Hamilton Beach 33967 Set 'n Forget 6-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Hamilton Beach 33967 Set 'n Forget 6-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker
Customer Review: Love it!
Summary: 5 Stars
The Hamilton Beach Set 'n Forget 6 Quart Programmable Slow Cooker is wonderful! I have used old crock pots for years but wanted one that kept food warm without overcooking my food. This slow cooker is that and so much more! I have used the probe for a whole chicken and I put the probe into the deep thigh and cooked it to 180 degrees. I seasoned the chicken with some paprika and a little pepper all over and let it cook. The probe setting will cook it to your desired temp. and then switch over to warm, so it won't overcook. I got the most delicious, moist chicken I have ever tasted and my family loved it! The meat was off the bone, mouth-watering good.
I have cooked 1 lb of pinto beans in it. I soaked the beans overnight in a large bowl of water, drained the water into the sink and put the beans in the cooker. I then added fresh water to about 3/4 of the way up to the top, added two pieces of turkey bacon, (pork bacon if you use that), about a tablespoon of red chili powder and dashes of salt and pepper to taste and let them cook of high for 10 hours. I live at high altitude so lower altitudes need less cooking time for beans, but anyway, the beans were fabulous.
I also have cooked stew so many times and my family keeps wanting more of it. I just dump about a lb. of stew meat into the cooker, add water, again about 3/4 the way up and add a sliced up large onion, a small bag of baby carrots, (not cut up), about four large celery stalks, sliced into about 1/2 to 1 inch pieces, add about a half cup of ketchup, more if you like the tomato taste. I peel 4 medium to 5 medium size potatoes and then cut them into about one and a half inch cubes, not too small or they will cook too much and dissolve, or too big as they won't be cooked, but roughly one and one half inch cubes. It doesn't have to be precise, just use the rule: Too small-mush, too big-raw. Dump the potatoes into the cooker and add salt and pepper to taste. Everyone has different tastes on that so just use more if you like it, less if you don't. Cook on low for 8 hours. I just leave it alone and come back at the end of the 8 hours and it so good! We love the juice, to break up crackers in it. So easy! I love this thing!
I like that you can seal the pot up for travel and not worry about it spilling over. I like the digital feature but it took me awhile to push the right buttons. It wants it done a certain way or you've got to start over. I do make sure it is cooking right before I go, as I have read some reviews about it not being turned on when they come home, so I make sure it is on and cooking before I leave. I like that it will keep your food warm and not overcook it. It won't let your food get cold either, so that is a huge benefit for me. I do understand people's gripe about the handles having the the metal holders (that seal the lid) get in the way. I have learned to deal with it and it isn't a bother anymore. I am just glad it has handles so I don't have to touch a hot pot and the lid has a handle which I can pick up and it not burn me. A big plus from those old pots.
It is very easy to clean and I think the cooker is so nice looking, I just keep it out on my counter. It is silver and black and looks great. It isn't one of those things you have to be ashamed of owning but you will want to show it off! The silver does show prints sometimes but are pretty easy to keep wiped off.
I do wish it had a bigger probe. It isn't big enough to reach down to any small pieces of meat like a chicken breast, through the hole in the lid, so I put the probe into the meat via under the lid. It works for me, but I don't know if you can do this or not, since the directions are so brief. I just know I do it and it works, but a longer probe would be a wonderful thing. In all, one great cooker!
