The best slow cookers you can buy

Why you'll love it: The 4-Quart All-Clad Slow Cooker with Ceramic Insert looks beautiful on your countertop and cooks everything to perfection without making you do anything.

The 4-Quart All-Clad Slow Cooker with Ceramic Insert is the perfect size for cooking meals for a small family or a full chunk of pork butt for pulled pork. All-Clad is famous for its beautiful high-end stainless steel appliances and cooking utensils, and this slow cooker lives up to the brand's reputation.

Not only does it look gorgeous on any countertop, it also works extremely well. The slow cooker is very easy to operate with just a few buttons and no complicated settings. It has a 26-hour programmable timer and warm, low, and high temperature settings so your food is cooked to perfection.

The removable black ceramic insert and glass lid are easy to hand wash or pop right in the dishwasher. The lid's handle is made from silicone, so it never gets hot to the touch. You can leave this slow cooker cooking all day without fear of burning the house down and come back to a delicious meal.

I use this slow cooker regularly to make beans, stews, and pulled pork for the meat-eaters in my life. I toss the ingredients in, set the temperature, and let it do it's thing while I'm at work or out on the weekends. It makes meals super easy to prepare with minimal effort.

Buyer reviews are largely positive, though some do complain about the ceramic insert breaking after admitted rough handling. If you treat it the way you treat other ceramics like coffee mugs and plates, it won't break — just be careful with it and don't smash it against anything.

All-Clad guarantees the slow cooker for two years, so contact the company if you run into problems. — Malarie Gokey

Pros: Gorgeous, 4-quarts is a good size, decent price, ceramic insert is sturdy, easy to use

Cons: Pricier than some slow cookers

Buy the 4-Quart All-Clad Slow Cooker with Ceramic Insert at Williams-Sonoma for $149.95 (originally $250) Buy the 4-Quart All-Clad Slow Cooker with Ceramic Insert at Bed Bath & Beyond for $145.95

Why you'll love it: It has a really high price, but The Fast Slow Pro 6-Quart from Breville successfully slow cooks and pressure cooks food in one easy-to-use appliance.

The Fast Slow Pro 6-Quart slow cooker from Breville carries a high price compared to other slow cookers, which means it won’t work for some people. But it justifies its big price tag by giving you a multitude of features so you can cook big meals however you want.

The Breville cooker works as both a pressure cooker and a traditional slow cooker, so yu can make just about anything with it. One Amazon reviewer likes The Fast Slow Pro’s versatility because it can perform the work of multiple appliances, saving storage space in the kitchen cabinet.

The Fast Slow Pro attempts to make slow cooking easy with eight different pre-set programmable cooking modes. There’s also a custom time and temperature setting that you can use for your favorite family recipe. Using the various settings is easy because of the large and clear LCD screen on the side of the unit.

One Amazon customer appreciates the high-quality build that all Breville appliances offer, and says this one is no exception.

As for downsides, Wired says the Breville unit is far too complex for what most people will want in a slow cooker, especially considering they’ll pay five to 10 times more for The Fast Slow Pro than they will for other slow cookers.

Pros: Offers strong pressure cooker and slow cooker functions, eight different slow cooker pre-set modes, excellent build quality, six quarts of capacity works well for many people, large LCD screen is easy to read

Cons: Extremely high price versus other slow cookers, may be too complex for some people

Buy The Fast Slow Pro 6-Quart from Breville on Amazon for $217 (originally $249.95)

Why you'll love it: If you need a slow cooker that’s better suited for preparing meals for one or two people, you’ll love the size of the Proctor Silex 1.5-Quart Slow Cooker.

Slow cookers often seem like they’re all about cooking big meals for a busy family. But slow cookers don’t all discriminate against people who are cooking for one or two. The Proctor Silex 1.5-Quart Slow Cooker is a mini slow cooker that’s great for cooking small meals for one or two people.

It's a very simple slow cooker with three temperature settings that you’ll control with a knob. The Proctor Silex cooker is also a smaller appliance, so if you don't have much space in your kitchen, it's a good option. As one Amazon buyer points out, this cooker is also perfect for use in an RV or on a large boat, where you have limited storage space.

Review Labs says this small slow cooker is a perfect option for cooking appetizers, dips, sauces, or snacks for a party, and it’s small enough so you can carry it with you to a friend's house. The rubber seal on the lid and the latch strap also help to prevent spills, which is a great feature for a portable unit.

However, a few Amazon reviewers say the Proctor Silex 1.5-Quart slow cooker doesn’t cook as evenly as some larger slow cookers.

Pros: Small slow cooker is perfect for cooking appetizers for a party, small unit works great in kitchens where storage space is limited, has padded lid and latch strap for transportation, nice size for meals for one or two people

Cons: Will be too small for some families, doesn’t always cook food evenly

Buy the Proctor Silex 33116Y 1.5-Quart Slow Cooker on Amazon for $20.99

Some people are understandably nervous about using a slow cooker, as this appliance is designed to run while no one is home. Others may have a sentimental attachment to the slow cooker grandma used, and now that they’ve inherited the appliance, they want to continue cooking with it.

Before using any slow cooker, though, you need to read through this list of safety measures from NBC News and Compare Slow Cookers.

• Clean the base: Keep the portion of the slow cooker with the heating element clean. If a previous recipe has spilled onto the heating element, you need to wipe this old food and clean it to keep it from burning when cooking the next meal.
• Electrical cord: Inspect the slow cooker’s power cord carefully. Make sure it hasn’t been melted or frayed. Old slow cookers may have a fabric insulation around the electrical cord, which is no longer considered safe.
• Overcooking: Even on the high setting, slow cookers only reach temperatures of about 250 degrees, so you don’t really have the same concerns about overcooking and burning the food as you might when leaving food unattended in an oven, where temperatures of 350 degrees to 450 degrees are more common.
• Test the temperature: An older slow cooker may no longer be able to reach a high enough temperature to safely cook raw foods. Test it by filling the slow cooker with room temperature water at least two-thirds of the way. “Cook” the water on the low setting for eight hours and then use a thermometer to ensure the water has reached at least a 185-degree temperature.

Happy cooking!

The best Crock-Pots you can buy

Busy cooks have been turning out delicious, easy, convenient meals in their Crock-Pots since the early 1970s. We researched the dozens of available Crock-Pot slow cookers on today's market to find the best ones you can buy.

Here are the best Crock-Pots you can buy:

• Best overall: Crock-Pot 6-Quart Programmable Cook-and-Carry
• Best small one: 3-Quart Round Manual Crock-Pot
• Best for entertaining: Crock-Pot Hook Up Connectable Entertaining System
• Best for casseroles: 3.5-Quart Casserole Crock-Pot
• Best for lunch: Crock-Pot Lunch Crock

The best instant pots and electric pressure cookers

Electric pressure cookers are so versatile, they can make all kinds of meals and even replace several different appliances.

We poured over thousands of reviews and ratings from both experts and users to determine which instant pots do what they say they can do, provide consistent performance over extended use, and offer great value for your money.

Here are the best pressure cookers and Instant Pots you can buy:

• Best overall: Instant Pot DUO60 7-in-1 Multi-Use Pressure Cooker
• Best budget: Instant Pot LUX60 V3 6-in-1 Multi-Use Pressure Cooker
• Best for big meals: Elite Platinum EPC-808 Maxi-Matic Pressure Cooker