It combines the functions of a slow cooker, roaster, rice cooker, food steamer and more in one versatile appliance. To test, we filled each cooker with a pound of cannellini beans and aromatics covered in several inches of water, and cooked them for eight hours on a low setting. Using a probe thermometer, we recorded the cooking temperature every hour. If you want a cooker with manual controls, the Hamilton Beach Stay or Go 6-Quart Slow Cooker may be a good option. Like our pick, the Set & Forget, it has a locking lid with a tight-fitting seal and a ceramic crock, and we’ve been consistently happy with Hamilton Beach’s cookers.
We’ve been recommending the Hamilton Beach Set & Forget 6 Quart Programmable Slow Cooker since we first published this review in 2013. We’ve found that it still offers the best performance and features of any available slow cooker. The Set & Forget consistently cooked foods at a gentle simmer, making the most tender pot roast in our tests.
Skip the dinnertime drive-through by adding healthy ingredients to your crock pot in the morning. There are great cookbooks designed for delish crockpot meal ideas. Hamilton Beach® 6 Quart Slow Cookers work well for family dinners, parties or other large gatherings. The portable design includes easy-grip handles and some models have a Lid Latch™ strap for meals on the go. Also, the removable stoneware is dishwasher safe for easy cleanup.
These oval, 6 Quart Slow Cookers take up little space, yet have all the room you need to prepare a large chicken, pot roast or ham. Even if you typically use your slow cooker at home, you’ll be impressed by the attractive design, easy-to-use features and simple dishwasher cleanup that a Hamilton Beach® Slow Cooker offers you. The Little Dipper warming pot that accompanies the Crock-Pot 6-Quart Countdown Digital Slow Cooker with Little Dipper Warmer isn’t necessary for most people, and the cooker doesn’t have a locking lid. Stay or Go® Slow Cookers offer you all the advantages of easy, no-watch cooking with the added benefit of worry-free travel.
It’s one of the few cookers we tested with a locking lid that seals tightly for easy transport, as well as a probe thermometer so you can cook to a target temperature. One Wirecutter staff member commented that after using this slow cooker for a few years, he upgraded to an electric pressure cooker for added cooking options—but missed the simplicity of the Set & Forget. Another staff member noted that the pot can be a little big if you’re only cooking for a small number of people.
One end of the probe plugs into the cooker and the other sticks through a single hole in the lid so that you can insert it into a roast. In our tests, the probe slid easily into our 3-pound chuck roast, but it may be too short to reach smaller pieces of meat. Many have locking lids and built-in handles for easy transport. There are even Hamilton Beach slow cookers that feature car adapters for power for when you’re camping or eating on the go. For help choosing the right Hamilton Beach slow cooker, see our Small Appliance Buying Guide.
The alarm made it easy for us to program the machine and know that the cooking cycle had actually started. With other cookers, we didn’t know whether the machines had begun cooking until the first minute had counted down on the timer, and we also didn’t know when they had switched to the warm setting. A small green light indicates which setting you’re using on the Set & Forget. A slow cooker is a convenient, simple-to-use kitchen appliance—particularly if you’d like to cook food while you’re out of the house. With a slow cooker, you can prep your food before work and head to the office without worrying about your meal overcooking or cooling into the food temperature danger zone. Marianne Gravely, a senior technical information specialist for the USDA, assured us that cookers heat up to above 140 degrees Fahrenheit quickly enough to be food-safe.
Errors will be corrected where discovered, and Lowe’s reserves the right to revoke any stated offer and to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions including after an order has been submitted. For a smaller, manual model, hamilton beach toaster we like the Crock-Pot 4-Quart Manual Slow Cooker. It’s small, with no extra features, but it’s inexpensive and well-reviewed. The KitchenAid 6-Quart Slow Cooker with Easy Serve Glass Lid didn’t get hot enough to cook beans.
The Temp Tracker also has a ceramic crock, just like our top pick. This model offers a dial to select heat settings, temperatures, and program times, plus buttons to cancel a cycle and to select either the keep-warm or hold-temp option. The backlit digital panel brightens when you’re programming the machine, and it displays remaining cooking times and temperatures throughout the cooking cycle. The keep-warm and hold-temp buttons light up accordingly when the machine kicks over to either setting. Like our pick, the Temp Tracker comes with a one-year warranty. Since owner reviews often claim that slow cookers either cook too hot on low settings or don’t heat up fast enough, we tested how well the cookers could reach and maintain temperatures.
They’re equipped to protect food en route to parties and potlucks anytime you want. Once you’re back home, the stoneware insert removes for easy cleanup in the dishwasher. hamilton beach toaster Hamilton Beach® Large Slow Cookers make it easy to cook a big, tasty meal. Just prepare your fresh ingredients, place them in the crock, and go on your way.