The 10 Best Slow Cookers of 2023

Slow cooking differs from conventional cooking in that food is cooked in low heat over an extended length of time. Nutritionists have proven that preparing food in such a manner helps preserve most of its nutrient content. Heat damages the delicate nutrients. Slow cooking also helps tenderize hard foods such as cereals and tough meat cuts thereby making them easier to digest.

Slow cookers and crockpots are ideal for slow cooking. However, the two have some differences such as their heating elements, temperature range, and material they’re made of — but more on that later.

So what are the best appliances for slow cooking on the market right now? Read on to find out.

Cookers	Name	Type	Capacity (Quart)
	Best Overall Value Hamilton Beach (33969A)	Slow Cooker	6	CHECK PRICE
	Budget Choice Crock-Pot SCCPVL600S	Crock Pot	6	CHECK PRICE
	Best Basic Crock-Pot SCV700SS	Crock Pot	7	CHECK PRICE
	Ultimate Cooker Instant Pot DUO80	Slow Cooker	8	CHECK PRICE
	Advance Features Instant Pot Ultra 8	Slow Cooker	8	CHECK PRICE
	Affordable Luxury Mealthy MultiPot 9-in-1	Slow Cooker	6	CHECK PRICE
	High Tech Cuisinart MSC-600	Slow Cooker	6	CHECK PRICE
	Easy To Use Crock-Pot 6	Crock Pot	6	CHECK PRICE
	Family Sized GoWISE USA	Slow Cooker	12	CHECK PRICE
	Programmable Crock-Pot 6.5-Quart	Slow Cooker	6.5	CHECK PRICE

Highest Rated Slow Cooking Appliances Reviews

Hamilton Beach (33969A) Slow Cooker

Product highlights

• Type: Slow cooker
• Size: 6 quart
• Weight: 14.6 lb.
• Has a temperature probe
•  Material Type: Stainless steel
• Transport clips and sealing lid
• Programmable

The Hamilton Beach 33969A is also referred to as the ‘Set and Forget Slow Cooker’ due to the computerized settings that let you easily set it up and leave it to work on its own. The size of the pot is six quarts, large enough for serving a small or medium-sized family.

It has a stylish stainless steel outer body. Its feet provide stability on countertops. They also help prevent the possibility of heat at the bottom of the cooker damaging your countertop. Thanks to its lid, which has a gasket, you can easily transport this slow cooker without worrying about spills. The lid clips on so tight that even liquids are sealed inside. A serving spoon clips onto the unit to ensure it doesn’t get lost in transit. The Hamilton Beach 33969A is an appliance you can comfortably carry with you on any outing, making it the good slow cooker for portability.

To help you make the best possible meals, it comes with three different cooking modes that you can set using the buttons on the side. There’s also an instruction manual in the package to help you learn how to use the cooker fast.

This Hamilton slow cooker has a temperature probe you can use to check your food’s temperature while cooking, helping you avoid overcooking. That makes the appliance perfect for roasting beef, pot roast, or chicken to perfection. You can check the temperature of the food without having to open the lid. Once the cooker is done preparing your meal, it automatically changes to a warm setting to keep your food hot until serving time. Just take care not to open the lid during cooking as it alters the cooking times of your dishes.

Hamilton has dealt with two common cooker problems, namely, power shortage and interrupted cooking. In case of a major power failure, the cooker automatically shuts off to protect the heating element from being damaged. If there are brief outages, it will stay on and keep cooking.

Crock-Pot SCCPVL600S Cook’ N Carry

Product highlights

• Type: Crockpot
• Material Type: Stainless steel
• Size: 6-quart
• Weight: 13 lb.
• Tempered glass
• Comes with an enamel baking pan and broil rack
• Removable crumb tray
• Dishwasher safe parts
• 1-year warranty

Crock-Pot was the brand name for the original slow cookers made in the ‘70s. Over time, the manufacturer has added new features to its cookers to make them multifunctional. The Crock-Pot SCCPVL600S Cook’ N Carry comes with the high, low, and warm settings so you can cook your dishes in the time you want to. But if you want a quick meal, you need to switch to high. If you have time to spare, the low setting will come in handy and prepare your meal while you sleep or take care of other business whether at home or out of the house.

This crockpot is large enough to cook food for a family of six. It features a hinged locking lid and conveniently located handles for safe and secure transportation. The tightly lockable lid prevents food from spilling during your travels while the handles provide you with a strong grip.

