Budget 😉 Crock-Pot SCCPVL600-S Crockpot, 6 Qt, Stainless 😉

8 reviews for Budget 😉 Crock-Pot SCCPVL600-S Crockpot, 6 Qt, Stainless 😉

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   John H. Meyer – January 1, 2013

   *** Note my edit at the end of the review which I added two months after writing the initial review.I purchased this to replace my original 1970s avocado green Crock Pot. I was attracted by the slightly larger size and oval shape, and the locking lid.After doing several tests, and cooking one meal (Italian Beef, with a 3.5 pound boneless chuck, beef stock, oregano, garlic, and peppers) I have several things to report, mostly negative.As others have reported, when first used, the cooker emits the smell of burning electrical insulation. This goes away quickly, however, and doesn’t come back.The lid has a rubber gasket that makes it seal quite well. I don’t know if this will hold up well. The lid has locking clamps that lock it in place, and they seem to work well. However, when cleaning the lid, water gets under these clamps and also gets under the handle in the center of the lid. This trapped water won’t come out. It is obvious that these two clamps and the lid handle will have to periodically be removed in order to remove the mold and mildew that is certainly going to accumulate.This is a major design flaw.I tested the temperature of the unit using my Thermopen thermometer. This thermometer is accurate to less than one degree, traceable to the National Bureau of Standards. I also tested using my Kill-A-Watt power meter. The power meter shows that the power used is as follows:Warm: 62 wattsLow: 223 wattsHigh: 251 wattsI wrote to Crock Pot’s customer support and was told that these wattages are normal and that “Both the Low & High settings cook at 215 degrees F.” This seems very high to me, and indeed America’s Test Kitchen states: “It should register between 195°-205° to yield the best results.”When I tested the unit by making my Italian Beef recipe, my Thermopen did indeed show that the beef broth reached boiling in less than two hours, and boiled away all day at 210-212 degrees.Thus, this unit fails to produce acceptable temperatures for “slow cooking.” Therefore, it is NOT a “slow cooker.”My unit also had a small flaw in the ceramic cooking insert, a gap in the glazing about the size of a pencil eraser directly on the bottom. I suspect that this will eventually cause a problem, although it didn’t interfere with my initial cooking test.Finally, since I have now used the thing and can’t return it, I thought I’d look at the inside. You remove three nuts and you can see the inside. There is the outer metal container, and then and inner metal container. There is a small “belt” around the inner metal container about a third of the way up from the bottom. The heating element is inside this belt. Thus, the inside metal container gets hot, and transfers that heat to the crock. Unfortunately, even more heat gets transferred to the outside metal container which gets dangerously hot, and which transmits more heat to the outside than to the crock. You WILL burn yourself if you touch the metal exterior of this cooker while it is cooking.Thus, this thing is unbelievably inefficient, and is wasting over half of the electricity that powers it. It is truly a lousy design.The old crock pot from the 1970s had the heating element wound directly around the crock, and most of the energy went to heating the crock, not the outside air.So, I recommend that you spend a little more and get a different model, or a different brand entirely. The design of this one is fatally flawed. I did give it two stars because it does actually function and can be used to cook.The people at Crock Pot’s customer service have responded to my complaints, and if any of my complaints are resolved, I will add new information to this review.[edit #1] Customer service was nice, but ultimately was only able to confirm what I wrote above. In addition, the rubber gasket on the lid smells after one use, and even after three weeks, still retains the smell of the first meal I cooked.[edit #2]I have a lamp dimmer that sits next to a desk lamp. I brought it into the kitchen and plugged the cooker into this table-top dimmer. I then used my Kill-A-Watt power meter to monitor the power output as I “dimmed” the crock pot. After some experimentation, I found that if I used the dimmer to lower the power on the “Low” setting from 223 watts down to 150 watts, the cooker would keep the temperature around 200 degrees, which is perfect. This lets me cook with almost half the power, makes the food cook correctly, and saves me money. If you don’t own a power meter, you can simply put a mark on the dimmer when it is powering a light bulb and mark the point at which the bulb is perhaps 3/4 of full brightness. Then, monitor the temperature every hour or two and increase or decrease the power if the temperature goes below 190 or above 205 degrees.So, with this simple addition, the bad design of this slow cooker now works as it should, even though the flaws (such as the hot exterior and wasted heat) noted above still remain.[edit #3]I finally got around to building a thermostat control for this unit. I was able to use the temperature probe from my Amana microwave oven which I wired into an electronic circuit. Using this unit, I am able to keep the temperature at a constant 200 degrees while cooking. I can also use it to keep the unit at 110 degrees for yogurt, and intermediate temperatures for sous vide, although I haven’t actually tried that yet.

