Cuisinart PSC-650 Silver 6.5 Qt. 6.5-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker

Pros: First one came with lower than expected build quality. Newegg replaced super easy! Second one is cooking Chili right now. Good reviews on this one so we went for it. Seems to be a quality product. Newegg A+ Service.

Cons: with the digital timer, if the power goes out you're stuck. not much to do about that.

Pros: We wanted a large oval slow cooker that could be programmed to cook for different times, and after a lot of research, this one looks to be the best of the bunch. You can program it to cook for up to 24 hours in 30 minute increments, and it has 3 heat settings to chose from (hi, lo and simmer). When the programmed time is up, it switches to warm so if you're not home in time, the food won't be so overcooked. There are other slow cookers with these features, but they all had more complaints about overheating, programmable parts melting or burning out, or food over or under cooking. We've not run into ANY of these problems with this cooker. My theory (and I could be WAY off base) is that because this cooker body is square, the electronics are a little farther away from the inside crock and so insulated at least a bit from the intense heat. Simmer is our favorite setting, because 185 degrees is recommended in one of our cookbooks, and lo slow cooking really brings out the flavor.

Cons: NONE of the programmable slow cookers will let you switch from hi to low after a certain cooking time, for example, or hi to simmer. Not really sure if this is a matter of expense or just trying to keep the programming simple, but some company should jump on this. If the power goes out briefly your programmable slow cooker won't turn back on. Worth it to get the extra features tho. The lid knob and the handles on the sides are chrome plated plastic. They look and feel a little cheap, and it's the parts I think are most likely to peel, chip or break. Still not worth taking off a star, because overall better than the competition. It's not a con for us, it's what we want, but this thing is BIG. We want to be able to cook a whole chicken or roast in this thing, and have smaller cookers for other recipes. I wouldn't get this as my one and only slow cooker, and you might have problems if you try to cook smaller recipes with not much liquid in this thing.

Overall Review: I saw some folks complain that no cookers had a delayed start time. While this might be nice for non refrigerated things, most meals have ingredients that need to reach temps of 125 then 160 within a certain time frame to avoid food poisoning. If you're not sure if your slow cooker cooked your food properly, or if the power went out and you're not sure exactly when, throw that food out!