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Slow cooker or crock pot

Montessa

New member
I am planning on purchasing a new slow cooker. I am looking for a programmable digital one. Perhaps one with a meat probe. Any suggestions? I know the All Clad has the highest rating but it is $300.00. I am looking in the $75.00 range.
 
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Crock-Pot® is a trademark name used by Rival. Anything else is called a "slow cooker". Don't you just love attorneys.

The newer Rival products run HOT (on purpose), again thanks to their attorneys, and I would not recommend them for that reason. You get a slow cooker so it cooks SLOW, not boil food even on the low setting.

I personally recommend the Hamilton Beach brand of slow cooker and the size you get depends on your family that you are cooking for. I would love to get the 3-in-1 to give the best of all worlds, but I have to wait for present one to wear out and that doesn't look likely any time soon. For 1-2 people the 4-quart is a good size, otherwise go for a 5-quart or larger.
 
Cooks Country or Americas Test Kitchen did a slow cooker testing not to long ago and I
am sure that if you would like the results you can go on their site. They judged them all around on features, durability, perfprmance and price. Most of the products I purchase due to their testing have been keepers and very reliable.
My rival has been around for a long time. Not digital but for a slow cooker all I need is low and hi settings.
 
Thanks everyone for the great tips. The ATK reviews were very helpful. I have an old one that works fine but no handles to get the ceramic pot out and it fits in very snug. It takes 2 people to get it out. One to hold the plastic cooking part and one to pull out the pot. Also it is avocado green.
 
the cool thing about the AllClad is the metal pot inside.
When you sear or brown ingredients for a dish, you can put it on the burner and then back inside and cook slow.

Always seemed a pain to me to have to use a seperate pan for this and then have something else to wash. Plus you miss all the good sticky little pieces from the searing. Of course you could deglaze with a bit of wine or juice.

I always check Amazon.com for the same reasons as IC does ATK. They usually have the best prices and over $25 is free shipping. And lots of reviews!

Last time I went there, seems there were a couple of less expensive ones with metal insert?

Nan
 
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