At the risk of starting a board war...

[Halftime Hope]

I need to buy a new crock-pot. 

 

Can someone tell me what's out there that doesn't leach heavy metals into foods?

 

Thanks.

 

P.S. If someone has a vehement opinion, please just PM me instead.  (I heard that some people were overly forceful in their opinions on the topic...I don't want to go there again.)

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

:lol:  :lol:  :lol:

 

 

:bigear:

[Cindy in FL.]

I bought an Instant Pot which does either pressure cooking or slow cooking. It has a stainless steel removable liner. I sure hope it's safe. If it's not, don't tell me! 😃 I hope you get the info you need to make the right choice for yourself.

Edited March 20, 2016 by Cindy in FL.

[kewb]

I have a vitaclay and I love it.

http://www.amazon.com/VitaClay-VM7900-6-Organic-Multi-Cooker-3-2-Quart/dp/B001G8Y33A

Edited March 20, 2016 by kewb

[bolt.]

If I was in the market for a slow cooker, I'd strongly look into an instant pot instead. More tasks, same object-space, no down side.

[Allearia]

Instant pot! I love it and use it many times a week. Stainless steel insert is the greatest, very easy to clean.

[mamiof5]

Good luck finding what you need. Have never heard of crock pot issues, I thought it was fine? It's OK, I don't want to know

[Liz CA]

You could start here:

 

https://www.cooksillustrated.com/equipment_reviews/1552-slow-cookers

[school17777]

I agree with the Instantpot recommendations. I got one shortly after Christmas and I use it daily. My crockpots have only been used when I needed my Instantpot at the same time.

 

You can use an Instantpot as a pressure cooker or a crockpot. It sautées and browns in the same pot, so you aren't dirtying another dish if you'd like to brown your meat before cooking.

 

It cooks pasta in the pressure cooker and you don't need to drain the pasta afterwards - a step saver and one less dirty dish to wash (the colander).

[MSNative]

Another vote for the instant pot though I got the cuisinart version of it. Love it. So much more useful than my old crockpot.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

We have an Instant Pot too. Works great for slow cooking and pressure cooking.

[mamakelly]

Instant pot, buy the newer larger size.

Edited March 20, 2016 by mamakelly

[Mrs. Tharp]

Wow. I'd never heard of Instant Pot, but now that I know about them I think it might be a birthday gift to myself this year. 

[mamakelly]

It was my Christmas present to myself lol!!

[bettyandbob]

Now I've looked at the instapot because I didn't know what it was. I think I need it even though I have a perfectly good slow cooker that is doing well with 3 day a week use

[school17777]

It was my Christmas present to myself lol!!

Mine too!

[fraidycat]

It was my Christmas present to myself lol!!

Mine, too. :)

[zoobie]

Another InstaPot vote

[StaceyinLA]

So... which InstaPot??

 

Nevermind - bought the duo. The yogurt feature sold me.

Edited March 21, 2016 by StaceyinLA

[Carol in Cal.]

I love my Vitaclay.

The pot itself is a very fine, high fired clay that is also used for fancy Chinese tea pots.

Because it is fired at high temps and unglazed, I believe that it doesn't have the tendency to leach out lead and other heavy metals that glazed cookware would.

The machine is quite versatile--it can be used as a slow cooker, as a rice cooker, or to cook hot breakfast cereal.

It has lots of timed programs, and when the program is finished, it turns itself down to keep the food warm but not continue to cook it.

It's fantastic for making rice at high altitudes--it has a very slight pressure cooker effect that cooks it just right--this in an environment where normal rice cooking inevitably turned out gummy on the outside and hardish on the inside for me.  

I love being able to plug it in outside if I want to keep the cooking smells outside of the house.

Edited March 21, 2016 by Carol in Cal.

[Halftime Hope]

Thanks, everyone!