DeLonghi DCP707 Stainless-Steel Programmable 5-Quart Slow Cooker Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm a guy and have done only basic cooking and even less with a slow cooker. So please take this into account.
I purchased this cooker even thought it had no reviews because most of the other cookers had such a wide variety of star ratings . . . I took a risk . . . and I'm not disappointing.
This slow cooker is all metal, except of course for the lid which is tempered glass and the pot which is ceramic or whatever they are made of. Even the handle on the top of the lid is metal as are the handles on the side of the cooker and seem very solid. None of this cheap plastic with a shiny silver coating stuff. The pot itself is obviously heavy and durable; and the handles on the pot are conveniently placed and formed making it very easy to lift out of the cooking container without burning yourself even when completely full.
The electronic controls are very easy to use with the typical warm, low, medium and high settings and a two hour automatic warm setting after the cooking cycle is finished, and a push of the timer setting button will increase the cook time for 30 minutes while in the cooking cycle. The LCD panel for the controls lights up when any of the buttons are pushed to make reading the settings easier and an icon of a cooking pot turns on once the slow cooker is actually cooking.
This slow cooker is very attractive and would compliment most any kitchen. The overall impression of the slow cooker is that it is of high quality and sound construction. I am looking forward to many years use of this slow cooker but if any problems crop up during the next several months I will edit this post to let ya'll know.
So far I have cooked a whole five pound chicken which cooked to perfection in eight hours on low, and a roast which also cooked to tender perfection in eight hours (even though it wasn't a high quality cut).
So in conclusion I would highly recommend this slow cooker on the basis of the limited use I have had with it cooking two meals.

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Nesco American Harvest PC-6-25-30TPR 6-Quart Multifunction Digital Pressure Cooker Review

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(More customer reviews)UPDATE AT BOTTOM: Wow, is this a neat appliance. As a pressure cooker, it cooks food as nicely, and as quickly as my old, stainless stove-top model, but with several bonuses. Cleanup is much easier with the Nesco. It browns your meat without any sticking, so you can just toss your other ingredients right in after browning, and switch it to cook. No extra pan to wash. The nonstick pot, also, is much lighter, and washes out instantly vs the heavy ol'stove model that required soaking. Best of all, though, is how quiet it is! No babysitting the constant CH!CH!CH!CH! on the stove anymore. Set it, and it cooks in complete silence without another moment's thought, and no adjustments necessary. You could leave the house (it also has a timer to start cooking later if you wish). The Nesco is a slow cooker, as well. I have been so annoyed with how hot all the new slow cookers are. I've bought several brands trying to fnd a true "slow cooker". They all cook at nuclear heat, and every review of every new slow cooker says the same thing. The Nesco cooks nice and slow just like the old fashioned crock pots did. I love this cooker. The manual blows, though. How strange that the cooker is so well thought, but the quality control for the manual fell flat. It is contradictory, incomplete, and explains the buttons and timer wrong. The recipes are not appealing. Who cares. You'll love the Nesco cooker. It will replace your crock-pot and your stove-top pressure cooker. I've not tried it yet on steaming, but it might just replace the rice cooker and veg. steamer, too. Think of all the room in your cupboards, now.
Jan 2001: OK, my original cooker still works and I still like it, but I'm ticked!!! off!!! at Metal Ware customer service. We got one of these for my brother for Christmas, and it would not even power on. Customer service at Metal Ware Corp requires us to pay to get it shipped for repairs. 15 lbs and a BRAND NEW ITEM and I have to pay this ridiculous shipping fee on top of the very expensive purchase price. I no longer have warm fuzzies for the cooker since customer service is BAD.

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A useful addition to any busy kitchen, this multifunctional electric cooker provides three handy functions in one. Use it to pressure cook, slow cook, or steam cook anything from long-grain rice, pot roast, and vegetable soup to curried chicken, chocolate cheesecake, and more. The versatile appliance provides a removable nonstick cooking chamber with a generous 6-quart capacity--perfect for making healthy homemade meals for the family or to take to a potluck or picnic. Its user-friendly digital control panel offers simple push-button operation and a variety of options. Choose from warm mode, steam mode, browning mode, and slow-cook mode (up to 9-1/2 hours), as well as two pressure settings when pressure cooking. Even more, the programmable digital timer can be set to delay cooking up to eight hours, which makes it possible to come home to dinner ready and waiting after a long day at the office. Other highlights include a stay-cool lid and handles; a locking cover; and safety steam release, which prevents the cover from being opened until pressure has reduced to a safe level. Accessories include a steaming rack for steam mode, a glass cover for browning mode, and an instruction manual/recipe book. Attractively housed in brushed stainless steel, the three-in-one combination cooker measures 12 by 12 by 18 inches.

