I've Tested Over 1,000 Products and I Use This Slow Cooker for Almost Everything

Oh, but that’s not all. The cooker has a temperature probe to cook food to a specific temperature. The probe is also used for sous vide cooking, with the probe resting in the water while the cooker controls the temperature. It was surprisingly accurate when I used sous vide to cook a steak, and the included rack comes in handy when there are multiple bags in the water. I also used the sous vide function to reheat a vacuum-sealed pork roast so it was hot enough to serve, but it didn’t cook any further.

I haven’t tried it yet, but using the probe to maintain a specific temperature should be handy when cooking a custard or sauce that could break at higher temperatures.

The only thing I don’t rabidly love is the rice function. There are settings for white or brown rice, and the results are good. However, there’s some inevitable sticking so cleaning isn’t as simple (but not terrible). This is also where I noticed two hot spots where there was a little browning (but no burning) on the bottom. To be honest, instead of using this to cook rice, I’m more likely to use it to cook the food that would be served with the rice.

This is admittedly an expensive appliance, but since the pot is stainless steel, it’s extremely durable. In fact, the cooking pot is both stove and oven safe, and can even be used on an induction cooktop. I can’t think of an instance where I’ve decided to cannibalize a slow cooker to use its pot on the stove, but it’s good to have options. On the other hand, it would be handy to make mac and cheese or a casserole in the slow cooker, then tuck the open pot into the oven right before serving to create a crisp crust. 

Design-wise, the brushed stainless steel exterior has a high-end vibe, and it looks compact despite the 7-quart capacity. The pot is a rectangular shape with rounded corners, so there’s room for a long roast that might not fit as well in a round pot.

The controls are incredibly intuitive. The ring around the knob chooses the function, then the knob is used to set the available options, with the options showing clearly on the LCD screen. One thing I love is that it’s super-simple to change the temperature by turning the knob without having to restart the cook, and it can be set for up to 24 hours, for those super-long cooks.

When it comes to cleaning, the pot and lid are dishwasher safe, which is handy when there’s space in the dishwasher, but I wash it by hand about half the time. It’s no harder to wash than my stainless steel cookware.

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Donna Currie is a Colorado-based writer who has found her niche writing about kitchen gear and cooking products for over a decade. Beside writing for The Spruce Eats, she has written for Serious Eats, The Wall Street Journal BuySide, and multiple print publications. Besides writing about cooking gear, she has also developed recipes, and is the author of “Make Ahead Bread,” a cookbook dedicated to easier bread making.