We also wanted to see how the slow cookers held the heat with the beans on Warm mode. These large slow cookers feature several heat settings to cover every cooking need. If you ever need to take your large slow cooker on the road, consider one that has a Lid Latch™ strap or clip-tight lid. With these convenient travel features, you’ll always be ready to take homemade food along to potlucks, family parties, and holiday gatherings. If you’re like most people, an occasional last-minute party will pop up.
Don’t worry, Hamilton Beach® Programmable Slow Cookers can easily adapt. You simply add ingredients in the morning and let the slow cooker finish the cooking automatically. Once the cooking time is up, they automatically switch to warm. Next, we wondered how well the other four slow cookers would retain heat compared to the Breville’s 147 degrees. While the Breville did have a nearly 7 degree swing between the two tests, it was still above the “safe for consumption” temperature of 135 degrees. The Ninja was the only slow cooker that fell short here.
I especially love the lid clips for easy transport as well as the thermometer probe. It also retained heat the best and comes with a serving spoon — giving it an slight hamilton beach toaster edge in features over the probe-less Crock-Pot model we tested. And it retains all of those desirable classic settings, too, such as Low, High, Warm, and Timer.
The Ninja and Breville slow cookers had a tendency to reach a higher temperature faster than the others. The Frigidaire generally undercooked food when on High, yet overcooked when set on Low. The Hamilton Beach and Crock-Pot models are very similar and generally maintained a middle ground between the extremes of the Breville, Ninja, and Frigidaire slow cookers. Throw in uncooked rice & water, hit a button & it’s perfection in no time, without any effort. Plus, rice cookers keep cooked rice warm & delicious for hours, so if your kids are running late, no problem.
If you select 160 degrees as the desired temperature for your chicken, make sure to put the probe in a spot where you think it will cook the slowest. That way, you can feel confident that the rest of the chicken is also cooked to at least 160 degrees. When you first turn on this slow cooker, the display will flash “SEL.” You need to select one of the three modes to continue.
That, combined with its practical features and $59 price tag make this a highly recommendable slow cooker. This and the Crock-Pot cooker are both perfect options for when you want to sit back and let your slow cooker handle dinner. Several 7 & 8 Quart Slow Cookers are also designed for spill-resistant travel, thanks to a clip-down lid or Lid Latch™ strap. Taking them along is easy and cleanup is always trouble-free. That’s because every 7 & 8 Quart Slow Cooker by Hamilton Beach® features a dishwasher safe stoneware insert and glass lid for fast, easy cleanup.
The Hamilton Beach and Crock-Pot looked a bit better, and the Frigidaire actually had a dark brown ring around it that confirms that it does tend to undercook on High and overcook on Low. If you’re interested in accessing Newegg API service, please submit a request.
The $59.99 Hamilton Beach Set ‘n Forget 6-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker is a very straightforward slow cooker. It isn’t full of innovative tech, and it doesn’t appeal to modern design sensibilities, but this is one of those rare times when I don’t think that’s a terribly bad thing. It offers the basics and a handful of special features, like a thermometer probe for cooking to temperature and lid clips for safe and easy transport. I strongly recommend this slow cooker to anyone looking for a uncomplicated, traditional approach to cooking slowly. These small slow cookers will slowly tenderize meat and blend complex layers of flavor.
The Hamilton Beach, Crock-Pot, and Frigidaire beans landed in the middle, not significantly under- or overdone. Whole chicken We wanted to know how well each of the five slow cookers would cook a whole 5-pound chicken. All chickens with the exception of the Frigidaire were dry, the ones in the Breville and Ninja especially so. This $59.99 Hamilton Beach slow cooker sweetens the pot (ahem) with a temperature probe and some useful cooking modes. Hamilton Beach® 6 Quart Slow Cookers make dinnertime almost effortless. You can cook hot, mouth-watering meals as you go about your day, with no stirring needed.