This review is from: Cuisinart MSC-600 3-In-1 Cook Central 6-Quart Multi-Cooker: Slow Cooker, Brown/Saute, Steamer (Kitchen)
UPDATE: The cord is 44″ long. It is not retractable or detachable – it lays on the kitchen counter.
UPDATE: Yes – it is Made in China
UPDATE: No – you cannot use the insert on top of the stove nor in the oven. The insert has stay-cool handles made of hard plastic. The insert is aluminum, not ceramic, and is Teflon coated. I’ve had both type of inserts and definitely prefer the aluminum/Teflon insert – lighter weight & easier cleanup.
UPDATE: No – there is no delay timer of any sort. You cannot, for instance, set a timer to cook on high for 1 hour, then drop to low for 4 hours then drop to warm to keep the food at a safe temp. Nor can you set a delay timer to start cooking at a future time. The closest there is: you can select high, low, or simmer slow cook and set the number of hours up to 24. At the end of that time it will automatically down select to warm to stop “cooking” the food but keep it at a safe temp. Every time you open the lid, add 15-20 minutes to the recipe cooking time.
UPDATE: Slow cook temps are HIGH = 212 degrees, LOW = 200 degrees, SIMMER = 185 degrees, WARM = 165 degrees. Saute temps are: default is 350 degrees, programmable from 140 degrees to 400 degrees in 25 degree increments.
UPDATE: The entire instruction & recipe booklet is online at Cuisinart’s web site in pdf format. Search for manual “MSC-600”. I read the instructions and many of the recipes myself before I bought the unit.
UPDATE: Q: “Will this unit really “brown” meat well? (i.e., as in browning meat for a pot roast or browning beef chunks for stew?)”. A: Yes, very well. See the saute temps elsewhere in my review. It has a large sort of oval shaped saute heating element underneath the insert which provides more than adequate heat for saute. However, if you put 5 pounds of stew beef in there all at once it is hard to brown it – just like a skillet but better temp control in increments of 25 degrees. Many of the recipes tell you to brown large quantities in shifts and remove the browned items before adding more – I use a left-to-right (raw-to-brown) rotation method to do that.
UPDATE: Do not cook chicken breasts in a slow cooker – it dries out the breasts. Read the manual. UPDATE Jan 2014: Contrary to what others here have told me here, I agree with Cuisinart, put the chicken breasts in the oven, not the slow cooker – better quality and faster.
UPDATE: After 13 months, here are my current observations as of January 2014:
I have not had the problems others have had with the electric panel on the front. I have had no odd things go wrong with the electronics of this item. So far so good.
I have not had the problems others have had with being unable to turn it back on once you turn it off. I have waited a few minutes to let it cool down first then start it back up like advised and have had no problems. I mean I wait maybe two minutes not 30 minutes. Not a problem for me.
This thing takes up space – lots of counter space and storage space. Wasn’t a surprise though – I had visualized it with a tape measure and it is every bit as big as expected on the counter top for sure. But that’s how you get the 6 quart capacity. UPDATE Jan 2014: Keep your old 3.5 quart ceramic crock pot for smaller meals, this 6 quart unit is too big for cooking 2-3 quarts of food (although the manual says “at least 1/3 full” it seems too big for 2 quarts of food to me).
I am a single guy who can’t cook, doesn’t like to cook, and I love this slow cooker. Years ago I had the standard 3.5 qt round ‘crock pot’. Then branched out to the new stainless steel ones – 3 different sizes. Hated them, too hot to touch or move. Gave them all to Goodwill – including my old trusty ceramic one (sigh!). I missed my slow cooker so went on another slow cooker hunt. Decided on this one and I am very pleased with it.
I use this as a slow cooker for sure. But also use it to stir fry, saute, and sear/brown. Really like the fact that you can brown in this and immediately add the other ingredients for slow cooking. I like the depth of this to keep the grease from splattering around the kitchen as much. Even though it’s just for one I like the capacity. Once I got this and started using it I got on Amazon and also ordered the Reditainers for fridge and freezer storage along with the freezer tape. I like having the digital temp on the front for very accurate temperatures. The low heat and high heat temps seem perfect to me on the slow cooker. The super hot stainless steel things I had before were either not hot enough (low) or way too hot (high). I think Cuisinart got this right on this model. Read the manual and understand the temps for high, low, simmer and warm and what they are for (and not for). Duh – read the manual!