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   SuLu – December 23, 2019

   I have had several crock pots over the years, from the original basic round version made by Rival without a removable insert back in the 1970’s (very few of the later versions have been able to compare to that old workhorse — wish I still had it!) to more deluxe programmable versions — last one about 12 years ago. It is still working fine, but it is round, so the shape is not ideal for larger roasts. I also find it to be quite a hassle trying to transport it for potlucks and such (lid taped down, crock pot wrapped in a towel & placed in a box – still sometimes resulting in a mess). Years ago, I used my crock pot once or twice a week, but now that my family is grown, I only need it occasionally. So, when I ran across this manual model on special for a great price during the holidays, I thought I would give it a try. There were lots of reviews for it, both good & bad, so here is my two cents…This is my first oval crock pot and the overall quality of the brand seems to have declined and this is also by far the lightest in weight of all of the crock pots I have owned (none of which have failed, one was lost in a move, I cracked the lid of one and couldn’t find a replacement, and I broke the stoneware insert on another). The stainless steel shell on this model would be very easy to damage (dents/scratches) although the stoneware insert seems fine. Heftier extensions on the insert would be nice for lifting it out of the crock pot. I like the idea of the locking lid in principle, but unless I let it air dry in a perfectly vertical position after washing, water can collect inside the clips, can’t be reached with a towel. I also don’t care for the seal; I thought it would be removable for cleaning like a pressure cooker lid, but as far as I can tell, it is not. After I wash the lid, I use a soft toothbrush to clean around the seal.As far as cooking, this doesn’t really seem to be a slow cooker. The first time I used it, I made a four-pound roast and it was done in about half the expected time. I started off on high and turned it down to low after an hour. Luckily, I was home and able to monitor the cooking. With the liquid and vegetables, the crock pot was about 2/3 full and It turned out to be a delicious meal. For the second use, I tried my favorite 13-bean soup loaded with veggies and cooked it on the low setting for the entire time — in this case, the crock pot was 3/4 full and it took quite a while to come up to heat and considerably longer to finish cooking than the expected time (it was lightly boiling around the edges but not even simmering in the middle) so I turned it up to high to finish it. The veggies were a little overdone so I will need to tweak my recipes a bit in order to use this crock pot efficiently. The high setting comes up to full heat quickly, but boils vigorously and the low setting doesn’t heat evenly, so I don’t think I will be able to just set and forget this crock pot, which does limit its versatility for me.As many others have mentioned the cord is very short, which I understand is a safety feature, but it seems to me it could be a few inches longer. The stoneware maintains the heat for a long time after turning the unit off. The locking lid works well and will be great for tail-gating or potlucks (my main reason for purchasing, so I don’t feel as if I need a fancy model with all of the bells and whistles). Even with the locking lid, transport can still be tricky as the exterior of the crock pot is very hot, so I decided to buy the travel bag for this crock pot, since it was on sale, as well.

3. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   froggyjoe – June 7, 2022

   I love this crock pot, easy to lock and carry, makes great food, very easy to wash. I read a lot of bad reviews. Glad nothing like that ever happened to mine . There is a booklet that says: Do not lock while cooking only lock to carry, if locked during cooking times, it will cause the warmer to disfunction. and will not get food hot. My first one that I had bought ,I never read the book and that happened to me I always locked while cooking lol my 2 nd one I bought the ( red ) one I read the book. im like , oh well no wonder mine stopped working right lol. love this crock pot!!

4. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Venesia Simms – September 28, 2022

   Great product

5. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Donna – October 23, 2022

   The cooking temp on low is very hot! That is the only thing that I don’t like about it. Slow cookers we’re supposed to do just that, slow cook, not boil!

6. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Alene S. – November 20, 2022

   Good quality

7. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Girvinia – November 20, 2022

   First let me say that I am in my 8’s, live alone and don’t do much cooking. During the winter months I occasionally make something in the crockpot.I bought this crock pot in March 2020.I have used approximately 6 times, the last time was the Past Saturday. I had relatives coming and a crockpot pot roast seemed best option for dinner. Bought a 3 lb roast at $5.99 lb.Started crockpot at 10 am set on high Took roast out at 5. It was 90% raw!!Crockpot used 6 times and quits working. ?

8. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   John D. – December 2, 2022

   I love it makes great soup. stews. The low heat is to high it boils. You just have to know how to work with it.