This review is from: Cuisinart PSC-350 3-1/2-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker (Kitchen)
I am working on a slow cooker cookbook and I have 10 slow cookers. This is my favorite slow cooker of all of the ones I own because of the elusive third cooking temperature choice – simmer. New slow cookers cook about twice as hot as the old ones. So if you are cooking a recipe from an old cookbook it will most likely burn on low in any new slow cooker. The simmer setting on this slow cooker mimics the old low and that alone id amazing.
For the people who think it is not programmable any slow cooker that says it’s programmable will mean it’s switching to a warm setting after the amount of time you enter in. If it waited that 4 hours before starting you could get food poisoning, so you won’t be seeing that as a feature anytime soon. But be aware that changing to warm can save your food if you come home late, so it’s still a great function.
The 3 1/2 quart size is perfect for 2 or 3 people. If you are looking for a larger family you may want to get the 4 or 6 quart one.
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This review is from: Cuisinart PSC-350 3-1/2-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker (Kitchen)
This cooker has a digital timer that you can set to cook at your chosen setting (Simmer, Low, High) for any time up to 24 hours. At the end of the set cooking time, it automatically switches to Warm, and then switches itself off after another eight hours. IMO, a truly “Programmable” cooker would change heat settings during cooking, and perhaps have a delayed start function; this unit does neither.
On the other hand, the Simmer setting is what’s missing from some other slow cookers, and perhaps that’s why foods get burned. This cooker heats to 185°F on Simmer, 200°F on Low, 212°F on High, and 165°F on Warm. Some cook books, including Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook, assume that Low is 180°. 180°F is the oven temperature I’ve always used for slow cooking a leg of lamb, London broil, and other roasts, so the lower Simmer setting is something I appreciate.
The stainless steel housing, glass lid, control panel, and ceramic pot are all nicely constructed and finished – nothing’s cheap-looking or flimsy – and looks like they’ll last for years. The 3-1/2qt oval pot holds a 2-1/2lb chuck roast without the meat touching the sides, and there’s enough room for a layer of vegetables (a couple of cups chopped) a layer a meat a couple inches thick, and new potatoes on top. You could cook a complete meal in this for three or four people. Mine is a one-person household and this is the ideal size for me; anything smaller wouldn’t make enough leftovers.
The included cookbook has nutritional information – number of servings, calories, carbs, fat, protein, sodium, and more – for all 50 recipes. I gave it four stars instead of five because it’s not what I consider programmable, but I’m very pleased with it for the price.
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This review is from: Cuisinart PSC-350 3-1/2-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker (Kitchen)
Customer Video Review Length:: 6:49 Mins
We love it. It is an ideal size for small recipes for 1-2 people, with limited left overs depending on how much you eat, fill your plate or just 1/3 your plate with other sides like a veggie & potatoes or roll. But it doesn’t fit everything that you would want to make. Realistically you will likely need both a 3.5 and 5 quart crock pots to select based on the size of the recipe. We still use this 3.5qt most for 2 of us, but have on occasion found it filled too quickly and switched over to the 5qt. Remember, any crock pot should only be filled to 2/3, not the top that is shown in all pictures on any box. We had started with a lot of veggies and potatoes and found we were already at 2/3 on this 3.5qt before we could even add the meat, so we switched to the 5qt. But then you do not want to always use a 5qt either, because you do not want too little in. So we end up using this 3.5qt most for the 2 of us, but have to occasionally use 5qt. The 3.5qt pot is easier to clean because it is smaller and weighs less than the 5qt.
The construction and quality of this pot seem very good to us. The lid is standard thickness for crock pots, and there doesn’t seem to be any need for it to be heavier while it is cooking. It does build up condensed water around the ring of the lid and bubbles out during cooking as it continually pushed out steam. The 4 settings seem to give you plenty of flexibility, but we use low for most, and the automatic switch to warming mode is nice. The recipe book was actually nice compared to a Crock Pot brand 5qt (that we also like) that claimed a recipe book, but really only added a few pages at the pack of its manual. This one is a nice spiral bound book, but no pictures.
We couldn’t always just set it and forget it, or just follow the exact time on the recipe. You really have to experiment to find the ideal cooking time for you. We found our recipes are done earlier than the usual 8 hours stated in our recipes, and ended up getting overcooked. So you make it once, realize it is dryer or veggies are overcooked, so you reduce the time next time. So the meals weren’t perfect the first time we did any recipe so far, but were better the second time around when we made cooking time adjustments. For example, the first meal shown in the video was overdone, apples overcooked, and meat was a bit tough, which I think you can see in the video. So next time, just cook it less. For some meats, you really should test with a probe thermometer to ensure it is safely cooked, but hopefully only to confirm it is done, not to check frequently because you have to add cooking time every time you remove the lid. For the second meal shown in the video (pulled pork), it too cooked longer than needed the first time, and was better the second time when we checked the temperature earlier and confirmed done earlier. The best success we had with this was making pulled pork. Btw, I skipped showing the steps testing the meat temperature, adding the BBQ sauce, and using a fork to shred the pork.
