Hamilton Beach 5 Quart Portable Slow Cooker

I love that the ceramic pot lifts out of the heating base for cleaning. But the handles are part of the ceramic pot and are hot to touch so you do need to use a pot holder when touching it after cooking, as when you are scooping the contents onto a plate.

great product, great price. It is such a good idea for busy people who still need to feed a family and eat well. I bought one for myself a few months ago, loved it and now bought second one for my college student who is living in college housing where they have a kitchen but stove and oven are down the hall. It will be a good way for her to cook something in her own kitchen conveniently and still eat well on her busy schedule. And because it is electric and safe, it is allowed in the housing where as other applicances are not

I love the stay warm feature and the pot cooks well .. It arrived well packaged for shipping and on time .. for such an economical price, you really get your money's worth Only two drawbacks and one was my own misconception perhaps .. I was replacing my previous crock pot which had actual CLIPS built on each side to LOCK lid down .. Making transporting the pot to family or church meals completely safe from spills ... what you get with this is a heavy duty rubber cord band and while it DOES hold the lid in place .. It is not TIGHTLY and so no seal and spilling occurs EASILY The lid itself is diappointing .. Very thin and lightweight .. almost flimsy

We've made several stews. It cooks evenly as expected and the three temps (high, low, warm) are consistent. I like its looks; the black/silver model blends well in my kitchen. The oval shape eases the use of counter space. My reason for giving it a 4 for durability is that the metal shell is lightweight and a bit fragile. The crock, however, is heavy and handsome. I advise to stir with a soft spoon or spatula to keep the crock surface intact. The lid has a rubber edge (careful with that, too) so the lid seals well. A vent in the lid releases steam. The cord is short, about 16 inches. All in all, works well, cleans easily, don't throw it around :) and it should last. Good buy so far.

I bought this to replace a much smaller slow cooker. I've used it several times and I'm very satisfied with the results. It has a rubber seal around the lid which is great when you want to transport food to another place. There is also a rubber type band that you can put over the top to keep the contents from spilling when you are transporting the food. It's very easy to put on and keeps the lid secure. The seal is tight and what I especially liked is it keeps the aroma of the cooking food from being over powering. I don't like for my house to smell like what I'm cooking all day and this seal does help prevent this. The seal on my crock pot did not have any odor or change the taste of my food like one commenter complained about. The lid also fits very well. It has a nice "keep warm" feature which is great for a dinner or buffet where you just want it to stay warm and not continue to cook. The crock is thick and very durable. It is removable and cleans easily in the dishwasher. I bought the red one and love the color and the way it looks. It holds 5 quarts easily and cooks very well. I also noticed that the outside did not get very hot to touch like my old one. I'm very happy with this product and look forward to using it for a long time.

I ordered the black and white print. Its so beautiful I don't want to put it away. You can't beat it for the price! I personally don't mind the rubber band type closure but I'm sure it could be a hassle for some. My only issue is that for whatever reason, it gets more hot on one side as opposed to the other. So one side will be boiling and the other not as much. Nothing a close eye can't fix, definitely not issue enough to return. It's not as large as I thought it might have been but it was my first time purchasing a crockpot and I didn't quite know what to expect as far as size but I have fed 4 adults and 2 children of that helps anyone.

I am slowly decorating my kitchen with red appliances and fixtures. It is a labor of love. The picture shown of the red crock pot is much nicer than it looks in person. Being Hamilton Beach I expected it to be the same drop dead gorgeous shade of red their toaster is. The truth is, it is pale and washed out, faded I'm afraid it will have to settle for just being another crock pot and not a fashion piece for me kitchen. But then for the money spent it serves it's purpose well. At least the stone comes out so it can be used in the dishwasher. Just store it in the closet. It is a let down considering the beautiful picture that was shown. This is my 4th red appliance from Hamilton beach. It is the only one that disappointed me. As a crock pot it works great and has a strong cord to fasten down the lid for transportation, I'm just disappointed in the color. Not bad enough to send back just not proud enough to display with my other red products.

I bought this because of the great reviews and price. Decided to try out a recipe in the instruction booklet. Used a 5.5 lb whole completely thawed chicken. The vent in the lid is great for sticking a meat thermometer through. After a hour on "high" setting, broth was barely warm. After 2 1/2 hours, broth got up to 190 degrees and meat was 140.At 3 hours on high, it finally started cooking with the broth being 200 degrees and the breast meat at 150.It took a total of 6 hours to cook the "4 hour" chicken recipe with about a hour and half for the veggies. It never got hot enough for steam to come out of the vent. I can't comment on low or warm settings. It seem to be smaller than 5 quarts. The chicken, small amount of carrots and 1 onion, put it past the 3/4 recommended level. I had to boil the potatoes separate.I cleaned it up and took it back to Walmart the next day in exchange for a larger 7 quart one for a few dollars more. Walmart is always great about returns when their customers are not happy with their purchases.

Bought this particular model because it said "Portable". I made up a huge batch of soup to take to my co-workers at our church feeding program as I had promised. I don't own a car. I packaged the cooker on my cart in a large plastic bag and took off toward the station. Buy the time I go to the platform, I had already lost 1/4 of the soup in the plastic bag. I set the cooker on the platform, poured out the soup from the bag, and decided to hold it in my arms, replacing the top as directed. I walked about 12 feet and began to smell soup. YES, I was soaked in it. My raincoat, pants, sneakers, it was a nightmare. I had to poor the rest of the soup onto the tracks, and walk the empty cooker back to my apartment. I disappointed my co-workers and I was beside myself. The cooker itself works fine. As for its portability--NOT AT ALL.

Although this cooker works, the outside front has scratches, the insert (cooking part) has a ding on the lid area, and when it was being washed for the first time to be used, it had 5 different areas that had unpainted surfaces on the outside of the insert. Unbelievable that this was sent to a customer! Sending back!! This had to have been done before it was boxed up. Won't buy this one again!