Elite Cuisine 8-1/2Qt Slow Cooker

Comments about Elite Cuisine 8-1/2Qt Slow Cooker:

I use this rice cooker for several things. Soup, stew, veggies, meats, rice combos, spicy rice. I love this product because it is so versatile and you just put your ingredients in and let it go. It's so easy. The one thing that is just a bit inconvenient is it gets a bit of condensation on the counter top. Not a big deal. I love this product!

Comments about Elite Cuisine 8-1/2Qt Slow Cooker:

I use it everyday. I start soups in it, make broths in it, cook vegetables in the broth in it, make roasts in it. I searched everywhere for one this size!

Comments about Elite Cuisine 8-1/2Qt Slow Cooker:

My wife wanted a BIG crock pot for Christmas, this was one of the biggest I found, and she loves it!

Comments about Elite Cuisine 8-1/2Qt Slow Cooker:

I loved the size of the crock pot. I liked the option for the auto defrost. But I didn't like the the Low & High settings. On Low setting when my recipes call for 7-9 hours on low, this crockpot almost scorches the food!! I'm trying to find the reduced time that won't scorch it. I believe it defeats the slow cooking method!!

Comments about Elite Cuisine 8-1/2Qt Slow Cooker:

We love the size of this slow cooker, its just the right size for our family.

Comments about Elite Cuisine 8-1/2Qt Slow Cooker:

This crock pot works great. Larger crock pot has bigger heating element and requires more water to cook with out drying out. This pot also cooks faster so watch you time and switch to low when necessary. Otherwise plenty of capacity for family meals and cooks great !

Comments about Elite Cuisine 8-1/2Qt Slow Cooker:

Could use a Medium setting for more versitility.

Comments about Elite Cuisine 8-1/2Qt Slow Cooker:

I use crock pots a lot and I needed a large crock pot especially when I make my soups. This is a very nice sized crock pot and it replaced one I broke that I missed so much this one is even larger, which I love.

Comments about Elite Cuisine 8-1/2Qt Slow Cooker:

A great product, very large size, heats evenly and cleans up easily. We had been looking for a large Crock Pot and this fits the bill at a great price, highly recommended to everyone.

Comments about Elite Cuisine 8-1/2Qt Slow Cooker:

I 've had opportunity to use this extra-large slow cooker twice since I received it as a (requested) gift for Christmas, and it worked just like a slow cooker should both times.

I made my special recipe chili in it (even a 6 qt. pot is too small for my chili recipe) with room to spare!

I also made a pot roast with potatoes and carrots. I liked the oval shape of this slow cooker better, as it accomodates large cuts of meat better. Ordinarily in my smaller (5 qt.) round cooker, I have to cut the meat (usually beef chuck or shoulder roast) in two pieces to make it fit, even though it's only a 2-2.5 lb roast. This new larger oval cooker made that step unnecessary.

I also like the fact that this has a glass lid. Similar slow cookers of just average size are priced similar to this one, and some of them only come with plastic lids. That fact alone makes this larger slow cooker a bargain to me.

I keep a box of the Reynold's slow cooker liners on hand for things like pot roast, and the box says it accomodates slow cookers up to 6 quarts in size. I don't know if they just didn't bother to test them on anything larger, but they DO work in this slow cooker as well. I was able to fold the excess over the outside of the stoneware entirely, all the way around.

A word to the wise: this will not replace your smaller slow cooker if you have one. For slow cookers to work effectively, they should be filled at least halfway with food. This slow cooker is one for moderate to large recipes only.

Lastly, this does have the "auto" feature, where it begins cooking on high and then switches to low at a later time. I have never used this feature, but I can see where it can come in handy, such as needing to get a jump on the cooking time while needing to lower the temp after no one is around to flip the switch.

One more tip: there is another online-only retailer that specializes in overstock and closeouts which sells this exact same slow cooker (minus the "Elite" brand name) for DOUBLE the price. This site and the overstock website are using the exact same manufacturer photo, with veggies sitting around it in the same places and everything. This is apparently being sold by multiple different retailers, but this site has the best value!