West Bend Slow Cooker – A Well Designed Addition to any Kitchen
Written: Apr 09 '01
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Pros: Easy to prepare food and especially easy clean up.
Cons: No "off" setting.
The Bottom Line: Slow Cooker methods of cooking are simple and easy and now West Bend has made clean up just as easy.
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| colleenmf's Full Review: West Bend 84194 Slow Cooker |
Can I assume that everyone knows what a slow cooker is? That you can prepare full meals or simple dishes, place the ingredients in a slow cooker, leave it on all day, and have hot delicious food ready to eat several hours later? Good, now that we have the assumptions out of the way I’d like to explain why this West Bend slow cooker is different, unique, and special.
First, the West Bend slow cooker has a removable pot. This means that I can clean the pot without worrying about getting the electronic heating elements wet. I can even put the pot and the lid in the dishwasher for a very thorough cleaning. The heating base never comes in contact with the food. The pot may also be used on the stovetop on medium or low heat and may be used in the oven at 350 degrees F or below (about 175 degrees C). I have browned ground beef in the pot on the stove before assembling the entire recipe to be cooked.
Second, the lid is made of clear glass. I can see how the cooking is progressing without removing the lid.
Third, the interior is made of non-stick material. Cleanup is even simpler because of that. No scrubbing baked on food particles, no elbow grease needed to clean the pot. Just wash with warm soapy water and I’m done. (Unless I want to run it through the dishwasher.)
Fourth, The pot and heating base have a stain resistant porcelain exterior. I usually get all spills off with a damp cloth. If something has hardened, I may gently use a plastic scrubby but I’ve never had to work hard or use abrasives.
Fifth, there are five different heat settings. Actually there are infinite heat setting between the ranges of one and five as the dial has continuous adjustment and not discrete settings. Unfortunately, there is no “OFF”. I must unplug the unit in order to turn the cooker off. Although most cooking is done at a setting between 2 and 3, setting 1 is great for keeping food warm until serving time. Setting 5 is good for heating the juices from a roast in order to make gravy (once the roast has been removed from the pot). Making the gravy right in the slow cooker saves me from having another pot to clean.
The slow cooker comes with a little booklet explaining the use and care of the slow cooker, how to modify your own recipes from traditional cooking methods, and even includes about 50 recipes created especially for slow cookers. (I just love the recipes for making stew and roasts using beer.)
Another handy thing about this slow cooker is that you can prepare the recipe in the evening, place all ingredients in the pot, and place the covered pot in the refrigerator until the next morning. Then just set it on the base unit, plug it in, adjust the heat setting and dinner will be ready about 9 hours later. Since the 4-quart pot can be removed from the base unit it can easily fit in the refrigerator. It’s no larger than many casserole dishes.
I use my slow cooker mostly in the colder months to make soup, stew, roast, sauces, and gravy. It is an easy and simple way to cook and with this West Bend model, clean up is cinch.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): gift
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Epinions.com ID:
colleenmf
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Member: Colleen Farley
Location: Lubbock, TX
Reviews written: 146
Trusted by: 147 members
About Me:
Happily married, mostly retired, and addicted to the internet.
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