Kitchenaid still the best

I was in the market for a slow cooker recently and researched many slow cookers on the market. I decided on the Kitchenaid KSC700 unit for several reasons. But first the details of the purchase. I purchased the Kitchenaid KSC700 from Cooks Catalog on line. I don't find their pricing to be the best but they are reliable and reasonably priced. One thing I was disappointed in is that when I received the product, there was a note indicating that anything over $99 was free shipping with a product code. If they had free shipping when I bought my unit, they should have given me free shipping when I purchased the appliance. This does not endear me to Chef's Catalog. I may not purchase from them in the future because of this.

Placing the order with Chef's Catalog was easy and I did not have to join Chef's Catalog as a member to place my order. The site is easy to navigate and easy to check out. Once the order is place, I received a confirmation email almost immediately. My credit card was not billed until my order shipped. I received shipment tracking information and I received the order in a timely manner. The product was in good condition and was packaged well.

The Kitchenaid slow cooker is more expensive than most. Mine cost $129.00 with no tax and shipping extra. Kitchenaid has a policy that if your appliance fails within the 1 year warrantee period they will ship a replacement. That is a great policy.

The Kitchenaid slow cooker is micro-processor controlled which is a great help. It monitors the temperature and controls cooking settings as well as error codes for failures. One complaint I saw for many slow cookers was that they got too hot and burned the food or that the lid rattled during cooking and a lot of steam escaped. I have not had these problems. The front control panel consists of two items, an LED display and a rotating knob. The knob has 5 settings. Buffet, Simmer, low, high and auto. It also has an off control. The microprocessor monitors the temperature of the slow cooker against USDA temperature guidelines for meats. If the temperature gets too low an alert is displayed on the LED display. As far as I know the Kitchenaid is the only slow cooker with this feature. It makes me feel safe. As a chef for many years I know the trouble with food poisoning. The Auto setting cooks for 2 hours on high (212 degrees) and up to 6 hours on low (200 degrees). Simmer is at 165 degrees.

Don't count on lugging this behemoth around to parties though, it weighs just under 30 pounds empty and is large at 7 1/2 quarts. Also, consider storage space for it too. It is large. Mine is stainless steel but it also comes in cinnamon and black. I wanted the stainless steel for ease of cleaning and no chipping of the finish over time. It looks lovely and is very sturdy. The cooking elements are placed around the side of the unit, not the bottom, like some brands. Also, the body of the cooker does get hot. Too hot to touch for most. The silicone rubber seal around the lid fits nicely against the removable stone wear crock too. The lid, crock, and silicone seal are all dishwasher safe but I wash mine by hand. The stoneware crock has a large brim for pouring out gravy and liquids. That's a nice touch. The lid has a large handle on it too for easy grip with sometimes slippery hands. I like that too. The handle stays cool since it is not part of the lid but a bolt on handle. I find that handles that are molded as part of the lid get hot and are often too small.