Cuisinart CSC-400 4-Quart Slow Cooker, Brushed Stainless Steel and Black
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Cuisinart CSC-400 4-Quart Slow Cooker, Brushed Stainless Steel and Black
Customer Review: Well worth the higher price--much better than Rival crockpots
Summary: 5 Stars
I initially balked at paying this price for something as simple as a slow cooker with two knobs. After all, you can buy a "Rival" brand crockpot for less than half the price. I always had good luck with my trusty old Rival crockpot from the 1980s until the lid became too chipped to use--why would anyone need anything better?
So I bought another Rival, and sadly discovered that Rival crockpots are no longer all that they are "crocked up to be"! I really got "burned" by that purchase--in fact it overcooked every roast I cooked in it. The main problem, which is apparently endemic across the Rival product line, is that low and high settings cook at the same temperature. In fact, there is a review of Rival model 38501-W (ASIN: B00008I8NS) by an engineer named Paul Frederick who ran some tests to prove there is no difference between low and high--the two settings both burn at the same wattage and raise the temperature of water at the same rate. There are complaints about too-hot "slow" cooking in the reviews of most Rival models, so beware.
In the end, I had to toss out that crockpot, and I replaced it with the Cuisinart model you are looking at. Finally, I can cook a roast without reducing it to shoe leather! Couldn't be happier! I particularly like the feature that the cooker turns to "warm" when it is done cooking, so I can cook something while I am at work for 8 or 9 hours and have it warm but not overcooked when I return.
Customer Review: Real Improvement Over the last Slow Cooker I Purchased
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this product because the last slow cooker I owned (a Hamilton purchased on Amazon too) cooked waaaaay too fast for my taste and the handle(s) broke. Even on the low setting food would burn. I realize that manufacturers probably make slow cookers that cook at higher settings these days because of their concerns about bacteria growth/law suits, but my Hamilton cooked things ridiculously fast.
Enough about my Hamilton - This slow cooker definitely cooks food SLOWLY which is what I wanted it for. It also has an automatic Warm setting so that you can set the cook time and the crock pot will automatically switch to the Warm setting after the cook time elapses. This is a great feature for me since I wanted to be able to leave the house for 6 - 9 hours and not come back to shoe leather. Having said all that I find that with each cooking product I buy I have to use it a few times to see exactly how quickly it cooks things and then adjust cook settings/times for my taste and that was true of this one too. It only took me a few times to see how well it cooked and now I know exactly how to set this slow cooker for our family. It does take up slightly more storage space than my last slow cooker and was a little more costly, but to me it was well worth the extra money. It cooks so well that I actually use it more often than the other two crock pots I owned, so in the end I feel as though it is more economical.
Customer Review: New faithful kitchen mate (Cuisinart 4-Qt. Slow cooker)
Summary: 4 Stars
Used it twice shortly after its arrival as an early XMas present from dear wife to me. Have been on travel, so no opportunities to use more than twice. Too busy with other needs to read the cookbooks, so improvised. Food came out quite good, though learned that onions take more than three hours to get really soft, so maybe some pre-cooking of onions might be in order. Also, the slow cooking seems to emphasize the added flavor of fresh garlic and ginger, so next time around, I will add less of these ingredients.
Glad that we ordered this one and not the other brand for which users complained of ill-fitting lids and cracking crocks. This one has not suffered from either. Like the larger Cuisinart 6-qt. model, this one will keep contents boiling even when it switches to low temperature cooking, and that is the only negative aspect--otherwise I would have given it 5 stars. The retractable electric cord and carrying handles are huge pluses. Everything seems to work the way that it should. This is a quality product, and I am very pleased with it. Cuisinart CSC-400 4-Quart Slow Cooker, Brushed Stainless Steel and Black
Customer Review: Not AT ALL worth the price!
Summary: 1 Stars
Don't waste your money on this slow cooker or any other Cuisinart product as far as I'm concerned. I used this slow cooker about 5 times and didn't find that it worked any better than the cheap ones. I would have used it more, but the entire bottom of the ceramic insert cracked into a million pieces while I was cooking my dinner. Luckily I was home and a major disaster was avoided. I called the store where I bought it and was told that cuisinart would no longer take returns from them and that I would have to call the company myself. I called Cuisinart was was told that they would be happy to replace the insert for free. I stated the entire inside of the cooker had baked on black burned pork loin gravy in it and since I could not submerge the unit, I couldn't clean it. They said they would replace the whole unit if I shipped it to them and paid for the shipping there and back. That would have cost me around $60...I only paid ninety for the whole thing. That was the only solution that had for my defective slow cooker.
This will be the last item I purchase from Cuisinart. I am an avid cook and own a few of their products and I have not been inpressed with any of them! My advice...STAY AWAY FROM CUISINART!
Customer Review: Top of The Line Slow Cooker
Summary: 4 Stars
The Cuisinart CSC-400 4-Quart Slow Cooker is the best one I have tried. It does what it is designed for, and has controls and status lights that make it easy to use. I bought it for cooking pinto beans according to a recipe that require about 20 hours of slow cooking for full nutritional benefits. I like it very much, and plan to continue using it routinely.
There are two problems with very good looking cooker. (1) It lacks adequate insulation, and gets so hot at the bottom that I had to put an insulating pad on the counter beneath it. The rest of cooker gets very hot, and needs insulation on the sides. (2) The cover is very nice but does not fit snugly because of a slightly irregular surface on the crock.