
12 years ago
I was given a Rival SmartPot for Christmas one year and it cooked too darned hot. My roast actually burned on the bottom.

Got rid of it, and bought a 3-in-One Hamilton Beach slow cooker and love it!!! It comes with 3 bowls of different capacities....2, 4 and 6 quart. The 4-quart is the one I use the most, but it's nice to have the variety!!

Others here especially Cynic swears by his Nescoe.
bryansda
12 years ago
I swear by my Nesco too. I haven't used my slow cooker since I got my 6 qt roaster, because it cooks too HOT. I tried my friend's roaster before I bought mine and it was the non-stick. It cleaned up nicely and seemed to be holding up well. Mine is just the plain porcelain and I don't have a problem cleaning it.
donna_loomis
Original Author
12 years ago
Am I missing something, or is this the best deal ever?

Here is a link that might be useful: Nesco Roaster/Slow Cooker for $5
lizbeth-gardener
12 years ago
That would be a great price for the roaster, but when I pull up your link the roaster is $107.73. There are some liners below listed for $4.96.
donna_loomis
Original Author
12 years ago
I keep checking every once in a while and the price keeps fluctuating. See my other post regarding this. I purchased at $5 and got confirmation of my order. My online banking shows $12.95 ($5 + $7.95 S/H), but now my amazon account no longer shows any recent orders. Methinks they discovered there error and are not going to honor the original price. I've tried emailing them, but that isn't working either. Tomorrow I am going to call Abe's of Maine (the seller).

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