So far I have made tomato soup (very rich/earthy flavor), hot and sour soup (OMG!), stuffed bell peppers (8 large…
For the first time ever, I have found an electric cooking device that actually operates as advertised. My dissatisfaction with numerous crock pot/slow cookers in the past has been two-fold. First and most importantly, I could never regulate the temperature on my previous cookers according to my needs. All settings seemed to be too hot and the setting choices allowed no discretion in actually finding a real temperature (rather than high or low.) My other, less important problem with these devices was that many of my recipes had to be started on the stove top before using the crock pot setting. Now, with this Cuisinart 4-Quart Multi-Cooker, I can actually control the cooking temperatures accurately and I can do all of what previously required a stove top and an extra pot or pan right in the slow cooker, itself.
I did test the cooking temperatures before putting real food into the pot and it was very accurate. At this point in time, I have used it for browning and then slow cooking one of those famous little Costco Pork Sirloin Tip roasts. It worked beautifully. Yesterday I made white bean and ham soup without pre-soaking the beans and let it sit for awhile on “warm” after it turned itself off using the timer. Worked perfectly.
The only thing the MSC-400 does not do that would make me even happier, is to allow it to be programmed for a certain amount of time at “high” and then automatically switch to a “low “setting” to finish cooking. For some reason I thought it could be programmed that way, but it cannot. I would have purchased the cooker anyway, and I really could not be more pleased with it.
Finally, i was a little concerned about whether I should get the 4 quart or the 6 quart and ultimately went with the 4 and it is just right for my needs. I think that It is a great size for a family of three or four.
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This review is from: Cuisinart MSC-600 3-In-1 Cook Central 6-Quart Multi-Cooker: Slow Cooker, Brown/Saute, Steamer (Kitchen)
I’m a big fan of crockpots in concept, but I’ve really relegated them to things like soups and whatnot. I mean, if I was gonna have to break out the dutch oven to brown my roast, why wouldn’t I just cook it in there? In just the few weeks since I’ve had this, I’ve made pot roast, roasted a chicken, steamed artichokes, made bread pudding, and of course, made soup. (I think it’s the law, you have to make 15 bean soup or the crockpot patrol takes you away.) I even made bacon, just to see if it would work. (It did!)
I’ll admit, I lost the directions almost as soon as I unpacked it. So, some of my usage has been trial and error, but praise Flying Spaghetti Monster, I haven’t found a way to burn the house down with it. The user controls are pretty self explanatory. The outside of the container stays considerably cooler than any other similar cooker I’ve owned, which is wonderful. The quad rubber feet keep it stable and non-slippy on even slick counter-tops like marble. The interior pot cleans up easily. I have not tried to put it in a dishwasher, since non-stick surfaces and dishwashers are two things that do not go well together.
The only thing I can think that might be a problem for some people is the sheer size of this thing. It’s massive. I love that, it’s what I wanted, but if you have a tiny kitchen or limited storage, you may want to check the dimensions to make sure it fits where you will be storing it. Also make sure you keep the cardboard that wrapped around the rack, or some other soft item that can buffer the nonstick surface from the metal of the steamer rack while it’s being stored, so you don’t chip your surface. All in all, I’m pleased with this purchase, and would recommend it to anyone who needs a really large slow cooker.
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Now my primary cooking method,
UPDATE: The cord is 44″ long. It is not retractable or detachable – it lays on the kitchen counter.
UPDATE: Yes – it is Made in China
UPDATE: No – you cannot use the insert on top of the stove nor in the oven. The insert has stay-cool handles made of hard plastic. The insert is aluminum, not ceramic, and is Teflon coated. I’ve had both type of inserts and definitely prefer the aluminum/Teflon insert – lighter weight & easier cleanup.
UPDATE: No – there is no delay timer of any sort. You cannot, for instance, set a timer to cook on high for 1 hour, then drop to low for 4 hours then drop to warm to keep the food at a safe temp. Nor can you set a delay timer to start cooking at a future time. The closest there is: you can select high, low, or simmer slow cook and set the number of hours up to 24. At the end of that time it will automatically down select to warm to stop “cooking” the food but keep it at a safe temp. Every time you open the lid, add 15-20 minutes to the recipe cooking time.
UPDATE: Slow cook temps are HIGH = 212 degrees, LOW = 200 degrees, SIMMER = 185 degrees, WARM = 165 degrees. Saute temps are: default is 350 degrees, programmable from 140 degrees to 400 degrees in 25 degree increments.
UPDATE: The entire instruction & recipe booklet is online at Cuisinart’s web site in pdf format. Search for manual “MSC-600”. I read the instructions and many of the recipes myself before I bought the unit.