Customer Review: Welcome to the "Digital Age"
Summary: 4 Stars
Right now, I've used it twice; so we're in the 'shake-down cruise stage' of getting to know each other and not yet at the point to see if some of the other product reviewers are accurate about when it stops working. Other than that, I've very happy with its appearance, design and features. This is my 4th crockpot/slow cooker in some 30 years; the first a Regal Mardi Gras Pot O' Plenty (which I quickly got rid of because it never 'slow cooked'); my trusty, reliable Rival 5 qt. Crock Pot (we did a lot of fine cookin' together, then a Rival 3.5 qt. Crock Pot (to accommodate RV living and smaller space to stow an appliance and less fridge-freezer space for left-overs). Well, the 3.5 kept over-flowing and so it was time to re-invent the wheel. I'm not disappointed with my decision to up-grade to 6 qts; although I 'thought' the model I selected had a 'hinged lid' which would have been a convenience given space limitations. It doesn't. The other thing is the removable insert. It doesn't look very 'clay or crock-like' and is black; yes, matching its steel-gray exterior. My concern is -- and I hope I'm wrong -- that while made in Taiwan, the paint or whatever is used to create the black color, isn't something we're going to read about as a health hazard some day. About the unit itself; I've made two items; a brisket using the thermal probe and the other, German Short Ribs experimenting with 'programming'. The brisket turned to its pre-set internal temperature in about 4 hours or less and held at "warm" approximately another 8 hours until it was time for dinner. The meat was this side of rare and a real disappointment. One of two things may have happened: (1) the slab of brisket was too thin to work with a thermal probe or 2) the probe doesn't work properly. Regardless, I'll continue to experiment and we'll soon learn which is which. The thin metal construction of the probe itself and its 'wire connection' to the appliance, is kind-of 'thin and flimsy' compared to the thermal probe with my mid-1980's JC Penny's combo microwave-convection oven. The second item prepared was my favorite German Short Ribs and they were dee-licious! The recipe suggested 6-8 hours and while I violated the basic rule of slow cooking -- fill no more than 1/2-2/3 to the top with some 5 lbs of beef short ribs -- I set it for 7 hours and then, it held nicely at "warm" the few hours later at dinner time. And here's my biggest gripe: "When was the last time you purchased a product without an accessory guide?" Well, this will be the one. The Rival 5 qt or the 3.5 had a little booklet for convenient inserts, like a "meat rack" to keep things off the base and from sitting in the juices or a carrying case or a dust cover and those things just isn't available with the Hamilton Beach. So, I've got to find an appropriate trivet and something to keep the campground dust off it when on an open shelf. But good news and bad news: The 'good news' is that sent an e-mail to customer service inquiring about an accessory guide and they responded faster than a microwave cooks fish and said they'd mail one to me. The 'bad news' is that when it arrived, it wasn't an accessory guide, rather a photocopy off the Internet of some of the recipes for it. Wellll...another e-mail exchange and I learned they simply don't have an accessory guide. Come-on Hamilton Beach -- let's get some business savvy here. It would have received a preliminary "5 Stars" but for the issue with the thermal probe, that it didn't have the 'hinged lid' I though was the items I 'clicked-on' and NO accessory guide. Kudos, however, to the quick response by Customer Service at Hamilton Beach!Customer Review: Works Fine and lasts a long time (we hope)
Summary: 5 Stars
Other reviewers have mentioned all of the positive attributes of the "Set & Forget, by Hamilton Beach. So I won't write another manual on how to operate it.
I must say it cooks a lot faster than my old crock pot. I've only used it twice, once on a pork roast and once on chicken breasts. Each time I cooked about 5 pounds of meat and it was done in under 5 hours using the temperature probe and low heat setting. The pork roast finished in exactly 4 hours and the chicken took 4.5 hours.
One interesting tidbit is that the USDA says poultry should cook until it is 165 degrees F. but the directions that come with this cooker says 180 F when using the temperature probe. I cooked the chicken to 170 F and saw no pink left in the middle of the breasts. I thaw them in the refrigerator, trim them and rinse. I put them in whole and coat with BBQ sauce. Set and forget. Later they are tender and seem done to me. They came out as good as what I used to produce in 7 hours cooking in the older pot. I really hate white chicken meat when it dries out.
On my old 4.5 quart slow cooker, I had no temperature probe, never used a thermometer and saw pink at times. Never got sick. Maybe I was lucky. I always cooked them for 7 hours on low and I had it loaded! Most of the recipes called for 7 hours, but were not intended for 5 to 6 pounds of meat. Lucky me. -:)
I never thought much about it until the last time I tried to use the old cooker it seemed to be taking forever to heat up. I checked out this old one using 2 quarts of water at 90 degrees, on low for two hours. It only got to 140 degrees, which is too low. Should be 165 to be safe.
I don't know why but I used 3 quarts of water on the "Set & Forget" before I cooked in it. I started at 92 degrees on low and in 2 hours it was up to 154 degrees. If it had been 2 quarts of water, I suspect the temperature would have been well above the 165 degrees we were looking for.
Part of the reason I bought this slow cooker is because of the digital readout and temperature probe. I hate to say it is impossible to burn your food. (someone will figure a way) But using the probe and of course with a little liquid in the pot, it appears that one would have to try, unless their unit is defective.
THE MAIN REASON I purchased this slow cooker is because it seemed to have more 5 star reviews than any other slow cooker I could find on the Internet.
Programming is very easy. Just RTFM, (read the fine manual). Hey, I'm a guy, but I read manuals. -:)
I can see how using this cooker could be a problem for people who work and have to leave if they have power outages. Even just short ones. Yes, it will loose it's memory and shut off. That is in the design. So far the companies (apparently) do not see the need to produce a more expensive product with a battery back-up memory / timer. So if you have power problems, then go with a less expensive cooker that will come right back on when the power comes back. This is the only problem I see with the "Set & Forget".
If you stay you can always just re-program it when the power comes back on. That is normally my case. But at least you don't have to baby sit slow cookers. Set & Forget.... Nice name...
Customer Review: Good, but be careful!