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Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 5-1/2-Cup Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker and Warmer, Premium White Review

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(More customer reviews)I finally convinced my wife to replace the old but still functional single switch rice cooker I'd owned for about 10 years. I have longed for something with an off switch so rice doesn't burn to the bottom when I forget to unplug it. This guy was the ticket.
It seems like a fairly complex machine but its really easy to use once you understand the setup. Its well designed. The pot is easy to clean and the inner lid snaps off for easy cleaning as well.
I have to say the rice it produces is some of the best I have had. I did a side by side cookoff with the old and the new rice cookers. The same rice just seemed to have more consistant texture and better strong flavor. Definatley worth the upgrade since we do lots of rice.
The one drawback I found is with the somewhat misleading specifications. They say this is a "5 cup" rice cooker. So I'm thinking 5 cups=40oz. Plenty big enough for a family of 4. Well its not quite that much. It seems in Asia (on the metric system) their idea of a cup is a teacup. If you look at the picture and see the two little cups next to the machine, it will hold 5 of THOSE cups. Those cups are approximatley 6oz each. So really it is a 4 (American) cup rice cooker, not 5. Of course 3/4 of a cup is about how much rice you'll eat in a meal so one run of this machine should be able to produce rice for 5. If you need more that that consider the NS-ZAC18 10 cup (8 cup) model.
The trick to the machine is to use the little cups that come with it. You measure out a few "cups" of rice and dump it into the pot. Then you add water and fill it up to the graduated mark on the inside of the pot. So if you toss in 2 cups you add water until you hit the 2 cup mark. It has different markings for Brown, White and Sushi rice.
Before discovering the proper way of using the smaller "cups" I used a regular 8oz cup on some Jasmine rice (then filled it to the designated level). It still came out way better than my rice cooker. It was firm but not hard and full of flavor. So if you screw up or loose your little "cup" you can still get great rice as long as the stickness is not absolutely critical to the receipe.
The manual makes a huge deal out of its ability to handle some "no rinse" rice who's milling technology was proudly developed in Japan. They devote pages to the setting and cooking it, but actually its pretty similar to the regular rice, you just use the green cup instead of the clear cup.
All in all this is a great little machine. If you want the best and are willing to pay the bucks this is the one to get. You will not feel your money is wasted.
Update:
Its now 6 years later and countless batches of rice and this little thing is still going strong. The pot has a few scratches from years of continous daily use but its holding up.
We expanded our use of this little gem. I've learned not to think of it as just a rice producing device but as a rice cooker + modified crock pot. My wife started using it to produce porriage and then later soup. She'll pour the ingredients in the night before, set the timer and her breakfast is ready 30 minutes before she wakes up. You can use it for grain soups, porriage, oatmeal and more. We buy packs of Thai flavored rice that say were supposed to cook on the stove. We dump the stuff in and hit go. They come out plenty tastey.
There is a quick cooking cycle that we use a lot. Shaves about 20 minutes off the cook time. Flavor suffers a little (though its still great) but when your in a rush...
Perhaps the most amazing thing however is what it does to brown rice. As a kid I was never fond of brown rice. Too hard and crunch and I was never that big on bran flavor. We got some brown rice and started cooking it in this thing and it was a whole new world. I don't know how it did it but it came out soft, a little chewey and decent tasting. Brown rice was now something worth eating vs avoiding.
So if for whatever reason you are looking to switch to brown rice but not thrilled with the flavor do yourself a favor and get one of these units. It makes it a whole new experience.
We haven't tried steaming anything yet. Maybe when our steamer breaks..