The stoneware in which the food cooks is removable, so it can double as a serving dish. You can clean it together with the glass lid in your dishwasher. The polished exterior with black accents is also easy to clean and makes the cooker look stunning in your kitchen. Additionally, the cooker comes with a cookbook and some exciting recipes that you can utilize to enlarge your culinary repertoire.

The product doesn’t have an elaborate feedback mechanism, but this shouldn’t come as a big surprise at its fair price point. Its outer part gets hot during cooking, so may want to keep children away to protect them from being burned. However, with all the other features it has to offer at its modest price, it’s the best budget cooker in our review.

Crock-Pot SCV700SS Stainless Steel

Product highlights

• Type: Crock Pot
• Material Type: Stoneware
• 7-quart capacity
• Weight: 13.4 lb
• Dial for setting the cooking temperature
• Oval-shaped removable stoneware
• Three temperature settings
• Stylish silver, stainless steel exterior
• Comes with recipes

The Crock-Pot brand features some of the best basic cookers that anyone can use easily and conveniently. This 7-quart model can cook enough food for eight people. Therefore, it’s large enough for use with the entire small to medium family and a few guests. You can also serve your meal from the stoneware, which has an oval shape and sturdy handles on the side for easy removal.

The cooker uses a simple dial for temperature settings. You can set it to low, high or warm to suit different types of dishes. The warm setting keeps your food hot until you’re ready to serve.

This crockpot can be ideal for you if you’re looking for convenience, size, simplicity, ease-of-use, and affordability.

Instant Pot DUO80

Product highlights

• Type: Slow Cooker
• Material Type: Stainless Steel
• Size: 8 Quart
• Weight: 15.8 lb
• 7-in-1 multi-cooker
• 14 cooking programs
•  Uses microprocessor technology to manage the cooking

The Pot DUO80 is your ultimate multi-cooker that combines seven different kitchen appliances into one. These include a slow cooker, rice cooker, sauté, steamer, pressure cooker, warmer, and yogurt maker. It’s an efficient way to save on space in the kitchen as well as cash that you may have used to buy all these appliances.

It comes loaded with 14 cooking programs, which include soup/broth, bean/chili, meat/stew, rice, poultry, multigrain, steam, sauté/searing, porridge, yogurt, slow cook, pressure cook, pasteurize and keep warm. It uses a microprocessor to keep track of time, pressure, temperature, and heat intensity, and it adjusts itself as it cooks.

The cooking chamber is made of sturdy stainless steel and a 3-ply bottom that ensures even heat distribution. It seals tightly to lock in the food’s natural flavors, aromas, and nutrients. The tight seal also prevents steam leaks, so you don’t have to worry about the temperature of your kitchen rising while using it. But that’s not all. The cooker generates very little noise even during a long cooking process.

The accessories included in the package are a rice paddle, stainless steel rack with handles, measuring cup, soup spoon, recipe booklet, and condensation collector.

You need to use this appliance correctly and carefully, as some owners have reported sustaining burns as well as experiencing electrical malfunctions.

Instant Pot Ultra 8

Product highlights

• Type: Slow cooker
• Material Type: Stainless Steel
• 8 quart
• Weight: 15.8 lb
•  10-in-1 programmable cooker
• 3^rd generation microprocessor technology
• 11 safety features for durability and prevention of injury

The Instant Pot Ultra 8 does the work of 10 kitchen appliances, namely the slow cooker, pressure cooker, egg cooker, rice cooker, porridge cooker, cake maker, yogurt maker, warmer, sauté/searing, and sterilizer. It has 16 built-in programs that include meat/stew, soup/broth, bean/chili, slow cook, egg, cake, rice, steam, multigrain, sauté/searing, yogurt, sterilize, pressure cook, warm, and Ultra. The Ultra function customizes programming for both pressure and non-pressure cooking. You can set your preferred parameters to get the desired results every time you cook.

The control panel has a microprocessor that monitors all the cooking modes and times as well as heat intensity and distribution. Apart from the regular buttons, the cooker has a dial if you prefer adjusting settings the classic way. There’s a quick release button you can use if you’d rather manually perform pulse and continuous steam release. The cooker also has a host of safety features to prevent injury to you and damage to its parts. The sterilizer function is designed to ensure your accessories are free from disease-causing germs.