Summary: 4 Stars
In the past I've had issues with slow cookers running too hot so I decided to test my new HB cooker. I filled the 6 qt unit with 5 qt water and set the unit on WARM for 4 hours, then tested the water temp - 170 degrees. 4 hours later at LOW - temp was 170 degrees, 4 hours later at HIGH - temp was 210 degrees. I guess this is OK. I emailed the mfr for the design temps but received no resopnse.
The rubber feet on the unit did a good job of keeping the unit from sliding around on my granite counter. I've had slow cookers you had to stir with one hand while holding it in place with the other.
I really appreciate the plastic handle on the glass lid. It's so nice to pick up the lid without burning my fingers if I forget to use a potholder!
The WARM setting is very useful - possibly more useful than one might initially imagine.
The "manual" for this appliance includes English, French, and Spanish versions. This is probably why there wasn't any room left for many recipes. We are referred to the company's website but again there weren't many for the slow cooker. I would think after all the years Hamilton Beach has been manufacturing slow cookers they would have accumulated more than they display.
The electronic control panel is typically a modern day blessing/curse. Instead of a simple knob one can turn to a setting, one must push buttons in a specific sequence in order to get the cooker to work. Vary the sequence or skip oe of the steps and you're SOL. The tricky thing about this is sometimes the unit tells you when you screwed up and sometimes it doesn't, thereby enabling you to leave the house expecting the slow cooker to do its job only to return several hours later expecting to find a hot meal waiting for you, only to discover the unit didn't like the way you pushed its buttons so it turned itself off. Don't laugh - this happened to me and it wasn't the least bit funny. If someone uses their slow cooker infrequently, it would be easy to make a mistake while setting the unit. A frequent user will quickly get the hang of it and should be able to avoid any inconvenience - provided they pay attention to what they're doing.
Another problem with the programable feature is if your electricity is interrupted for more than 5 seconds the unit loses its settings and turns itself off. Then the unit sits there waiting for you, probably while growing salmonella. I can't help but recall all the times I've come home to find all the clocks on my electronic equipment flashing because the power went off for a few minutes.
While the programable feature is irritating and problematic, the most dangerous feature on the slow cooker is the stainless steel clip system used to lock the lid in place during transit. For some ridiculous reason, the clips cannot be moved out of the area between the crock and the handle on the base. Attempting to lift the hot crock out of the base while not getting your potholders tangled in the wire clip is nearly impossible, making this an extremely dangerous thing to attempt. I don't think Hamilton Beach would have gone bankrupt if they had made the handles another 1/4" or so longer so the clips could safely drop out of the way.
Customer Review: So far so good ....
Summary: 4 Stars
We purchased this item from Amazon (free shipping) for $49.99 before Christmas as a gift to my daughter. Later, we saw the same unit in Walmart for $39.99 and I bought one for myself to replace an old Rival which didn't come with all these features, and did not have a good, secure lid. This purchase was made after a good deal research which included West Bend Versatile 6 qt (bought last Xmas from Amazon for another daughter who has had very good success with it but the price increased this year), and Rival. The programmable feature and the type of lid plus consumer reports convinced me to try this model. So far I have used the pot to make Baked Potato Soup (which turned out Fantastic!), Pot Roast (another winner), and Pork Loin Roast (this was okay but it may have due to the type of recipe - the meat itself was tender but I think less expensive cuts do better in a slow cooker). So far so good - my big worry was it shutting off after initial use, but we have had no problems. Compared to my old cooker, it produces a much more moist, juicier piece of meat, and the soup had excellent flavor and texture. I attribute this to the tight fitting lid - it is amazing. My old lid allowed a lot of steam to escape and sometimes would produce a drier piece of meat. My daughter has not had the same kind of luck with hers - not sure why she is unhappy. She thinks it could be the type of recipes she is trying. But it's not the quality of the cooker that is the problem yet.
I have to concur I was rather shocked to see the price on this unit. My other daughter was remarking she would like to try a slow cooker and I knew what a great deal Amazon did have this site. At first, I thought the pricing was a typo or that they had radically changed the unit - but no! So buyer beware! Same pot, same features, HIGHLY inflated price. I supppose you could blame AMAZON but, if you do your homework, you would know this price is out of whack. We have been doing business with AMAZON for years - and this is the one website I would prefer to use to make any purchase but especially large ones. Their prices are competitive, and they are very customer service oriented.
One thing I do have to share about the cooker - after making my pork loin roast, the black crock had some sort of residue or blemish that remained after numerous attempts to scrub. It is not horrible (and my brown colored Rival crock has similar markings but it is 30 years old) so this may be indigenous to crocks in general.
Since I have not tried the probe yet, I rated this 4 stars with good probability of 5 stars overall.