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Cuisinart CSC-650 Slow Cooker Review

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(More customer reviews)I did quite a bit of research before purchasing this slow cooker.
America's Test Kitchen recommends West Bend Versatility slow cooker. It is a truly versatile model, but I didn't like its aluminum insert. As you may know, aluminum can be hazardous to health, so this slow cooker was scratched off my list pretty quickly.
The other models I looked at were All-Clad Stainless Steel Slow Cooker (available from William Sonoma only), Farberware Millennium (also recommended by America's Test Kitchen), Cuisinart CSC-650 and various Rival models ("various Rival models" has an interesting ring to it :) ).
All of the latest slow cookers are made in China, so I was somewhat concerned about the construction quality. One of the main reasons I picked Cuisinart model was a 3-year warranty, compared to just 1 year for the rest of the competition.
Another factor was the generally positive feedback from CSC-650 owners. Cooking.com is probably a better place to check for reviews, because they let you post a review only if you actually purchased that particular item from them.
I had this baby delivered to me about a week ago, and I put it to work right away. I must say I am satisfied with my purchase decision. Having said that, here's a list of things that I do and don't like about this machine...
Do Like:
--------
- 3-year warranty (1 year for every other slow cooker I researched)
- retractable cord (I wish every appliance had it!)
- cooks well (overall), and no, it doesn't burn food as some reviewers have indicated
- construction quality seems to be good, although it is impossible to say for sure until appliance is a couple of years old
Don't Like:
-----------
- stainless steel housing gets stained quite easily, should have been more fingerprint-resistant
- "Made in China": $99 is a premium price to pay for an item that was manufactured using cheap labor; manufacturers who reap huge profits from the North American market should invest into the local labor market
- cooks most things faster than recipies (even the ones included in Cuisinart booklet) indicate, so you have to keep an eye on your food to make sure it doesn't overcook
After purchasing the slow cooker, I headed straight to the local bookstore to pick up a recipe book. I skimmed through about 6-7 titles, and ended up buying Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann. Most of its recipies are made from scratch and rarely use any canned ingridients. It also seems to have the best overall collection of recipies.
Yesterday, I had a few friends over and we had ourselves a feast. I cooked quite a few things in the slow cooker:
- Lamb Goulash (which was ruined/overcooked - the first thing I ever done in this slow cooker)
- Chicken Casseatore (not sure about spelling, it's from the Cuisinart booklet) came out nicely, it was around the time that I started looking closely after the cooking process.
- Short Ribs In Red Wine were perfect, here, again, the cooking time was 5 hours instead of 7 hours indicated in the recipe.
Overall, I am happy. I didn't experience any of the problems reported by some reviewers. I can safely recommend this appliance.

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Crock-Pot 5025WG 2.5-Quart Slow Cooker Review

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(More customer reviews)I have this Crock Pot but my crock insert is white instead of black. I bought this slow cooker probably in the late 1990s. I own three slow cookers (the Rival 3-1/2-quart oval and the Rival 6-quart), and this is the best one and the one I use the most. It is 2-1/2 quarts and is perfect for two people. It cooks the best out of all three of my slow cookers as it does not overcook the food as the other two will. I find that the cooking times listed in most slow cooker cookbooks are very accurate for this Crock Pot, but for my other two larger models, I must reduce the cooking time. I have never had overcooked food in this slow cooker. Everything has always cooked to perfection. Most recipes in slow cooker cookbooks are written for 6 to 8 servings. If I cut the recipes in half, they will fit perfectly in this Crock Pot and fill it 3/4 full. That is just enough food for my husband and me and will usually leave leftovers for one or two more meals for one person. This slow cooker also looks very nice as it is all white and matches my kitchen, so it is always out on the counter. I use it many times a week and I am very happy with it. Since it cooks at such a low temperature, whenever I cook meat, I use the high setting for the first hour and then reduce it to low and cook for one hour less than the stated recipe (since one hour on high is equal to two hours on low). Everything turns out perfectly this way. The potatoes and carrots are perfectly tender and have not cooked down to mush as has happened in my larger, more powerful Crock Pots.
I highly recommend this model if the size is big enough for you because it works the way slow cookers are supposed to work - cooking the food slowly and gently.

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West Bend 84966 Versatility Oval-Shaped 6-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker Review

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(More customer reviews)This is my fourth one of this style of a West Bend slow cooker in 20 or so years. I started with a four quart model. I wore it out after about 6 years of using it at least 4 or 5 times a week all year (I was a working mother then). I bought a second four quart, and passed it on three years ago to my son when he got married. I still have the six quart I purchased as a replacement (I have hidden it from my son so I can have a spare if I need it). I love this new electronic model best of all. I love being able to set the timer and know it will switch to warm when done. The older models did not do that. The digital age has arrived for my FAVORITE slow cooker of all time!! I have given away the oval standard slow cooker I had (not a West Bend). There aren't many dishes I haven't tried in this slow cooker. This is the best West Bend model yet. This model is pricey for a slow cooker, but I would purchase another one, if I found a good sale price.

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