The Best Slow Cookers of 2022

Not only is the Cuisinart 6 Quart 3-In-1 a handsome appliance, it’s a multifunctional one, too. In addition to slow cooking, it can brown/sauté, roast, and steam. You can even sear food right in the insert before simmering it. The settings include an ultra-low simmer slow cook mode which will cook food very slowly or hold it at a piping hot temperature for serving.

On the stainless-steel base, there’s a series of buttons to set the cooker and the cooking program and time are displayed on a small LCD panel. This was one of the few programmable models that was easy to set without referring to the manual. After cooking, it automatically switches over to the warm setting for eight hours.

During testing, pot roast cooked in the Cuisinart came the closest to tasting like it was cooked on the stove. Both the meat and the vegetables were moist, tender, and flavorful, and the roast stayed intact so it could be cut into long attractive slices.

The breasts and thighs in a butter chicken recipe melded with their spicy sauce, but still kept their shape and texture. My chili finished cooking with a rich sauce, chunky with beef and beans. As the Cuisinart holds food at an ideal serving temperature on its keep warm setting, there’s no need to worry that dinner will overcook if you come home late.

The only exposed part of this slow cooker that became too hot to touch was the rim of the cooking vessel. As the front surface and the handles stay cool and they’re the parts you’re most likely to touch, there’s minimal chance of burning yourself.

On the pot, there are oversized plastic handles that make it very easy to lift out of the base. Its aluminum and nonstick finishes make the cooking insert easy to clean compared to the heavy ceramic crocks that come with most models. Cuisinart also supplies a very thorough manual with attractive slow cooker recipes.

Yes, it’s expensive, but the GreenPan is worth the price for its excellent cooking performance, versatility, and good looks. The version in this guide has a glossy black exterior with beautiful stainless-steel handles, but it comes in several colors (cream, light blue, fig, and pine green) and the Premiere stainless-steel model.

On the bottom of the appliance are small buttons for programming the various settings which are displayed on an LCD screen. The slow cook mode includes a low, high, and warm setting as well as simmer for keeping food hotter than just warm (great if you're serving a meal via buffet). The appliance also includes an unusual reheat setting; most slow cookers can’t be used for reheating.

In addition, there are brown/sauté and steam functions so you can brown stew meat or a roast right in the unit before slow cooking to avoid getting a skillet dirty. After cooking, the GreenPan automatically switches to a keep warm mode for eight hours.

During testing, a slow-cooked pot roast emerged perfectly. The meat was moist and flavorful and could be carved into beautiful thin slices, while the vegetables were fork-tender but held their shape.

The butter chicken thighs and breasts were exceptionally tender and didn’t shred. The ground beef and beans in a chili recipe kept their texture while the sauce stayed a rich red color with a complex flavor. When kept warm for two hours, the chili remained at a serving temperature—not a cooking temperature.

While cooking, the outside of the unit and the outer and inner handles stayed cool to the touch, however a potholder is needed to lift the glass lid. The insert can also be used on the stovetop or in the oven.

While the pot is dishwasher safe, the GreenPan slow cooker is very easy to wash by hand. Not only does it have a durable nonstick coating but because it’s aluminum, it’s light enough to turn around easily in the sink.

By scanning the QR code that comes with the slow cooker, you can access a very enticing selection of recipes to make the most of the appliance.

While the Hamilton Beach Set and Forget isn’t fancy-looking, it’s programmable, comes with a probe thermometer to help you read precise temperatures of your meat, and is very moderately priced. All in all, this stainless-steel model with a ceramic insert and a touch control pad with a digital display is a very good buy.

There’s an option of simply setting slow cook on low or high without programming in a time. If you do select a slow cooking time or use the temperature probe, the cooker will automatically go into the keep warm mode for up to 14 hours.

To test, a pot roast was set to slow-cook for eight hours, and then tested again with the temperature probe set to 180°F. After six hours, the pot roast cooked with the probe was ready. While the meat cooked by both methods came out moist, tasty, and held its shape so it could be sliced, the potatoes were much more tender and delicious when cooked for the full eight hours. Indian-style butter chicken was tender enough to cut with a fork and the chili had a full-flavored meaty sauce.

Our only complaint about this slow cooker’s performance is that it holds food at a high keep-warm temperature so it continues to cook, getting more well done the longer it sits.

During cooking, the base sides get extremely hot, as does the crock itself. As the insert doesn’t have large handles, you have to be careful if you lift it out for serving. However, the handles on the base and the lid stay cool enough to lift with your hands. If your dishwasher has rack space to spare, the crock is safe to wash in the machine.

There are clips to lock the lid onto the unit to prevent a stew from sloshing out when you transport the slow cooker to a potluck. This slow cooker also comes with a serving spoon and there’s a groove in the lid handle where it can rest when it’s not being used.

The Instant Precision 6-quart Dutch Oven, from the company that gave us the Instant Pot multi-cooker, is an unusual slow cooker. Rather than a ceramic crock or a metal pot, the insert is a covered enameled cast iron pan. When it's removed from the base, it looks just like a traditional Dutch oven and makes a great serving piece.

The appliance has an LCD screen and a button to control the functions. While the slow cook setting doesn’t offer a choice of low or high, there’s a manual mode that lets you choose the precise cooking temperature. In addition, you can choose a braise program, which browns and then lowers the temperature to simmer, and a sear/sauté setting for browning. After slow cooking or braising, the Dutch oven automatically switches to a keep warm mode for three hours.