The cooker also comes with a cooking indicator to show the progress of your meal and an altitude adjustment feature to provide a more accurate cooking time. Its large 8-quart capacity makes it ideal for large families and medium gatherings.

This product is perfect for you if you’re looking for state-of-the-art technology without sacrificing simplicity.

Mealthy MultiPot 9-in-1 Programmable Pressure Cooker

Product highlights

• Type: Slow Cooker
• Material Type: Stainless Steel
• Size: 6 Quart
• Weight: 16.2 lb
•  9-in-1 programmable cooker
•  Access to a recipe app
• 1-year warranty

This 6-quart slow cooker allows you to perform nine cooking functions at the touch of a button. It acts like a slow cooker, cake maker, pressure cooker, pasteurizer, steamer, sauté maker, yogurt maker, and warmer. In addition to these functions, it comes with 14 touch programs that include soup, slow cook, keep warm, bean/ chili, steam, porridge, multigrain, cake, meat/stew, poultry, rice, sauté/simmer, pressure cook, and yogurt.

The Mealthy MultiPot has a stainless steel steamer basket that allows you to prepare two dishes at once. Other accessories included in the package are a rice paddle, ladle, measuring cup, silicone mitts and gasket, and steam rack.

The Mealthy site and mobile app give you access to thousands of exciting recipes, instructional videos, and other cooking resources.

Cuisinart MSC-600 3-In-1 Cook Central 6-Quart Multi-Cooker

Product highlights

• Type: Slow Cooker
• Material Type: Stainless Steel
• Size: 6 Quart
• Weight: 16 lb
• Three programmable cooking functions
• Dishwasher-safe parts
• Removable non-stick cooking pot
• Three-year warranty

Cuisinart is known for developing some of the most high-tech slow cookers. The Cuisinart 3-in-1 cooker is no different. It offers you the versatility that many other slow cookers don’t along with a 6-quart capacity to meet the needs of a medium-sized family or several guests. The three functions allow you to slow cook your favorite meals, brown meats, and sauté vegetables. You can use the aluminum cooking pot on a stovetop, giving you the freedom to brown or sauté your meat before preparing it in the cooker.

This multi-cooker has a one-touch feature that helps you switch between cooking modes whenever the dish you’re preparing requires more than one type of cooking. It also comes with a steaming rack to help you cook veggies and rice to perfection. You can leave your food cooking even when you plan to be away from home. Once the food is ready, this cooker switches to the warm mode, which can keep your food warm for up to 24 hours.

This Cuisinart model features an extra-large backlit LCD that lets you view the time and temperature settings even at a distance. The completely removable setup makes it easy to clean. The pot and lid are both dishwasher-safe.

This slow cooker costs a pretty penny but is still a bestseller in retail stores. It has a maximum power draw of 1500 watts, meaning it uses a considerable amount of energy when operating at high heat. If you run it on a circuit that has other appliances, it’s highly likely to blow your fuse or breaker consistently. But make no mistake, it can be your best bet if you’re looking for a feature-rich product that cuts down on dirty dishes and handles whichever food you throw its way.

Crock-Pot 6 Qt 8-in-1 Multi-Use Express Crock Programmable Slow Cooker

Product highlights

• Type: Crock Pot
• Material Type: Stainless Steel
• Size: 6 Quart
• Weight: 16.2 lb
• Dishwasher-safe parts
• 8 preset cooking functions
• Non-stick pot

This cooker is yet another entrant into our top reviews from the Crock-Pot brand. It features 8 pre-set cooker options that include beans/chili, meat/stew, multigrain, steam, soup, yogurt, dessert, and risotto/rice. It also has Sauté/Brown, slow cook, pressure cook and the keep warm features. The keep warm feature is automatically activated after your food has been cooked. Its maximum duration is four hours.

If you would like to cook some chicken soup, you can use the meat, soup, or poultry button. Use the + and _ buttons to increase or decrease the cook duration. What’s more, the cooker has a delay timer that allows you to start cooking at a later time even if you’ll not be in the house.

The inner cookware is made of non-stick aluminum, making it easier to clean. The pot and the locking lid are dishwasher safe. The cooker comes with a recipe book, serving spoon, and steaming rack. For purposes of safety, it has an airtight lid locking mechanism that stays sealed until steam is released from the food. The pressure cook option lowers the amount of time food takes to cook and is ideal to use when you’re in a hurry.

