The Best Slow Cookers For Your Stews, Braises, And Dips

Some group disregard slow cookers arsenic a instrumentality for location cooks who don’t really for illustration to cook. Like nan different “do nan cooking for you” appliances retired location (shout retired to air fryers and Instant Pots) a slow cooker isn’t nan benignant of point a pompous culinarian would adhd to their room arsenal.

“Who needs a slow cooker, erstwhile you person a Dutch oven and a sous vide circulator?” your astir annoying friend mightiness say.

Well present astatine Bon Appétit, we don’t move our noses up astatine nan useful and versatile slow cooker. A slow cooker is simply a awesome hold of your stovetop erstwhile cooking for large events for illustration Thanksgiving aliases Super Bowl Sunday. You tin braise short ribs! You tin make chili! You tin navigator a full chicken! The database goes on!

We’ve tested respective models of slow cooker, including nan OG Crockpot, and person travel up pinch what we deliberation to beryllium nan champion slow cooker retired there. Read connected for much specifications connected our apical pick, and support scrolling for much connected our methodology and nan others we tested.

The champion slow cooker: Cuisinart 4-Quart Cook Central 3-in-1 Multi-Cooker

What we loved astir nan Cuisinart Cook Central:

The Cuisinart Cook Central is simply a elemental and well-designed slow cooker that produced batch aft batch of succulent chickenhearted and tender stewed vegetables. It excelled successful our tests, and astatine a reasonably affordable cost, we see it a accordant and dependable prime for some casual and predominant slow cooker cooks.

The Cook Central has a modest, functional suite of settings. The slow navigator usability has warm, simmer, low, and precocious settings—warm is for keeping already cooked nutrient astatine a palatable 165°F for up to 8 hours, while simmer, low, and precocious navigator astatine preset temperatures of 185°F, 200°F, and 212°F, respectively. The instrumentality besides features a brown/sauté usability for searing meats anterior to slow cooking, a cardinal measurement if you want appetizing pulled pork and cookware roast. That usability brings nan instrumentality up to 350°F successful astir 6 minutes. If you’re into steaming (like a batch of chefs are lately) nan Cook Central has a steam mounting and comes pinch a steamer rack for erstwhile a craving for Pork and Shrimp Cabbage Rolls aliases Smoky Orange Chicken Thighs strikes.

In comparison to older models of slow cooker, nan Cook Central gives nan personification greater power complete clip and temperature. You tin group nan navigator clip for up to 24 hours, and set nan somesthesia anyplace betwixt 150–400°F. In general, nan much transparency a instrumentality has astir temperature, nan better.

Build-wise, it has a bully stainless alloy exterior that doesn’t get excessively hot. We for illustration nan compact dimensions of nan 4-quart model, which weighs successful astatine a reasonable 14 lbs. However, if that size isn’t rather right, it comes successful 3.5-, 6-, and 7-quart volumes arsenic well.

What we’d leave:

We wished that nan Cook Central came pinch a locking lid, since transporting slow cookers for things for illustration cookware lucks and sporting events is decidedly a thing. We besides aren’t successful emotion pinch nan soul cooking pot, which has a PTFE-based nonstick coating.

How we tested slow cookers

Over nan years we’ve tested slow cookers utilizing a fewer different slow cooker recipes from nan Epicurious look archive. Our main trial progressive making batches of Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken successful each machine. We did 2 rounds: first connected nan precocious mounting for 4 hours, and again connected nan debased mounting for six. After each information we had a unsighted tasting of nan chickenhearted pinch a sheet of different BA staffers, who provided feedback connected immoderate differences successful texture aliases doneness.

Next, nan rootlike test. We wanted to spot really nan machines performed pinch veggies because they thin to autumn isolated erstwhile cooked excessively agelong astatine higher temperatures. We did this by making our Slow Cooker Green Chicken Chili group to debased for 6 hours, and assessed nan value of nan extremity product.