Slow cooker recommendations wanted!

WIth a new baby at home, my husband and I are looking for any tools to help us get good meals on our table with a minimum of active cooking time and fuss. As the weather has turned cooler and made us crave stews, soups, and braises, I find that I'm turning to my ancient crock pot more and more - so much so that I'm seriously considering an upgrade. Do you have a slow cooker that you really love? I anticipate this will get a lot of use in our home, especially once I return to work at the end of November and my work-at-home husband is in full-time stay-at-home-dad mode, so we don't mind spending a bit more for a really great, durable model. Any and all slow-cooker input is appreciated - thanks!

lastnightsdinner
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5 Comments

lastnightsdinner
lastnightsdinner October 20, 2011
Thanks so much, everyone!
 
phyllis
phyllis October 17, 2011
I have a new Cuisinart that browns and braises. I've only used it once but it worked well.
 
pierino
pierino October 17, 2011
The Cuisinart models are kind of heavy weight on firm feet so that they are not prone to sliding around and slopping over when you try to take something out. Also for braises, you do still have to brown the meats etc. separately. But you knew that already. Not like the old days when you were instructed to just dump stuff in and walk away for 8 hours. I have issues with some Cuisinart appliances but the slow cooker is not one of them.
 
sexyLAMBCHOPx
sexyLAMBCHOPx October 17, 2011
I've upgraded to the All Clad Deluxe Slow Cooker 1+ ago. It has a stove-top safe non stick insert that allows you to brown meat inside and easily transfers to the cooker for the slow cooking process. I love it and a big fan of my ACD Slow cooker for beef stews, stews, osso buco, chili and short ribs among a few dishes. Easy to clean and being able to brown meat without another pan/dish to clean is a big time-saver. I bought my slow cooker at Williams-Sonoma; their website also has better slow cooker recipes than most websites. If you do buy & would like to swap recipes, message me.
 
JessicaBakes
JessicaBakes October 17, 2011
I have a Hamilton Beach and it works well and has some clips on top to allow me to clip it and take it over to someone else's house. I haven't had any problems with it and have had it for 2 years
 
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