UPDATE: Q: “Will this unit really “brown” meat well? (i.e., as in browning meat for a pot roast or browning beef chunks for stew?)”. A: Yes, very well. See the saute temps elsewhere in my review. It has a large sort of oval shaped saute heating element underneath the insert which provides more than adequate heat for saute. However, if you put 5 pounds of stew beef in there all at once it is hard to brown it – just like a skillet but better temp control in increments of 25 degrees. Many of the recipes tell you to brown large quantities in shifts and remove the browned items before adding more – I use a left-to-right (raw-to-brown) rotation method to do that.
UPDATE: Do not cook chicken breasts in a slow cooker – it dries out the breasts. Read the manual. UPDATE Jan 2014: Contrary to what others here have told me here, I agree with Cuisinart, put the chicken breasts in the oven, not the slow cooker – better quality and faster.
UPDATE: After 13 months, here are my current observations as of January 2014:
I have not had the problems others have had with the electric panel on the front. I have had no odd things go wrong with the electronics of this item. So far so good.
I have not had the problems others have had with being unable to turn it back on once you turn it off. I have waited a few minutes to let it cool down first then start it back up like advised and have had no problems. I mean I wait maybe two minutes not 30 minutes. Not a problem for me.
This thing takes up space – lots of counter space and storage space. Wasn’t a surprise though – I had visualized it with a tape measure and it is every bit as big as expected on the counter top for sure. But that’s how you get the 6 quart capacity. UPDATE Jan 2014: Keep your old 3.5 quart ceramic crock pot for smaller meals, this 6 quart unit is too big for cooking 2-3 quarts of food (although the manual says “at least 1/3 full” it seems too big for 2 quarts of food to me).
I am a single guy who can’t cook, doesn’t like to cook, and I love this slow cooker. Years ago I had the standard 3.5 qt round ‘crock pot’. Then branched out to the new stainless steel ones – 3 different sizes. Hated them, too hot to touch or move. Gave them all to Goodwill – including my old trusty ceramic one (sigh!). I missed my slow cooker so went on another slow cooker hunt. Decided on this one and I am very pleased with it.
I use this as a slow cooker for sure. But also use it to stir fry, saute, and sear/brown. Really like the fact that you can brown in this and immediately add the other ingredients for slow cooking. I like the depth of this to keep the grease from splattering around the kitchen as much. Even though it’s just for one I like the capacity. Once I got this and started using it I got on Amazon and also ordered the Reditainers for fridge and freezer storage along with the freezer tape. I like having the digital temp on the front for very accurate temperatures. The low heat and high heat temps seem perfect to me on the slow cooker. The super hot stainless steel things I had before were either not hot enough (low) or way too hot (high). I think Cuisinart got this right on this model. Read the manual and understand the temps for high, low, simmer and warm and what they are for (and not for). Duh – read the manual!
So far I have made tomato soup (very rich/earthy flavor), hot and sour soup (OMG!), stuffed bell peppers (8 large…
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|After All These Years,
I did test the cooking temperatures before putting real food into the pot and it was very accurate. At this point in time, I have used it for browning and then slow cooking one of those famous little Costco Pork Sirloin Tip roasts. It worked beautifully. Yesterday I made white bean and ham soup without pre-soaking the beans and let it sit for awhile on “warm” after it turned itself off using the timer. Worked perfectly.
The only thing the MSC-400 does not do that would make me even happier, is to allow it to be programmed for a certain amount of time at “high” and then automatically switch to a “low “setting” to finish cooking. For some reason I thought it could be programmed that way, but it cannot. I would have purchased the cooker anyway, and I really could not be more pleased with it.
Finally, i was a little concerned about whether I should get the 4 quart or the 6 quart and ultimately went with the 4 and it is just right for my needs. I think that It is a great size for a family of three or four.
0
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|How do I love thee…let me saute the ways,
I’ll admit, I lost the directions almost as soon as I unpacked it. So, some of my usage has been trial and error, but praise Flying Spaghetti Monster, I haven’t found a way to burn the house down with it. The user controls are pretty self explanatory. The outside of the container stays considerably cooler than any other similar cooker I’ve owned, which is wonderful. The quad rubber feet keep it stable and non-slippy on even slick counter-tops like marble. The interior pot cleans up easily. I have not tried to put it in a dishwasher, since non-stick surfaces and dishwashers are two things that do not go well together.
The only thing I can think that might be a problem for some people is the sheer size of this thing. It’s massive. I love that, it’s what I wanted, but if you have a tiny kitchen or limited storage, you may want to check the dimensions to make sure it fits where you will be storing it. Also make sure you keep the cardboard that wrapped around the rack, or some other soft item that can buffer the nonstick surface from the metal of the steamer rack while it’s being stored, so you don’t chip your surface. All in all, I’m pleased with this purchase, and would recommend it to anyone who needs a really large slow cooker.
0
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