GoWISE USA 12-Quart XL Programmable 10-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker/Slow Cooker, GW22636

Product highlights

• Type: Slow Cooker
• Material Type: Stainless Steel
• Size: 12 Quart
• Weight: 25.8 lb
• 24-hour delay timer
• 10-in-1 electric pressure cooker

This is considered one of the large slow cooker which combines the functions of multiple appliances into one. It pressure cooks, slow cooks, steams, cooks rice, makes yogurt, sautés, and makes eggs. You can also use it as a canner. It comes with presets to quicken your cooking, such as multigrain, rice, soup, steam, bean/chili, sauté, seafood, egg maker, canning, veggies, porridge, meat/stew, yogurt, and poultry. Also, the cooker has a keep warm function to keep your food warm for up to 20 hours and a cook delay timer that allows up to 24-hour delay. If you don’t want to use the presets for your cooking, there’s a manual mode that comes with 3 pressure settings: low, medium and high.

The 12-quart capacity is large enough to cook a meal for more than 10 people. The cooking pot is made of stainless steel. Food doesn’t stick to its sides. You can clean the pot in your dishwasher. Replacements for the pot are available.

This product is ETL listed, showing it has met international safety standards.

Crock-Pot 6.5-Quart, Programmable Touchscreen Slow Cooker, Silver, SCVT650-PS

Product highlights

• Type: Crock Pot
• Material Type: Stainless Steel
• Size: 6.5 Quart
• Weight: 15 lb

Crock-Pot has yet another great slow cooker that makes it to our list of reviews. The SCVT650-PS boasts a 6.5-quart capacity that’s sufficient for a medium family. The outer surface is made of stainless steel. The chrome finish, touchscreen, well-designed lid, and metal side handles that are wrapped in silicone give the crockpot an attractive look.

The cooker has three temperature modes namely, low cook, high cook, and warming function. It also has buttons to increase or decrease the cooking time. It features a timer that can go from 30 minutes to as long as 20 hours. Immediately the timer runs out the warm setting will automatically come on.

The touchscreen interface doesn’t get smudged by sweaty fingers, making it easy to operate. The rubber at the bottom of the crockpot prevents the cooker from sliding on the countertop. The lid and stoneware are dishwashable.

Unfortunately, the handles tend to heat with time, so you can choose to only touch them with a towel as a precautionary measure. The cooker can also scorch some foods and leave your meats drier than its competitors. However, it’s still a solid purchase due to its fancy controls, sleek looks, and ease of use.

Tips for Buying a Slow Cooker

There are tens of cooker brands and models in the market. It can be a bit overwhelming to choose the best one for your needs. Below is a quick guide on the areas that you need to check when purchasing a slow cooker.

Slow cookers come in a variety of sizes. If you need one just for yourself, two-and-a-half quarts will do just fine. However, if you have a family, consider at least a six-quart slow cooker. That will do for the family as well as occasional visitors. A cooker of this size will also accommodate lots of recipes.

You favorite dishes and the types of recipes that you would like to try out also determine the kind of slow cooker that you should pick. For example, if you intend to prepare meats with your cooker, choose one that can brown meat. Yogurt making, egg making, and cake making are some of the functions that some multifunctional cookers are capable of offering.

You have the option of a nonprogrammable cooker that will require you to adjust the dial by yourself or a programmable cooker that can run on its own. If you’re always on the go, you should purchase a programmable cooker. At the touch of a button, it will cook your meals and time itself too. Once the food is ready, it will automatically switch to the warming mode to keep your meal hot until you’re ready to eat it. If you have a less busy schedule, a cheaper, nonprogrammable appliance will serve you just right.

The crock material determines how easy it is to clean the cooker. Stainless steel, porcelain, and ceramic all do a good job and are relatively easy to clean, especially if they’re removable. Some cookers have the crocks fused together with the heating elements hence they can’t be removed. As a result, they may be harder to clean.

When the slow cooker is in operation, you’re advised against opening the pot to keep the heat inside. If you would like to see how your food is cooking, consider going for a cooker with a glass lid.

If the cooker runs when you’re away from home, you’ll probably want to find the food warm and ready to eat. In that case, consider a cooker with an automatic function that can keep the food warm. If a cooker lacks this function, you’ll need to serve your food as soon as it’s ready or transfer it to a pot and warm it on the stove.

