Hamilton Beach 33966 6-Quart Slow Cooker

Pros: Multiple cooking settings, easy instructions and the Meat Probe.
Cons: Lid doesn't fit tightly and I had to say "Meat Probe" ...eewwwwwww......

My wife’s 3 qt Rival slow cooker is disappointing. It burns food and doesn’t hold as much as we would like it to (we’re big food freezers) so for Christmas this year she asked for a new one. Enter the HAMILTON BEACH SET ...

Pros: Programmable, auto switches to keep warm, meat probe
Cons: Sensitive to fluctuations in electricity

Tuesday nights are often slow cooker nights at our house. We have Scouts that night and by the time my wife and I get home from work we have just enough time to eat before leaving...if the meal is already completely done. Otherwise, the kids are eating ...

Pros: programmable setting, it's easy to use, easy to clean and cooks to perfection!
Cons: NONE!

I purchased this crock pot after several hours of research, reading reviews and looking at it in the store.  I needed a new one that was larger than my old round 5 qt. slow cooker.  I have used this crock pot 35 times and have not one ...

Pros: Versatile cooking modes, great price
Cons: none

This past year I went back to school and found myself insanely busy. Four days a week I'd have an 8-3 workday, and then classes from 4:30-7. Simply put, not much time to cook unless I wanted to let my husband do it all (read: note happening). I knew a ...

Pros: Size and shape are both good. Pot lifts out for ease of cleaning and storage.
Cons: Bottom of crockpot developed severe crack after less than a year.

I liked the size and shape of this crockpot, plus the locking handles which made it safe to transport food in it. The glass lid is useful to allow checking of contents without lifting lid and risking lowering the temperature. I found the electronic ...

Pros: Goes to warm after cooking, multiple time settings and a great PROBE!! I LOVE it!
Cons: Turns itself off after 14 hours, 16-18 would be better.

I was going to buy a unit that switched to warm after cooking from Wal-Mart but came home and found it had horrible reviews, so I looked to see which units had good reviews and found this one - not only does it go to warm after cooking, it has a probe! ...

Pros: Easy to follow buttons
Cons: If you do not like electronics - stick to the regular pots

I love this croc pot! I do not have to think when I use it! I plug it in and set it and go! It is big enough to feed our family of 6 with left over’s. I am cautious about meat being cooked all the way after getting sick once. So I like the thermometer ...

Pros: Would assume features, but never made it long enough to try them out!
Cons: Really a less that 5-quart (for cooking purposes...measured by liquid) slow cooker.

I used these reviews at Epinions.com to consider this purchase. I was sure that this was the one for me! I have an old Rival that has served me well for 15 years. As my family has grown, I am now in the market for a larger size slow ...

Pros: Easy to operate, accurate temperature, automatic switch to warm on both timer and probe.
Cons: Insert may be a little heavy for some, size may not be for everyone

I have had other slow cookers, that weren't slow cooking, and decided it was time to try something else. I have other items by this company and since they work well figured I'd try this one out, especially with the probe. I've never had one with a timer so I think that's a great feature, and the probe takes the guess work out of cooking a roast. When you reach the correct internal temp. it switches over to warm and you have no worries. So far there isn't anything I don't like about my slow cooker.

Pros:

Having it switch to warm when finished cooking.

Cons: None

After about three months, the timer stopped working correctly. It was supposed to cook the amount of time you requested, and then switch to warm. My cooker cooked the correct time, but then switched off. I contacted Hamilton Beach and received a replacement with no problem. Their service people were very nice to speak with and handled the problem quickly.

Pros: We love the unit when it works. 
Cons: Unit will not turn on. We would not buy another one.

Hamilton Beach Programmable Slow Cooker Model 33967 does not turn on.We can't get the unit to turn on. It has always given us a problem in that respect. Sometimes we can mess with the buttons and it will suddenly come on but, not this last time. When we do get it on it works great. We bought the product because of the lid. We like the way it fastens down for traveling. 

Pros: Probe is a great feature. Lid seals well.
Cons: Flimsy. Uneven heating. Loud.

Disappointing product. Very poor build quality. The unit is made from thin metal that dents easily on the sides. It also heats unevenly; a problem I have NEVER had in a slow cooker.

An additional small annoyance: the unit makes a sound that is remarkably similar to a smoke alarm when you change settings and cooking is done. VERY nerve racking!

Pros: Temp Probe prevents overcooking or burning food.
Cons: Timer is defective on mine.

I purchased this slow cooker about two months ago. Previously, I had a Rival Slow Cooker that used to burn the food (found out through reviews of that product that mine was a common complaint). This slow cooker attracted me because it had a programmable timer, and the option to use the temp probe to avoid overcooking the meat. Using this model with the temp probe has gone really well and I have no complaints about that. The problem occurs when using the timer function. Instead of switching to warm when the programmed time is reached, the slow cooker instead switches off. Then when I get back home, the food is cold and not safe to eat. I know that after 14 hours, it is supposed to shut off, but I am only gone for no more than 9 hours. Hamilton Beach is supposed to send me a replacement soon, so we'll see how fast their turnaround is and whether or not the new model has the same issues.

Pros: Good capacity.
Attractive looking.
Cons: Lid doesn't seal enough to retain moisture so everything dries out as it cooks.

I bought this based on its review at Consumer Reports and I've been hating it ever since.  While it looks nice and does have multiple functions it is missing the most important feature a slow cooker must have, A TIGHTLY FITTED LID!  Dork that I am it took me probably 20 dry, tough unpleasantly overcooked dinners to realize what the problem was.  Now I bed the lid down on wet strips of paper towel and plug up the meat probe hole and it retains enough moisture to make decent food, but seriously, I shouldn't have to do that.

Also, when using the meat probe to determine cooking length it seems to cook on high heat until it reaches the official cooked temperature and then switches to warm but sometimes you need things to cook slower than that and so the probe feature becomes basically useless.