Slow cooker/Crock Pot - Which One Is Your Favorite?

I have the Hamilton Beach slow cooker. Love it. My step mom got it for me a couple years ago. Mine has a metal inside instead of the ceramic crock. It is way way lighter. The cord is in the base. It retracts so you will never loose it. The lid has two clips that slide over to lock on to the crock so no spills if traveling. It came with a little instruction/cook book. I think she got it at khols. It has programmable time/temp and three settings warm, low, high. I use out several times a week.

I got a Hamilton Beach take and go that is 6 quart. I love the fact that the lid has snaps to hold it in place so items don't spill out. It does not have a timer on it but that is fine with me. Just throw all the items in in the morning and come home and it is done whether on high or low. I prefer to cook it on low.

The insert comes out so it is easy to wash.

Happy cooking.

the other S.

I always get the cheapest one I can since I usually drop either the crock or the lid at some point and replacing the crock is almost as expensive as buying a new crock pot. I love crock pot cooking. So easy to throw stuff in and do nothing until dinner.

I have 2. One is a Rival I think it is 4 quarts?
The larger one that is 7 qts is a Hamilton Beach.

I love both of them because you can take the ceramic liners out to clean them. They only have 2 settings (that is fine with me)

I used to be a "Small appliance" Buyer for an upscale dept store. The one thing I learned is that on any appliance, with a timer, the first thing that is going to break, is the timer or the "clock". They are a real pain. We had to take back so many small appliances for this exact reason.

And so we began advising our customers to purchase the appliance they liked and then purchase a plug in timer so that if that timer broke down (which we never had one returned) they could just purchase another inexpensive plug in timer. We found that many times, It was less expensive in the long run without the built in timers.

AND fyi, the "digital timers" are the ones that also break down first so consider a pretty basic one. They cost about $15. and you can purchase them at Target, or a hardware store.

Remember to purchase "Reynolds Wrap Crock pot liner bags". They are sold where the aluminum foil is sold. They are AWESOME for clean up. No more soaking crock pots! I purchase a few boxes of them and keep them stored in the crock pot when not in use, that way I am not searching all over the place for them.

We have an ancient one, I think it is Hamilton Beach brand. It's a bigger one that feeds the family, maybe 6qt? Other than replacing the knob in the last year or so, it's been fine. It's high/low/keep warm only. I think it matters more the size and that you can take the crock out of the heating part than it does all the bells and whistles.

I've got 3 in varying sizes (small, medium and large) - they are all at least 7 years old (and one is so old the plug has prongs that are both the same size - it's got to be about 30 years old).
The small is great for sauces, gravey and fondue.
The medium (the oldest) I use for corned beef and small to medium dishes.
The large is great for big pots of chili, soup, roasts, stews, etc - it has a thing to hold the cover on for travel (we use crock pots at neighborhood get together s) and it's not programmable (none of mine are).
Get the biggest you can find at a reasonable price or get two medium sized - it gives you a variety of meal options as you can have 2 different things cooking at the same time.
Honestly - I have a few different cheap kitchen timers and if I need to I use more than one when I have more than one thing cooking it's easy enough (and cheaper than devices with built in timers).

This is similar to my largest model:

http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-7-Quart-Slow-Cooker/...

I have two - the Ninja 3-in-1 and a Hamilton Beach Stay or Go crock pot...since we have block parties - the meat balls or pulled pork go GREAT in this and stay warm

http://www.hamiltonbeach.com/stay-or-go-slow-cookers-stay...

My girlfriend swears by Cuisinart....but that's a lot of money. I got mine for less than $60.

I have the same one Stephanie H posted a link too. A friend recommended it and I couldn't be happier. I use it almost 5 nights a weel. It works REALLY well, and I love that it switches to warm after it's done on whatever setting and time I put it for.

I like Cuisinart.
A tip, if you check out the designer sale websites, you can usually get stuff like this for 1/2 the price.
I like sites like ideeli.com, ruelala.com, and hautelook.com.

They usually have a "home" section or sales going on, and Cuisinart is a frequent one.
You might check one of those to see if you can get what you want. Especially if it's something you use a lot.

I have one that is an oval shaped one (6qt) I believe that I got from walmart that is programmable for 4/6 hours on high and 8/10 hours on low. It also has the keep warm feature and automatically changes to warm after the time is up. I use it LOTS, especially in the summer when I don't want to turn on the stove. I think it's Hamilton Beach but I could be wrong. I know they have MANY out there but out of all the crockpots I have this is the one I use the most!

I got this one a few months back and like it. It is programmable, has a thermometer attachment and works well.

http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-33967-6-Quart-Progra...

I have a crock pot brand stainless steel digital one. You can program it in half hour intervals and when it's done it switches to warm. I LOVE it.