slow cooker

nullyfy

  My son and I talked about this just last night. He is the cook for all his roommates plus a few who will throw 5 bucks in, at their apt on campus.

  He uses his slow cooker a lot. He has just read up lately because he is looking to buy another.

His thoughts are, if you are going to be present while cooking, the manual thermostat is probably the best choice. He mentioned that alot of the feedback on the programmable one was that they were not that accurate. He hasn't had any problems.

He is going with the programmable again. He preps the meal in the morning, sets it, and then leaves for classes. He says he can program it to switch temp while cooking and automatically switch to the warming feature when done.

   He also mentioned that we was not aware that the recovery time when removing the top was so long. 30 min. each time it is lifted even when the product is at the highest temp.

If I remember anything else I'll post.

HTH's

he now has a Rival(I think) and he is going with a Hamilton Beach.

pan

As far as size, I wouldn't bother with a smaller one.  Even if I am just cooking for two, I really like to have leftovers.  Most of the meals I do in my slow cooker freeze great and are nice to have on hand for the nights you don't have time to cook.  

nullifygirls,

I use a Deni 6.5 qt Electric Pressure Cooker that also does slow cooking. This is my first pressure cooker, however I purchased it for the slow cooker ability. The advantage is that you can sear your meat, and saute your vegetables in the pot without having to dirty and pans prior to slow cooking. 

I agree with panini, and Jellly. I would highly recommend a larger one.  Even when I  happen to cook for just the two of us I use the large one. The only time I use a small one is to make overnight steel-cut oatmeal. 

Good luck with your shopping. Have a great day.