On slow cook, this model simmers at an ideal temperature so that food comes out fork tender without being overcooked. The chicken breasts and pot roast that were made during testing weren’t stringy and could be cut into neat slices. The chili's ground beef didn’t become overly soft and tasteless, and the beans didn't turn to mush. After cooking, the Instant Precision keeps food piping hot without further cooking it.

While the exterior of the cooker stays cool to the touch, the cast iron insert and its lid get very hot. That means you don’t have to worry about accidentally burning yourself by brushing against the exterior but you do need a pot holder to lift the pot out of the base and lift the lid.

Silicone handle covers as well as a trivet come with the unit. Although the Dutch oven has a 6-quart capacity, it’s round rather than oval, so long items like a corned beef or rack of ribs may not fit unless you cut them into pieces.

At over 9 pounds, the pot is extremely heavy to lift and maneuver in the sink while washing it. Fortunately, it’s also dishwasher safe if you have the room for it. The entire appliance weighs more than 20 pounds so it will take some strength to lift it in and out of a cabinet. Included with the appliance is a booklet of appealing recipes.

With its brushed stainless-steel finish, the KitchenAid 6-Quart Slow Cooker is attractive and solidly designed. It is strictly a slow cooker, offering only low, medium, high, and warm settings. However you can program it to set for a specific time, after which it will automatically keep food warm for up to four hours.

The time and setting are displayed on a small LCD screen. It's also completely intuitive to program without experimenting or checking the manual.

Of all the slow cookers in this guide, the KitchenAid cooks at the lowest temperatures. That means it never overcooks. While testing, chili and chicken came out perfectly. However, the meat and vegetables in pot roast still had some bite and could have benefited from longer cooking times. If you love meat that’s super tender to the point that it shreds, such as pulled pork, this is definitely not the model for you.

As expected on the warm setting, this slow cooker keeps food at a serving temperature rather than a cooking temperature. The stainless-steel outside of the cooker and the crock get very hot but the cooker handles and the lid stay cool enough to grip without pot holders. The pot is also dishwasher safe.

Even though the Crockpot Design 7-Quart Slow Cooker sells for a rock bottom price, it produces great cooking results. This slow cooker, however, has absolutely no bells and whistles of any kind. Its settings only include off, low, high, and warm, and it’s not programmable. While there is a specific time setting, you must manually switch it off or set it to a warm setting when it’s finished cooking your meal.

The Crockpot keeps food at a simmer while it cooks, rather than a boiling temperature, so food will emerge very tender without falling apart, and chili will retain its texture.

Using the warm setting, the Crockpot keeps food steaming but not so hot that it will continue to cook.

However, during cooking, the stainless-steel housing will get too hot to touch. Fortunately, the plastic cooker and lid handles stay cool enough to use without pot holders. For easy cleaning, the crock is dishwasher safe.

The Crockpot 8-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker is a step up from a completely manual model. Its black stainless-steel finish gives it a contemporary look and it can be set to cook for a specific amount of time and then automatically go into a warming mode. However, this appliance doesn’t have any extra features like most of the other slow cookers with electronic controls that were tested.

Unfortunately, even on the low setting, this Crockpot overcooks the food. During testing, pot roast could be broken up with a fork and melted into its sauce, and the chili was burnt around the edge. Using the warm mode, it keeps food hotter than optimal, but won’t boil it.

During slow cooking, the stainless-steel housing gets too hot to touch. However, the handles on the base and the lid remain cool. Like the other Crockpot in this guide, the crock is dishwasher safe.

The Hamilton Beach Temp Tracker not only comes with a probe for cooking to a specific temperature, it can also hold food for a set time at a precise temperature. That means you can use it as a sous vide cooker as well as a slow cooker.

Using the probe, a pot roast was tender but not overcooked, although the potatoes that cooked alongside it were a bit underdone. However, when the same recipe was prepared on the low slow cook setting, the meat fell apart and shredded as soon as it was lifted out of the pot. Likewise, in the butter chicken test, the breasts and thighs were very overcooked.

Unfortunately, when this model switches into the keep warm setting, it actually continues to cook at a high temperature.

As the slow cooker operates, the stainless-steel base and the ceramic crock both get extremely hot. But neither the handles on the appliance or the lid heat up making it easy to check on food or move the entire unit without oven mitts.

The crock is dishwasher safe. On either side of the appliance, you’ll find clips that you can latch onto the lid if you’re bringing a big batch of pulled pork to a potluck or family reunion.

The Beautiful 8-Quart Slow Cooker by Drew Barrymore is generously sized and very reasonably priced. You could say it’s beautiful in its simplicity. The exterior has a matte finish in sage green, black, white, or gray with a few gold accents and has one small knob with high, low, and warm settings.

However, it’s a little too basic. It’s hard to see the settings on the dial and there’s no light to indicate the slow cooker is running. Plus, it can’t be programmed to cook for a specific time and it won’t switch to the warm setting automatically.

Unfortunately, even on the low setting, this slow cooker boils food rather than slow cooks it, which results in food that’s severely overcooked. For example, when chicken thighs and a pot roast were taken out of the crock, they plopped on the carving board and turned to mush. When the chili was kept in the warm setting for two hours, it burnt at the side of the pot.

The exterior of the Beautiful gets very hot while cooking, but the lid handle stays cool enough to lift without a pot holder.

With the Beautiful, you get a wire attachment that hooks onto the side of the pot to hold the lid when you’re stirring or serving. While the ceramic insert is dishwasher safe, if you prefer to wash it by hand, you’ll find it heavy and unwieldy.