Cuisinart PSC-650 6.5 Quart Programmable Slow Cooker, Brushed Stainless Steel

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Cuisinart PSC-650 6.5 Quart Programmable Slow Cooker, Brushed Stainless Steel

This was a Christmas gift for my son, who raves about this slow cooker. As his work schedule is 10, 12 hours a night, he finds that preparing his dinner in advance and setting the timer, his meals are ready when he is. His friends are immpressed with the amount of chili, etc., this cooker holds.

I am delighted with Amazon's excellent service. I received the cooker 48 hours after I ordered it -- in plenty of time for Christmas. Sears indicated January 4th for delivery and had none in their store. Looks like you've got a steady customer, Amazon. Thanks for the terrific experience.

Comment: My fiance and I have had in mind for awhile to buy a slow cooker. We received a $100 gift certificate for a retailer - known more for their smarminess than their affordable pricing -- and thought this would be the perfect thing to spend it on. This retailer in particular only had two models of slow cookers to choose from, this one and a 5 quart DeLonghi. I like the DeLonghi brand well enough -- but we thought the cooker was kind of ugly looking. So is the Cuisinart, truth be told.

There were only a handful of features that helped guide our choice. First was the extra quart-and-a-half capacity. The programmable heating settings also seemed like they could be useful. This slow cooker also comes with a cooking rack for when you're doing a roast. Ultimately what convinced us to go with this model was the fact that it's big enough TO do a roast -- you have room enough to do a whole chicken.

When we got home we immediately checked amazon to see how badly we'd been ripped off. Oddly enough -- it was the same price. However -- the reviews shocked us. How can a slow cooker get such horrible reviews when all it has to do is get hot and stay hot? We freaked out a bit and almost ran back to return it.

Like most people who bother to read reviews on amazon -- you're probably aware that typically some of the bad reviews are people just mouthing off, or rating the product based some other bad experience they've had, or they haven't read the user manual for their device and are in the process of breaking it themselves. There might be a bad review or two like this here, for the Cuisinart. But otherwise -- people are saying some frightening things -- namely, that the Cuisinart doesn't cook the food.

As for this slow cooker being badly engineered or made cheaply -- I'm not sure where that comes from. Look at it this way; this cooker holds a huge, thick, 6.5 quart ceramic bowl. The bowl itself can not be confused for cheap. The brushed stainless steel unit that it fits into likewise has to be huge. So, you have this huge steel unit and it's only function is to get hot. Do heating coils take up a lot of room? No, they don't. Are they heavy? No, they're not. If if the opinion of cheap is coming from the fact that the base is big and feels hollow -- then in my opinion they are not being very fair.

The only complaint I can make is that the programmable buttons are keypad type buttons. I would have preferred actual push-in surface buttons, but when you think about it -- the keypad style is much easier to clean up AND prevents moisture from any spilled liquids from getting inside.

Regarding the "permanent" fingerprints -- I'm not sure how that phenomenon can actually take place. I just wiped the unit down and it looks completely new again. Just because it's brushed stainless steel doesn't mean it won't get fingerprints.

Anyway, we decided to keep the cooker and we're glad we did. I threw together some chicken soup last night and we each had a delicious bowl of it this morning. Everything was cooked perfectly -- the carrots were soft and flavorful and the chicken melted away from the bone. I have no complaints or regrets. I would have given it five stars if it were just a tad prettier..

Comment: My wife and I have owned this slow cooker for a few months now and used it many times. I hesitated in buying this model due to low ratings from many Amazon customers. Oddly enough, customers at Chef's Catalog and [...] gave the cooker high marks. Given Amazon's great return policy, we decided to take the risk. Let's just say that the risk paid off. The slow cooker performs well at all temperature ranges, and we love the retractable cord.

So far, I have made a variety of dishes including BBQ pork shoulder, French onion soup, and turkey stock from the carcass of our Thanksgiving turkey. Everything has turned out extremely well.

We highly recommend this product!

Comment: Tried twice to cook a meal in the Cuisinart. The food never cooked! The first time I made a cabbage dish and the cabbage never cooked, even after 8 hours on high. The second time I made beef stew and left it on 8 hours at high and overnight on warm- the vegetables never got soft.


I was lucky because the store I bought it from took it back even though it was more than thirty days. I had never used a crock pot before so I thought it was my error. By the second time, I realized something was wrong and called Cuisinart. They said nobody had ever complained that the food was not fully cooked.

So I will consider buying another crockpot but definitely not the Cuisinart.

Comment: I had read the reviews on this product but I was not convinced.It was just to pretty and to easy to use to think it really was a lemon,
how wrong I was. The food never got done.I was so disapointed! And yes the top has a gap,the bowl is so big until it is scary to clean.
to big for the dish washer.And another disapointment is to pay to ship a bad product back.YOU LOSE(TWICE)I will not purshase cuisinart
products on line again.Never a slow cooker.(BUYER BEWARE) don't learn the hard way like I did It may cost you more then you think!