Fighting For Slow Cooker: The Samurai Way
The Test Kitchen's Guide to Buying a Slow Cooker
Today's slow cookers come in a vast variety of sizes with a great deal of different features. Which
ones are worth the investment?
A slow cooker promises to be a little dream grandma who sits in the kitchen all day
Cooking for you, but use the wrong cooker and that fantasy could fizzle. A cooker might
Run hotter than expected, drying the food
out or turning it mushy, or slower than you
Want, so dinner is not ready when you're. Then there can be problems with hot spots,
That make food cook unevenly. And what if operating your system is so perplexing
That you have to pore over the manual each time you use it?
For the Perfect machine that would deliver a properly cooked meal and be absolutely
Lids were a must, as they permit you to see progress without losing heat. So were ovalshaped
Crocks, as these can accommodate large roasts and provide more versatility than
round crocks. With these criteria in
Mind, we piled up eight models priced from $39.99 to $148.71.
We analyzed these eight slow cookers, preparing Various recipes using both low and
High temperature settings and diverse cooking times.
Map heating patterns, and a panel of testers assessed how simple the cookers were to
We also dismantled some of the cookers to understand the placement
And type of heating elements they included.
The KitchenAid 6-Quart Slow Cooker With Good Glass Lid ($99.99), our former winner,
Handled every recipe with perfect results, albeit a bit slowly. Its thick stoneware crock,
Insulated housing, built-in thermal sensor, and crystal-clear controls place a well-thoughtout
Design at your service--and at a reasonable price.
Central ($148.71) is also a solid choice. It provides the advantages of a light, unbreakable
Metal crock with stay-cool plastic handles, as well as a brown-and-sear function that lets
You skip using a separate skillet before slow-cooking in recipes that call for it.
More About Our Testing Team
Table of 25 or so staffers silently concentrating on tasting a dozen varieties of olive oil,
Peanut butter, or soy sauce. If you continue to the main test kitchen, you might find, say,
Eight slow cookers, each hooked up to a separate thermometer, all which is
Connected to a computer so we can gauge how evenly they maintain a fever
Dropping one mobile grill after another onto the sidewalk from a specified height to
see how well they will stand up to abuse.
Testing Slow Cookers
It's all in a day's work for our Tastings and Testings team. And if you think the test
Cooks here at America's Test Kitchen are obsessive in their pursuit for the best--and
You are quite right, they're--you should spend some time with this team. The lengths
They go to in order to be sure that their evaluations are accurate, comprehensive, and
Conducted on a level playing field are sufficient to make the rest of us look relaxed.
There are strict written protocols for selecting the items to be analyzed, for conducting the
Tests themselves, and for evaluating them. You will find detailed instructions for tasters.
And if there is ever a question, our staff will go back and run the tests again, just to be
sure.
But even when that rigorous (and at times seemingly endless) procedure is over, their
Work is truly just beginning. Because it is not enough to say which product or piece of
Equipment came out on top--we need to know why. Sometimes it appears random to the
Rest of us, but these people do not believe in that word, so they keep digging and analyzing,
Consulting experts all over the world and sending samples to labs for analysis, until they
Locate the keys to the specific puzzle. It might be the number of bevels on a serrated
Knife (spoiler: fewer is actually better) or the processing system used in making a
Particular soy sauce, but there'll be a reason. Once they find it, we can love
Even more clearly how strong a base our tastings and testings rest on.
This holds true even for the smallest kitchen tools--the testing procedure has been just
As disciplined, extensive, and intensive, because this group has never heard of cutting
corners.
Today's slow cookers come in a vast variety of sizes with a great deal of different features. Which
ones are worth the investment?
A slow cooker promises to be a little dream grandma who sits in the kitchen all day
Cooking for you, but use the wrong cooker and that fantasy could fizzle. A cooker might
Run hotter than expected, drying the food
Want, so dinner is not ready when you're. Then there can be problems with hot spots,
That make food cook unevenly. And what if operating your system is so perplexing
That you have to pore over the manual each time you use it?
For the Perfect machine that would deliver a properly cooked meal and be absolutely
Lids were a must, as they permit you to see progress without losing heat. So were ovalshaped
Crocks, as these can accommodate large roasts and provide more versatility than
round crocks. With these criteria in
Mind, we piled up eight models priced from $39.99 to $148.71.
We analyzed these eight slow cookers, preparing Various recipes using both low and
High temperature settings and diverse cooking times.
Map heating patterns, and a panel of testers assessed how simple the cookers were to
We also dismantled some of the cookers to understand the placement
And type of heating elements they included.
The KitchenAid 6-Quart Slow Cooker With Good Glass Lid ($99.99), our former winner,
Handled every recipe with perfect results, albeit a bit slowly. Its thick stoneware crock,
Insulated housing, built-in thermal sensor, and crystal-clear controls place a well-thoughtout
Design at your service--and at a reasonable price.
Central ($148.71) is also a solid choice. It provides the advantages of a light, unbreakable
Metal crock with stay-cool plastic handles, as well as a brown-and-sear function that lets
You skip using a separate skillet before slow-cooking in recipes that call for it.
More About Our Testing Team
Table of 25 or so staffers silently concentrating on tasting a dozen varieties of olive oil,
Peanut butter, or soy sauce. If you continue to the main test kitchen, you might find, say,
Eight slow cookers, each hooked up to a separate thermometer, all which is
Connected to a computer so we can gauge how evenly they maintain a fever
Dropping one mobile grill after another onto the sidewalk from a specified height to
see how well they will stand up to abuse.
Testing Slow Cookers
It's all in a day's work for our Tastings and Testings team. And if you think the test
Cooks here at America's Test Kitchen are obsessive in their pursuit for the best--and
You are quite right, they're--you should spend some time with this team. The lengths
They go to in order to be sure that their evaluations are accurate, comprehensive, and
Conducted on a level playing field are sufficient to make the rest of us look relaxed.
There are strict written protocols for selecting the items to be analyzed, for conducting the
Tests themselves, and for evaluating them. You will find detailed instructions for tasters.
And if there is ever a question, our staff will go back and run the tests again, just to be
sure.
But even when that rigorous (and at times seemingly endless) procedure is over, their
Work is truly just beginning. Because it is not enough to say which product or piece of
Equipment came out on top--we need to know why. Sometimes it appears random to the
Rest of us, but these people do not believe in that word, so they keep digging and analyzing,
Consulting experts all over the world and sending samples to labs for analysis, until they
Locate the keys to the specific puzzle. It might be the number of bevels on a serrated
Knife (spoiler: fewer is actually better) or the processing system used in making a
Particular soy sauce, but there'll be a reason. Once they find it, we can love
Even more clearly how strong a base our tastings and testings rest on.
This holds true even for the smallest kitchen tools--the testing procedure has been just
As disciplined, extensive, and intensive, because this group has never heard of cutting
corners.
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