» Hamilton Beach 33134 3-in-1 Slow Cooker with 2-, 4-, and 6-Quart Crocks

Hamilton Beach 33134 3-in-1 Slow Cooker with 2-, 4-, and 6-Quart Crocks Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: Great for stews, soups, and most casseroles
Comment: This is the first slow cooker I've purchased, and I'm delighted with it. The 3 in 1 feature is very handy, though if you're cooking from recipes in a book that suggest the ideal size to use with the recipe (2 qt., 4 qt, 5 qt, 6 qt), realize that those recommendations are made with a flat bottomed slow cooker in mind, unless they say otherwise. There have been a few recipes I've made that started out in the 6 qt bowl and ended up in the 4 qt bowl as a perfect fit.

Almost everything I've made in this slow cooker has been delicious. I made the rookie mistake of buying ingredients for a recipe that called for chicken breasts to be placed whole and flat over beans and corn, and when I realized that with these bowls such a preparation is impossible, turned it into a stew. Blech. It was awful! But that was my fault, and I share that so you'll be careful in your recipe selections.

Any recipe (that I can think of) that calls for cubed meats, or chopped or diced vegetables as a main ingredient cook extremely well in this slow cooker. The manual says not to take the lid off while cooking, but you'll find that doing so isn't prudent, especially if you're cooking with rice. In those instances, you'll want to stir it a couple of times. I haven't found that removing the lid to stir has impacted the quality of the dish.

Having the different sized bowls is truly handy. If you find that you liked something that you made in the 2 qt or the 4 qt bowl, and want to stretch your budget and save time, you can make a double batch simply by moving up to the next sized bowl. Prudent packaging and freezing will keep your food available for a long time.

I haven't tried to cook a pot roast, and doubt that I will, but it seems logical to my simple culinary sensibilities that roasts, large turkey breasts One Bone-in Turkey Breast or hams, that a flat-bottomed slow cooker is preferable.

The stoneware bowls are very sturdy, and even when using the 6 qt bowl, which has at least 1/3 of it "submerged" in the slow cooker and the rest exposed to open air, heat is evenly distributed throughout the dish for uniform cooking.

Highly recommended!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: GREAT IDEA!!!
Comment: The person who thought up the idea of three different size cooking bowls for this slow cooker should get a gold star. There are things I love, like soups and stews that my husband won't touch. Now I don't have to make a bathtub full of stuff and wind up throwing some out or feeding my neighbors. (I know I could just fill my other cooker half full but it didn't always work well.) Anyway, great idea and great product!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Love it
Comment: I had a smart pot from Crock Pot before I bought this. The Smart Pot would burn everything after 2 hours even on low (I contacted their service dept, and they just said - yah,it gets pretty hot). So I thought forget that, I'm getting something else. This has been wonderful! It hasn't burned anything yet. I love that I can change the pots around for what size I am cooking. The only thing that isn't my favorite is the colors.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Love it! Versatile, easy to store and looks nice
Comment: Love it! The round shape takes up less storage room, not to mention it's 3 crocks in one. It does run hot though, so do a trial run when you can watch it before leaving it all day. I haven't burned anything yet, but I also haven't left it unattended for very long. I think it runs so hot because if you're using the 6 qt, half of it isn't touching the heating element, so it has to overcompensate.

Although I love the versatility and thinks it looks nice, I'm glad I also have a regular 6 qt elongated Rival, because I don't think I could fit a bunch of ribs or a large roast in it--the bottom is narrower than the top. Also, this isn't a "traveling" crockpot like the HB Stay n Go or some Rival products, so if you like to make and take, you may want to go w/ the Stay n Go or a crockpot w/ an insulated bag.

Finally, I read in a natural living forum that HB crockpots don't have lead in the glaze. I don't know if that's true or not--I thought all stoneware glaze contains it, and I can't believe HB wouldn't advertise that as a selling point. But supposedly, Rival has FDA-approved amounts of lead and HB has none. Take that unattributed info for what it's worth!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The Best!
Comment: I have had this cooker for a couple of months now and I cant stop singing its praises. I use a slow cooker very often and have owned several; from old thrift store types to the new teflon multiuse units. I have spent and wasted much money on units that look high tech that were poorly made and stopped working when the motors burned out.

Once I used this I discarded all of those. I love the three settings of heat for the different bowls (I also select the heat setting depending on how fast I want to cook) and the bowls are pottery so no leaking anything into my food and it cooks more evenly.

I initially thought the larger bowls would not heat properly since they stand high above the base, but with the three settings this has not proven to be the case at all. The larger bowls heat and cook as well as the small one.

I must admit the bowls convinced me to purchase. They nest easy for storage and clean up so easy and give me more options as to food size and portions. Plus they are very durable and attractive! I saw this cooker in a dept store with three white bowls for a cheaper price but I like the colored ones to display in my kitchen.

I'm so glad I found this. My hunt for the perfect slow cooker is over. I also gave one of these for a house warming gift. Its something you can depend on for years to come.

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