For once, a better than Crock Pot slow cooker.

Winter set in, my roaster oven was broke down, and I had to find something to replace it. I saw Crock Pot slow cookers with plastic lids, plastic buttons, and dated styles. I saw more Crock Pot slow cookers with only two settings (either high temp for 4-6 hours or low temp for 8-10 hours). The plastic buttons, plastic lids, and two settings didn't appeal to me, unfortunately. Then I did some research, and proceeded to Mervyn's to look at Cuisinart's offering.

What I found

It came packaged in a nice box. Packed in that box was the slow cooker unit, lid, ceramic pot, owner's manual, and 84 page Cuisinart gourmet slow cooker cook book. I still have the attractive box and packing materials to this day, and will use them should I need to relocate or use the cooker at a relative's house.

The ceramic pot is both big, and heavy. If that pot gets dropped on someone's toe, it's gonna hurt! There is easily enough room in it for a 4 pound beef brisket, and I wouldn't hesitate to roast a 6 pound chuck. The pot won't fit in most dish washers, so it needs to be washed in the sink. It can be soaked for 24 hours should any deposits get difficult to remove after use. The lid is made of glass, and can go in the dishwasher. The cooking unit is made of all brushed stainless, making the whole unit very pleasant to look at once assembled.

On the cooking unit are a couple dials. The top controls the amount of time, and the bottom controls the temperature. There are four temperature settings: Off, Low, High, and Warm, in that order going clockwise. The timer can be set for up to 8 hours, or infinitely by turning the dial completely counterclockwise. Together, these two controls allow virtually unlimited settings for slow cooking. If one has the need to cook a recipe on the high setting for 10 hours, for example, that can be accomplished by turning the timer to its indefinite setting and turning the temp control to high. If a recipe needs to cook on low for two hours, that can also be accommodated.

There are two lights on the stainless cooking base: a red light for cooking, and an amber for keeping food warm. When the timer reaches its end, the red cooking light will shut off and the amber warm light will turn on. Both lights will remain off when the temperature control setting is off, or on the farthest counterclockwise position.

Usage

Browsing the cookbook that came with the package, I set out to work on their dilled pot roast. The recipe didn't call for much liquid, and I found out why at the end of the cycle. During slow cooking, juices leach out of vegetables leaving a liquid broth, which combines with the juices from the beef, and there was a reasonable amount of liquid left to prepare sauce for this dish. After slow cooking for 8 hours, the recipe recommends straining the liquid out of the vegetables and meat, then placing the liquid and meat in separate containers, then refrigerating them for 8 hours. The total process takes 16 hours. Then, the fat is lifted off of the broth, and the meat is cooked a second time in the oven while the broth is combined with other ingredients to form a sauce. This adds about another hour. The recipe is time consuming, but the results turned out very well yielding a tender roast and a gravy that tasted almost identical to a curry sauce.

I have also cooked Banquet Crockpot Classic entrees, both single and double batches. The cooker performed just as well with both. The settings on the Cuisinart are accurate enough to where standard Rival Crock Pot recipes can be followed.

Cleaning

After a recipe is finished, the lid can be placed in a dish washer. Then, empty the pot and place any unused food in a container and refrigerate. Soak the pot in warm water, for several hours to loosen any carmelized deposits. The pot can then be cleaned with regular dish soap, using a blue scrubber sponge. The stainless cooking base can also be cleaned water and dish soap, but cannot be immersed.

Oh, I forgot

This slow cooker has a retractable cord, which is a MUST when the unit needs to be moved, and stored. Way to go on a brilliant idea, Cuisinart!