I have an older round ceramic 4 qt. slow cooker that i have used for many, many years. If I remember correctly I only paid $10 for it which at that time was considered expensive. I adore it but it was lacking some nice improvements. It is round and deep so it is hard to know how food lower inside is cooking and the lid is a small clear (foggy) plastic that doesn't allow me to really see how items are cooking.
I saw this oval non-stick slow cooker with glass lid and decided to bite my tongue and spend the money and get what I hoped was going to be a much nicer, more improved slow cooker. I used it yesterday for the first time and I'm in LOVE!!! Oh my, talk about improvements. I only used it for slow cooking this time and was extremely pleased. The large oval glass lid allowed me to watch as the food cooked. The cooker is wider than my old cooker meaning it was not as deep and more food is seen through the lid. Both are 4 qt cookers so the comparison was able to be exact. There was NO comparison. I cooked two large briskets and because the cooker is wider it allowed me to place both so they could both be seen while cooking. The round one needed the meat cut and stacked for cooking. This cooker has a timer that I set (the old cooker did NOT have a timer, I had to watch the clock) and it beeped 5 times when the time was up. It then switched automatically to a warming setting which per the instruction book will beep when it ends. (I didn't let the warming go through its cycle to hear it.) It also can be set to start later in the day or the next day. I am not sure I would use this because I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving food sitting all day to come on automatically at some specified time. I used a Reynolds liner which I found worked great for my older cooker but it really wasn't necessary as this cooker is non-stick but it fit perfectly (better than in the round cooker) and still made it nice to not have to do a major clean up. The lit controls are great. It literally counts down when you set the timer so you know how much longer till the meal is ready.
My older cooker is a green ceramic insert that sits in an aluminum cooking pan that has a pretty pattern on it. It matched most of my kitchens over the years. This one is stainless and is an EXTREMELY attractive appliance. My current kitchen is white and stainless so it fits right in but I can assure you the stainless would fit in ANY kitchen.
The unit comes with a steamer rack but I haven't used that part of the cooker yet. I also didn't brown the meat in the cooker when I cooked the brisket because I wanted to use the liner. In the near future I'll make some stew and brown the meat before adding all the other items (not using the liner obviously). This slow cooker can do a LOT more than my old green cooker. I can tell I won't be using the old cooker any more. This appliance is WELL worth the price. Well made, simple instructions and simple to use.
It came packaged extremely well. I was really surprised at HOW well it was packaged. I seriously doubt it would be delivered to anyone broken (the glass top is the only thing that could break and it is well secured and wrapped in plastic with cardboard securing it in place.
The entire experience from ordering it, to delivery, to unpacking, to setting it up, to using it, was simple. If I could rate this appliance higher than a five believe it or not, I would. This was a perfect purchase. If you are comparing different cookers, this one I highly recommend.
Update: I've now used this cooker to make stuffed peppers, meatballs in sauce, and Briskette. I have to say it is awesome! I just purchased a second one that I can't decide whether to keep it for my own use (to have a second cooker for holiday functions) or give it to someone as a gift. I will probably keep it for myself since I love it so much. Highly recommend this if you are undecided. You will NOT be sorry.
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It's absolutely amazing. No leakages, very safe and even pretty :)Usually I prefer to cook normal meals (for me, slow cooker meat / chicken lack flavor), but I'm staying in a hotel for a couple of months and I don't have a stove here. There are cafes around, but not my favorite type of food. So - slow cooker!What I realized:1) slowcooker liners save your time (almost no washing need!)2) the best thing to cook there is a soup. Any soup, literally! You just put all the ingredients there and start it3) slowcooker meals CAN be tasty4) very often it's not salty enough, but that's not a problem, I just add some salt afterwards5) if you use Amazon PrimeNow, the whole preparation is 10 min max: you order food online, it's delivered to your door, you put the ingredients in the slowcooker and that's it!Here are some recipes I love.SORREL SOUP1 lb chicken file + an onion + a carrot + canned sorrel + bay leaves + salt (unless the sorrel is salted already) + water = set it on High-4 or Low-8 (overnight) = enjoy! (Especially if you add sour cream to your plate!)BARLEY-MUSHROOM SOUP1 lb chicken file + 0.5 lb cut mushrooms + an onion + a carrot + a cup of barley + bay leaves + a celery stick (a small piece, just for flavor) + water = Low 8 hours overnight = delicious soup, again with sour creamBAKED CHEESY MUSHROOMS (on the photo)Cut some boiled/baked chicken (small file pieces) + same amount of cut mushrooms, put them in the slowcooker, add shredded cheese (I used Cheddar, but it's up to you) and heavy whipping cream (so that it's about 50% of the chicken-mushroom mass), add some salt and mix well. Add some shredded cheese on top. HIGH4 or LOW8 - my favorite meal ever. Surprisingly, my 12-year-old son fell in love with it, too.The bottom line is that cooking can be fast. I don't like the recipe which tell you to fry A, to bake B, to boil C and then, after 3 hours of pre-making things, put it all into slowcooker and wait some more. I love fast recipes. And yes, I do enjoy fancy meals and even cook them sometimes. But not when I'm on a business trip.And overall, there are so many interesting things to do in life that I prefer fast (still tasty) cooking - so that I could spend more time doing my favorite work or hanging out with my family.
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Joe
Cooks low and slow like it should.
Reviewed in Canada on May 17, 2019Size: 3.5-QuartVerified Purchase
I always tell it like it is
love cuisinart
Reviewed in Canada on August 7, 2019Size: 3.5-QuartVerified Purchase
