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Slow Cooker Reviews

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Budget slow cookers are rarely assessed by the experts, but slow cooker reviews posted by consumers are plentiful. The reviews we found indicate that the models that top our list are all stellar performers.

Despite a few gripes about overcooked food, plastic parts that break, or units that failed even with limited use, users seem thrilled with the convenience, pricing, and overall value of these small appliances.

Slow Cookers Performance.

Must-have features aside, what makes or breaks a best slow cooker is its performance. Slow cookers, after all, are not just another appliance, but for many consumers and their families it serves as the primary food-prep tool. As scores of slow cookers reviews attest, the best slow cookers are a welcome convenience that relieves consumers of the "when's-dinner-ready?" anxiety and can be a confidence-builder for novice cooks. The end results in terms of taste, texture, and "finish" (is the food cooked through? is it burnt?) distinguish the best slow cookers from the don't bothers.

Slow cookers are often associated in the popular imagination with stews and chili. But thinking outside the proverbial pot can expand your culinary horizons. Slow cookers reviews indicate that these one-pot wonders can churn out a variety of foods, from small servings of oatmeal and dips to family-size meatball feasts and roasts, that satisfy the hungry hordes.

The 1.5-quart Proctor Silex 33015 (starting at $15, Amazon) manages steel-cut oats and multigrain soup for breakfast, according to slow cooker reviews on Amazon as well as chicken legs with vegetables for dinner. Consumers rave about the delectable results and at least one mother is tickled that her twenty-something son, now out on his own, has served up tasty stews with this model. Consumers who posted slow cooker reviews at Walmart laud the Hamilton Beach 33155 (starting at $20, Amazon) for the range of meal possibilities, like shredded beef and the fixings for fajitas, and for the enticing aromas wafting through the air after a day of slow cooking. Many consumers report giving this best slow cooker a workout at least several times a week, and one even uses it to cook chicken dinners for a pampered pet.

It's hard to go wrong with the Hamilton Beach 33163 (starting at $25, Amazon) even if you make up your own recipes, asserts a slow cooker review at Best Buy. Posts on other review sites frequently refer to mouth-watering pulled pork, soups, holiday cider, and Christmas dinner. Experts at How Stuff Works tested the Hamilton Beach 33163 by cooking a large batch of chili and found that the meat was tender and all the flavors well combined after hours of cooking. The large, 7-quart Crock-Pot SCCPVP700-S (starting at $38, Amazon) can properly cook a 9-pound turkey breast, according to a slow cooker review at Walmart, where several users note the oval shape is particularly well-suited to whole chickens and roasts. Even frozen roasts emerge juicy and fully cooked, its fans say, although a few disgruntled users who commented on Overstock complain that this model cooks too hot (food is burnt and dry) or too slow (ingredients barely warm after several hours).

Other amazing slow-cooker feats include a rocky-road chocolate cake and meatloaf-potato-and frozen Italian green bean dinner concocted with the Crock-Pot 3735-WN (starting at $24, Amazon), reports a gleeful slow cooker review at Amazon. The Crock-Pot 32041-C Little Dipper (starting at $14, Amazon) stands out for its unusual abilities -- warming up shaving lather or liquids for soldering jewelry, say -- as much for its intended use as a sauce and dip warmer. (Some slow cookers, including the Crock-Pot SCCPVP700-S and West Bend 84384 (starting at $23, Amazon), come with a recipe book. For those that don't, we read several slow cooker reviews expressing a desire for one.)

At the opposite end of the performance spectrum sits the Crock-Pot 38501-W (starting at $23, Amazon). Slow cooker reviews on sites such as Newegg blast the temperature control on this model. Users report liquids boil and sputter and foods burn even when set on low; roasts that should take 8 hours turn into shoe leather in less than three, according to slow cooker reviews.

by Maralyn Edid (Google+ Profile)

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West Bend 84384 Review
Hamilton Beach 33141 Review
Crock-Pot 3735-WN Review
Crock-Pot 38501-W Review
Crock-Pot SCCPVP700-S Review
Hamilton Beach Stay or Go 33163 Review
Hamilton Beach 33155 Review
Proctor Silex 33015 Review

 

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