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Best Slow Cooker out of my 9,
For the people who think it is not programmable any slow cooker that says it’s programmable will mean it’s switching to a warm setting after the amount of time you enter in. If it waited that 4 hours before starting you could get food poisoning, so you won’t be seeing that as a feature anytime soon. But be aware that changing to warm can save your food if you come home late, so it’s still a great function.
The 3 1/2 quart size is perfect for 2 or 3 people. If you are looking for a larger family you may want to get the 4 or 6 quart one.
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|Not really programmable, but better than average quality.,
On the other hand, the Simmer setting is what’s missing from some other slow cookers, and perhaps that’s why foods get burned. This cooker heats to 185°F on Simmer, 200°F on Low, 212°F on High, and 165°F on Warm. Some cook books, including Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook, assume that Low is 180°. 180°F is the oven temperature I’ve always used for slow cooking a leg of lamb, London broil, and other roasts, so the lower Simmer setting is something I appreciate.
The stainless steel housing, glass lid, control panel, and ceramic pot are all nicely constructed and finished – nothing’s cheap-looking or flimsy – and looks like they’ll last for years. The 3-1/2qt oval pot holds a 2-1/2lb chuck roast without the meat touching the sides, and there’s enough room for a layer of vegetables (a couple of cups chopped) a layer a meat a couple inches thick, and new potatoes on top. You could cook a complete meal in this for three or four people. Mine is a one-person household and this is the ideal size for me; anything smaller wouldn’t make enough leftovers.
The included cookbook has nutritional information – number of servings, calories, carbs, fat, protein, sodium, and more – for all 50 recipes. I gave it four stars instead of five because it’s not what I consider programmable, but I’m very pleased with it for the price.
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|Great for Small Recipes or 1-2 People, Easier to Clean,
Customer Video Review Length:: 6:49 Mins
We love it. It is an ideal size for small recipes for 1-2 people, with limited left overs depending on how much you eat, fill your plate or just 1/3 your plate with other sides like a veggie & potatoes or roll. But it doesn’t fit everything that you would want to make. Realistically you will likely need both a 3.5 and 5 quart crock pots to select based on the size of the recipe. We still use this 3.5qt most for 2 of us, but have on occasion found it filled too quickly and switched over to the 5qt. Remember, any crock pot should only be filled to 2/3, not the top that is shown in all pictures on any box. We had started with a lot of veggies and potatoes and found we were already at 2/3 on this 3.5qt before we could even add the meat, so we switched to the 5qt. But then you do not want to always use a 5qt either, because you do not want too little in. So we end up using this 3.5qt most for the 2 of us, but have to occasionally use 5qt. The 3.5qt pot is easier to clean because it is smaller and weighs less than the 5qt.
The construction and quality of this pot seem very good to us. The lid is standard thickness for crock pots, and there doesn’t seem to be any need for it to be heavier while it is cooking. It does build up condensed water around the ring of the lid and bubbles out during cooking as it continually pushed out steam. The 4 settings seem to give you plenty of flexibility, but we use low for most, and the automatic switch to warming mode is nice. The recipe book was actually nice compared to a Crock Pot brand 5qt (that we also like) that claimed a recipe book, but really only added a few pages at the pack of its manual. This one is a nice spiral bound book, but no pictures.
We couldn’t always just set it and forget it, or just follow the exact time on the recipe. You really have to experiment to find the ideal cooking time for you. We found our recipes are done earlier than the usual 8 hours stated in our recipes, and ended up getting overcooked. So you make it once, realize it is dryer or veggies are overcooked, so you reduce the time next time. So the meals weren’t perfect the first time we did any recipe so far, but were better the second time around when we made cooking time adjustments. For example, the first meal shown in the video was overdone, apples overcooked, and meat was a bit tough, which I think you can see in the video. So next time, just cook it less. For some meats, you really should test with a probe thermometer to ensure it is safely cooked, but hopefully only to confirm it is done, not to check frequently because you have to add cooking time every time you remove the lid. For the second meal shown in the video (pulled pork), it too cooked longer than needed the first time, and was better the second time when we checked the temperature earlier and confirmed done earlier. The best success we had with this was making pulled pork. Btw, I skipped showing the steps testing the meat temperature, adding the BBQ sauce, and using a fork to shred the pork.
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