Customer Reviews

Hamilton Beach 33956 Set 'n Forget 5-Quart Slow Cooker, White

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

I bought this after my larger sized Rival had the handle come off of the lid while cooking. This seems to be a much better made cooker. I love the probe function, which allows you to cook until the meat is done then automatically warm without second guessing. The controls are easy to read and push. I tested the unit and it heated to the proper temperatures for low and high. No overcooking or handles coming off. I predict if Rival continues to sell cheap junk that HB will soon become the number one slow cooker, a worthy rival to Rival.

Ok, so I should have looked at Amazon and the ratings before this product ever entered our home.

However, that won't stop me from helping others, who read these reviews, from being duped by slow cooker companies' empty rhetoric.

Allow me to quantify a problem with this cooker:

You can set the probe to a low temperature of 140 and that is good. HOWEVER, this cooker's "Warm" setting runs at a temperature of 180 (I tested mine this morning, after ruining a nice cut of slow cooker meat).

Here is the reason why some of us have posted that these cookers are cooking too hot: Meat proteins, which contain moisture, start to shrink at a temperature of 140-150 (see "On Food and Cooking", Harold McGee, page 163, 2004) and causes the meat to start drying out.

You CANNOT set and forget! If the cooker's temperature is 180 on the warm setting, then whatever you put in the cooker will come up to a temperature of 180, at some point in time--REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU SET THE PROBE AT.

This means that you cannot braise tough meats. Why? Because, tough meats require low and slow cooking to avoid drying out the meat while melting the tough connective tissue which make the meat unpleasant to consume. While I have not checked the cooker's temperature on the low setting, braising tough meat should be done around 160-180. I remain confident that if the warm setting is 180, then the low setting can only be hotter.

Now, I can fully understand that companies are covering their rear-ends because of safe cooking practices; however, 180 degrees is excessively safe (even ground beef is beyond well done at 180).

The truth to this is that you cannot use this slow cooker as a set and forget with meats. If you are using it with meats, then timing becomes critical or over-done-ness will ensue. If your meat sits at the warm setting for any serious duration, you will come to learn that your meat is a dry well done, not done well. Furthermore, tough meats will remain a severe challenge because the temperatures are too hot too fast to strike a pleasant eating experience.

Good luck with your slow cooking endeavors!

I bought this for myself because I wanted a programmable crock that would automatically turn to warm when finished. But I got much more than I had expected. I've used the probe and it cooked my chicken perfectly. And I love that the lid will seal if I need to transport a meal to a pot luck dinner or something. In the past, I would have to worry about everything spilling out, but not with this because it has such a great seal on it.
I also bought this as a gift for my brother and his large family. We were all amazed at how much we could cook in this. So, it works great for a large family. The directions do recommend that the crock is filled for best results or expect it to cook faster if it is only half filled. That may be why a few people on here had their food cook too fast. I haven't had a problem with that at all. Would recommend this for anyone and I got on sale, so good purchase for the money.

We had an old Rival crock pot from the 80s that worked great, you could put a frozen roast in it on low in the morning, go to work, and come home to perfectly cooked roast after work. It finally gave up and died... so we went on a quest for a new one.

Bought another Rival, a 5 qt oval crock pot. It got way to hot, it's only good for making boiled jerky out of your roast! This despite putting it on low. Even trying to cook on low for a mere four hours, this will turn a roast into a tough, boiled piece of leather.

We thought perhaps Hamilton Beach would be a better choice, so we went back and spent the 40 bucks to buy this stay and go digital model. Same problem. Apparently all the "new and improved" crock pots have been made much hotter than the old ones, and cook much faster. This makes them virtually worthless for making a decent roast or slow cooked batch of stew. My old crock pot from the 80s made every roast so tender it fell apart. This Hamilton Beach stay-and-go... and the Rival 5qt oval model we bought... will both speedily boil your roast into an unappetizing chunk of leather that is difficult to cut, let alone chew.

GET WITH IT Rival and Hamilton Beach! Make a NEW slow cooker that actually... ahem... COOKS SLOW.... on a LOW temperature for 8 hours or so, or don't bother selling it to me. I'm returning this new Hamilton Beach model... and going to some second hand stores hoping I can buy a REAL slow cooker in serviceable condition from back when they made them to BE slow cookers... rather than just an electric boiling pot.

Again, note: In four hours, on LOW temperature, these new ones will turn your roast into boiled tough jerky. Don't waste your money until Rival and Hamilton Beach wake up!

I really love this crock pot. It doesn't cook too hot or too low like I've read in other posts here. I can throw a whole chicken in, with cream of mushroom and cream of celery soups, come home from work and have the best dinner ready and waiting for my fiance and me. To help avoid overcooking beef roasts, try to arrange it so that the meat is no where near the bottom of the pot. I arrange carrots, potatoes,onions and garlic like a bed so that the meat won't sit in the juices or anything, this helps immensely with keeping the meat from getting tough. With the space of a 5-quart crock pot you can do whole chickens, large batches of stews, 3-4 lbs chuck roasts, or 4-5 quarts of chili with plenty of yummy leftovers.

I bought this slow cooker because I was sick of having liquid spill out as I transported food to the office. It works great! The rubber gasket around the lid seals everything in and the clamps on either side of the lid keep it sealed down tight. Slow cooker functions are pretty much the same on all models but the way this lid seals sets this cooker apart. Good thinking by Hamilton Beach!

In the times when the product was working, the result was excellent. We liked the way we could program the unit to cook for a certain number of hours and then have it switch over to warm-mode automatically. The food was evenly cooked, and temperature control didn't seem to be an issue for us.

Here's what went wrong. The first unit we bought failed right out of the box, with a bad on-off switch. Still, once we got to turn it on, it managed (once) to cook an excellent meal. So we swapped it for another of the same model. It worked very well for all of four weeks, but then it started switching OFF without warning mid-cycle, ruining the food before we could realize what had happened.

This is very disappointing, because this model has the potential to be one of the best. But I must conclude there's a quality control issue. I may very well switch brands.

I LOVE THIS SLOW COOKER! Their probe works great and the temperature is not too hot that it burns things, like I read on reviews of other products. The quality is great and the keep warm feature is absolutely wonderful so the food does not get dried out or over-cooked. I recommend this slow cooker to anyone who is looking for a new one as a wonderful alternative to other older brands.

I bought this and I have used it for the second time today as a matter of fact. The first time, we set it up on the program for about 8 hours and left the house for the day, figuring we'd be home in time for a wonderful meal. I came home, about 6 hours in, and it was already on warm. I thought that maybe we had set it up wrong, put it on high for the remaining two hours since I had no idea how long it was low, and luckily the meal was fine.
Today I set it up for a 9 hour program on low. I know I did it correctly this time. I had just looked at it, when it had 6 hours left to go on it. My husband and I heard a beeping noise, and it was the slow cooker, going to warm probably 20 minutes after I'd glanced at the time. I don't know why it did this. We set it back up for low for the remaining 4 or so hours. I think there must be something wrong with this model, perhaps its just a bad one from the store, either way, I'm planning on taking it back and hoping to just exchange it for the same one, and maybe getting one that works this time. But figured I'd write in my review just in case others are having a similar issue with it.

After using a traditional slow cooker for 15 years, it would only cook on high. So we decided to purchase a programmable slow cooker. We have been very pleased with this model so far. We have programmed it for cooking beans, stew, chicken, and vegetables. The programing gives the flexibility and versatility we were looking for in a modestly priced unit.