Slow Cooker Reviews

This is my third Electric Skillet. I work 100 miles from home and live in a trailer during the week (the commute is terrible around here, but I can't afford another or even a different house). My propane Stove went out a couples years ago now and I started using my BBQ, A toaster over and/or an electric skillet instead. My first skillet was "Silver stone" coated. First time I burnt something in it was the last. I then bought a Stainless Steel pan but didn't like the temperature control and it can be hard to clean. This Zojirushi pan not only can be used to higher temperatures (460F instead of the usual 400F), it's a dream to clean and the temperature control is great. I've already burnt something (on Purpose) Blackened peppercorn Rib Eye. Great!!! (anyone got a good air purifier, next time I'll do it on the porch, another advantage, its portable) But nothing sticks to it, don't even need oil or butter. I like it so much I've ordered the larger Sizzler and started using it too. It's got a larger surface and the sides aren't as deep so it's easier to get a spatula into. Also it goes to 480F (call the Fire Department, yee hah). The design is different, but it's a great pan too.

I received this as a gift from a family member and I love it. I didn't have very much success using the base as a griddle but I only tried it once because it is kind of small. I have had the cooker for around three years now and it has held up very well. I would reccommend this product to anyone.

I thought slow-cookers were a thing of the past, boy was I wrong. They go perfectly with today's hectic lifestyle.
I picked the West Bend after checking out the ratings here on Amazon and have not been disappointed! I love the oblong shape, perfect for roasts, meatloaf and even desserts. The heating element/griddle is seperate which makes the pan easier to clean. Also I can use the pan directly on the stove to do my browning and easily transfer to the base and that's it, no extra mess. The glass cover can double as a serving dish.
My only negative was how thin/light the pan seemed but I am overlooking it because all the recipes I prepared turned out just fine. Not to mention, I like the little "extras" like the plastic cover and insulating tote which I am looking forward to using when we go barbecue.
Just get this with a couple of the slow-cooker cookbooks and your friends and family will love you.

THE RIVAL SLOW COOKER IS GREAT. IT HAS MANY USES. I USE IT AT LEAST TWICE A WEEK. NOTHING STICKS IN THE POT. THE CARRY BAG IS GREAT FOR TRANSPORTING.

This cooker is about what I expected. It is small enough to store between uses and big enough to cook for a family of five or so. It heats up fast and holds temperature well. It is much handier to use than a cooker with a crockery insert. It is extremely light and easy to clean. Perhaps its best feature is the fact that it lends itself to the stove top to be used for browning meat directly before slow cooking. That, in its self, is worth the price. The glass top is also a great feature. It prevents removing the lid for cooking progress observations and subsequent loss of heat in the head space of the cooker. The only downside I can see is a flimsy heat control with "guesstimate" settings. All in all, it is a nice unit.

When my West Bend cooker arrived, I was disappointed. The lid didn't seem to fit tightly and the pot was so light I thought it couldn't possibly work correctly. I was very wrong. The lid still steamed up when the items cooked and the temperature must be perfect because I haven't cooked a bad meal yet. I never thought I'd be so excited about using a slow cooker but the time it saves is amazing and the recipes can be as easy or as complicated as you want to make them. There's nothing like coming home to the aroma of dinner cooking after a long day and knowing all you have to do is serve dinner. In addition, the lightness, the non-stick surface and the fact that you can just pop the pot on the stove to brown meat or in the frig when you're done, without dirtying another container or another pot when you reheat it, is such a timesaver. Knowing I didn't want to be bothered peeling potatoes in the morning, I cut up vegetables at night and cooked stew over night, put the pot in the frig before going to work and just heated it up at night. You can't do that with the old fashion crock pots.

My only complaint is that the cord is very short, but everything else is great.

It's my first slow cooker and I love it. It's easy to clean, light-weight, and cooks evenly. I have not had any problems with the lid because thanks to reviews on this site, I have been very careful. As far as browning ingredients in the pot before slow-cooking is concerned I have found the surface area a little too small for proper browning- so, if you wanted to brown 1 cut up chicken you wold have to do it in 2 or more batches otherwise you'd end up just stewing it (which doesn't save you any time).

What can I say-- this was one of the few times I felt like I made a mistake in buying something on Amazon without seeing it in person first. It just was not what I was expecting in a slow cooker. The pot is extremely lightweight and shoddy-feeling, almost like a toy pot. It has no automatic shut-off or warm-mode, no timing function. The controls look very cheap. While I was intrigued by the "use the base as a griddle" feature, I realize that I would probably never really use it. For those with limited arm strength, this might be a good fit, but otherwise I'd advise passing it by.

I own a slightly older version of this slow cooker and it's been a faithful little workhorse in my kitchen for almost six years now. I bought it when I lived in an OLD apartment with an ancient oven I didn't trust. All my cooking was done in the little slow cooker and toaster oven. I still have it and use it and assure you it will serve you well. I'm married now and got a big ceramic slow cooker for a wedding gift, and guess which one I use more? Yep, the little West Bend!
The little West Bend does stews and pot roasts beautifully and even larger quantities of can soup.
Feel confident buying it!

I have had this slow cooker for several years and use it at least a couple of times a week. The metal pan is great because you can put it on the stove to sautee or brown. It holds a lot of food...plenty for my family of eight. The glass lid also doubles as a serving dish, and can be put on the cooker upside down so that it isn't so tall in the refrigerator.

It's really easy to clean and easy to transport. If mine ever wears out, I will order another one!

As a slow cooker, this works, but the non-stick removable pan has little bumps along the place the lid fits. This means there can't be a anything close to a seal when the unit on turned on. So you get lots of steam escaping, and the recipe you're trying to cook dries out.

I have always found cleaning these pots a pain in the neck because you can't use steel wool or any abrasive cleaner and yet food can stick to it just like any pot that is non-stick. I just about ruined my previous crockpot, which I had for only about a month. How? Well, the instruction booklet had a recipe for rice pudding which specified,in bold letters and numbers, to cook FOR 8-10 HOURS ON HIGH. Yes, I should have realized it was a missprint, but it took 3 days of soaking and scrubbing to get it reasonably clean, and its been a pain to clean since then. Enter the West Bend 85105...

This pot has a 5-quart capacity (which for me is perfect), and is oval in order to accommodate larger cuts of meat. It also has a light which tells you it is on, and has 3 temperature settings - high, low, and "keep warm". The 6 or 7 meals I've prepared in it so far have all come out perfectly, and best of all, IT WAS EXTREMELY EASY TO CLEAN...DIDN'T EVEN HAVE TO SOAK IT!!!.

So, the bottom line is unless you need a smaller/larger pot, or enjoy soaking and scrubbing, or would like one with more features (duet, programmable, cool touch, whatever), I would highly recommend this pot to anyone! BTW, IMO these features, except for perhaps cool touch, are nothing but gimmicks.