HAMILTON BEACH 33163 STAY OR GO SLOW COOKER - Why THIS slow cooker?

WOW! That was my only thought when I saw this baby on the shelf at Walmart. WOW!! We were living in Phoenix, Arizona at that time, but on our way to Oregon. I figured I would wait to buy it when we got to Oregon, since there would be no sales tax and it we wouldn't have to move it. I then went to find my husband in the store and dragged him over to see my dream slow cooker! He just looked at it and then at me with a funny look.

Now, fast forward a couple of weeks and we were moved to Oregon. Oh no!! There are no Walmarts really close by, so I went to the Walmart website. The HAMILTON BEACH 33163 STAY OR GO SLOW COOKER was there! Wait! They had it in WHITE!! OH!! I fell more in love!! On the store shelf, there was only the stainless steel version!! I ordered the white one.

What is so special about this slowcooker? Well, it has a lid that LATCHES on, and a spoon holder built into the lid. I will get to more on that in a bit, first i have to tell you my one gripe about this beautiful slowcooker. It is designed and meant to be portable, yet it has no bag or anything else to insulate it to keep the heat in during transport. Yeah, I know it is a small gripe, but having some sort of insulating feature would have made this even better!! Being a slowcooker, it naturally has SOME insulation built in, so food will stay warm "enough" during transport. You just have to make sure you place it close enough to an outlet to ensure the food is hot enough.

Okay, now back to the things I love about this slowcooker. It has a 38 inch long cord, which I believe is longer than average for a slowcooker. It makes it easy to have this on the counter, since I can slide it around out of my way as needed.

THE CROCK:
The crock inside the slowcooker is a whopping 6 quarts big, and is oval. It has inside demensions of 11.5 inches long by 9 inches wide, with a depth just shy of 5 inches. It will easily fit 2 good sized chickens.

The crock is removable for easy cleaning, and is even dishwasher safe. This is a must have feature for slowcookers.

THE LID:
The lid sits on the top of the crock. There is a lip area at the top of the crock to help keep the lid in position. The handle of the lid is one long piece that extends from end to end. The middle portion of the handle holds a spoon. A spoon is included with the HAMILTON BEACH 33163 STAY OR GO SLOW COOKER. That spoon is really a ladle, and is approximately 1/2 capacity. I don't usually use this spoon when cooking, I usually use a spatula. Any spoon you choose to use will sit well in the slot of the handle!

On the inside of the handle there is a funny looking thing. I can't really describe it, except that it is oval with 2 "prongs", one on each end, and a round thing in the center. It isn't big, only about 3 inches by 2 inches, but it is a FABULOUS feature!! It allows you to place the lid on the handles while you stir or serve from the slowcooker!!! YES!! How many times I have wondered where to put the lid. Hamilton Beach solved that problem!!

The lid also has a rubber gasket around the lip. This makes a sort of seal to keep heat in while being transported. It also makes me less scared of breaking the lid when I return it to the pot! I don't know if it is leak proof, but it will definitely make spills much smaller if the unit is tipped during transport!!

THE HEATING UNIT:
The heating unit is the outside part of the slowcooker. It is the part that actually heats and that the crock sits inside of. This slowcooker has a very plain, almost boring outside. There is nothing wrong with that though, it just means it will "blend in" with your kitchen better.

On the front side of the heating unit, there is a food name plate, an on/off light, and the control knob. The food name plate is a fun little feature. The slowcooker comes with preprinted labels that can be placed inside the holder, to let users know what is being served. It is also a handy thing for putting your name on the slowcooker when you go to potlucks!! You can order blank labels from Hamilton Beach, OR better yet, you can make your own by tracing one of the ones that comes with the unit!

The on/off light is just that. It glows orange when the unit is on. Here is something else Hamilton Beach might have improved on, the light might have glowed differently for the different levels of cooking. Oh well, on/off is more than many slowcookers have!

The knob is large and easy to use. It has 4 positions: off, warm, low, and high. All 4 positions are well labeled. The knob "clicks" into place in each position, leaving no guess work as to which level you are using.

At the very top of the outside front, there is a "HOT SURFACE" warning, just incase you forget the unit is hot. I just find this a little amusing, but it is a good reminder for those potlucks when people might not be so mindful!

The entire unit sits up off the counter with 3 large rounded "feet". The feet are actually built into the heating unit, eliminating the wobbly pot due to lost feet. The only downside of these feet is that there is no rubber to protect the surface the pot is placed on. This wouldn't be a problem, except I move the pot around while it is in use. There is potential for the feet to scratch the surface it is placed on if the user is not aware and careful.

NOW, to MY favorite feature of the HAMILTON BEACH 33163 SLOWCOOKER, the handles on the heating unit!! THIS is what that "WOW!" was for when I was standing in Walmart!! The handles are large and stand up WELL above the slowcooker. They are shaped like a square letter "n", and are 4 inches high by 4.5 inches wide. They have a thick plastic area across the top, giving you a COOL place to lift the unit with! At the base of each handle, is a latch. This latch flips up and latches to hooks on the lid to keep the lid on!

So, there you have what it looks like, but you may be wondering how it cooks. I have cooked everything from whole chickens to spaghetti sauce in my HAMILTON BEACH 33163 STAY OR GO SLOW COOKER, with no problems at all. Everything has turned out perfectly.