I was assigned to find a programmable cook crock pot for our organization. The folks I am associated with are hard bargainers and know the value of their money. So, I did considerable research on the options for crock pots before I purchased. Some of the complaints that were evidenced had to do with cooking temperatures being too high or too low and problems with the units shutting off before the food is cooked. So, I wanted to make sure I avoided these pitfalls. I thought I had succeeded with this unit; but, alas there is a problem. We get what seems to be a boil on the warm setting. Arguably, this may be due to the unit shifting from higher settings to warm; but, I have found this not to be the case. It seems to approximate this temperature no matter how it gets to it, switching or initially being programmed at this setting. That is our only complaint with the unit, and it is somewhat inconvenient because we had to adjust our cooking, set up time because of it.

Kikko

Sacramento, CA

I purchased a regular Hamilton Slow Cooker without the bells and whistles. I absolutely loved it. After taking a new job recently, I had to start traveling for work. I purchased this slow cooker because of the programmable feature. I was able to program it to begin at a certain time. This helped tremendously on days when I would be gone for long hours. What a huge help it was to have dinner ready when needed instead of having to come home to make it. This has been a staple in our kitchen for almost a year now. Time to Heat All of my meals were ready in the amount of time a recipe allotted for. I have never had issues with food being too cold or too done. Cooking Performance All of my meals have turned out great. Nothing is every dried out or not cooked enough. Ease of Cleaning The slow cooker is extremely easy to clean. Add a little soap and water and give it a good scrub and your done. I opt to use a liner as the clean up is made even easier. The liners do not stick and come right out of the slow cooker. Ease of Use I was able to figure out how to program and run the slow cooker without opening the owner's manual. Design The design is very simplistic. I like products like this. Durability I use this slow cooker at least once per week and it still works great.

nkerner1011

USA

The Hamilton Beach 4.5-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker works perfect for my small family of three. I cook all kinds of goodies in this slow cooker. I have fixed pot roast and potatoes, chicken and rice, beef stew, and barbecue chicken. It all turns out great. I love the fact that I an program this slow cooker so when I leave to go to work I can set it for a certain time and when I get home from work it is already off and the biggest part of the meal is already prepared. I really enjoy cooking with this slow cooker, I even purchased my sister n law one for Christmas and she also loves it. She is learning to cook and this slow cooker worked out great for them. Time to Heat It doesn't take this slow cooker any longer to heat than the brands I have tried before it. I thought it warmed in timely manner and did great at cooking whatever I put in it. Cooking Performance Every single thing I have fixed in this slow cooker has come out great. I have no complaints.

Momintx

USA

This crock pot kept cutting it's self off on me regardless of the settings that I programmed it for. This was my first and last digitally programmable crock pot , and needless so say it is why I went back to the more basic dial knob type of crock pot. I have since given this one away to a cousin who is a rookie in the kitchen and doesn't know any different when it comes to crock pot cooking. Time to Heat This crock pot seemed to heat to the optimum setting faster than I liked it to. I personally prefer a crock pot to gradually heat slower than this one. Cooking Performance I will have to say that the cooking performance was poor because of the fact that the timer mechanism was off. Each time regardless of what I set it for it would not complete the cooking cycle for me. Maybe I just got a lemon overall in this appliance. Ease of Cleaning The ease of cleaning is good, but you have to take special care around the outer edges of the setting area on this one. Ease of Use The ease of use is awful as I had to keep resetting it to get a completely cooked dish regardless of how I set it to begin with. Design I liked the design of it , that was a selling point of why I purchased it. But it's inner workings leave things to be desired. Durability I have to say that the durability is good because I actually dropped the inner cooking pot and it did not chip , crack or break.

kimdaviskim

USA

I am a slow cooker/crockpot fanatic.  I probably use my 6 quart slow cooker at least twice a week, but now my crockpot arsenal is so much more versatile with the addition of this Hamilton Beach slow cooker.  It's basically a programmable crockpot, which is a function that I had to have.  I'm away from my home for 10 hours of the day and I don't want food burning while I'm away or coming home to a disaster.  I've used this crockpot a few times while I've been at work and I've come home to successful meals every time.  You can choose between High and Low settings as well as settings of 2 hour increments.  After it's done, it will revert to the warm setting.  I believe that it will turn off after a certain period of time on the keep warm setting, but I'm not completely sure. It's a great size for soups and meals for my small family of 3 (one of which is 18 months.)  I love this crockpot and I'm so glad I got it!

hkpepin

Sykesville, MD