The shape of the cooker may not be much of a concern up until when you need to cook a whole chicken or ribs, and they fail to fit. The two main shapes are oval and circular. The oval shape is ideal for meats as they fit the longer diameter.

Cookers can be a convenient travel food container. However, not all will do an excellent job of locking in your foods while in transit. If you’re planning on traveling with your slow cooker, look for one with a tightly lockable lid that won’t leak any soups on the way. Checking customer reviews can also help you verify how tightly the lid locks during transportation.

The Difference between Crock Pots and Slow Cookers

The words ‘crock pots’ and’ slow cookers’ have been used interchangeably for a long time. While they achieve similar goals, they don’t mean the same thing. The crockpot was the first cooker of its type hit the market in the 1970s. It was marketed as a bean cooker. It has been redesigned over the years to what it is today. The changes have led to slightly different cookers that we call slow cookers.

Here are the differences between these two types of cookers.

The Crockpot generally has porcelain or ceramic pot that sits on the heating unit. Most crockpots are heated at the bottom as well as the sides for even distribution of heat. On the other hand, most slow cookers have a stainless steel pot. The pot is only heated from below.

Most crockpots have heat settings that include high, low, and keep warm. They also use a dial instead of buttons. However, many slow cookers have several presets for heating that goes beyond the three default ones. Therefore, they give you more cooking options. Food heats slower in the slow cooker than in the crockpot.

Crockpots usually cook food continuously until it’s ready. There are a few models that come with a timer to switch them off when the time’s up. On the other hand, slow cookers usually cook food in cycles. They can switch on and off severally in the course of the cooking.

Tips for Getting the Best from the Slow Cooker

Slow cookers make cooking easier. However, you need to know how to use them effectively to get the best dishes from them. Here are a few useful tips you should follow.

A slow cooker works like a small oven. Therefore, it’s good to consider heating it to the right temperature before placing your ingredients. In most cases, ten minutes should suffice.

Don’t take your meat straight from the deep freezer into your slow cooker. Allow it to first get to room temperature. This will allow the heat to be more evenly distributed and the natural juices to give the meat its characteristic taste.

Avoid adding too much oil to your dishes in a slow cooker. Your food will cook just fine as long as there’s moisture in the pot and the lid is shut. Otherwise, oil will create pools in the pot and may alter the taste of your food.

Different ingredients have different cooking times. However, most people tend to put ingredients with varying cooking times into the same pot. A good example is meat and vegetables. The vegetables are likely to be overcooked by the time the meat is ready. If you have to cook vegetables and meat together, you should make sure you know the cooking time for the vegetables and keep checking their progress. Remove them from the pot before they get overcooked. Alternatively, you may steam them after you’re done preparing the main dish.

The high setting heats the food at a high temperature. It’s not suitable for vegetables and any other fast-cooking recipes. The presets gives you a rough idea of how long certain foods should be prepared. Consult your manual for temperatures and durations for the different presets.

What are the Benefits of Slow Cooking?

High heat and fast cooking dry off your food’s natural juices and damage some of the nutrients. During slow cooking, the low temperature allows the dishes to retain their natural juices. This helps food keep its flavor and nutritional value.

With today’s busy schedules, most people don’t have the time to stay in the kitchen watching over food as it cooks. The slow cooker saves you time, as you only need to prepare the ingredients and let the cooker do the rest. Cookers with a delay timer allow you to begin cooking your dishes even when you’re out of the house.

Most slow cookers come with several cooking capabilities. This means you won’t need to buy specialized appliances to perform tasks like making eggs and preparing yogurt. But that’s just half the story. A slow cooker also helps you save on the storage space that would have been required for the additional appliances.

A slow cooker saves you energy because it uses far less energy than other cooking appliances such as the conventional electric cooker.

By upgrading from the traditional cooking pot to a slow cooker, you’ll get better-cooked food as well as spend less time and effort on cooking. There are many slow cooker brands on the market today. Whether you’re low on cash or looking for the best with regards to convenience, features, or technology, you’re sure to find an excellent slow cooker that’s perfect for your needs in our reviews above.

References

1. Slow Cooking Love
2. The Benefits of Slow Cooker Meals
3. Slow Cookers & Nutrition