GreenPan Elite 8 in 1 Slow Cooker

Is there a slow-cooker in the kitchen of Mar-a-Lago? I honestly don’t know. But if there is, it would probably be this one. This guy is the top-of-the-line. It does it all.

I’m no chef, but my lovely wife allows me in the kitchen from time to time. When this item arrived, I was eager to try it out. I viewed several recipes for a Chuck Roast and finally zeroed in on one that required a little red wine. Instantly, I knew that was the one for me. I opened a bottle and got to work.

The recipe called for searing the meat, no problem. Did it in the cooker. Shifting to the slow-cooking phase was nearly automatic. It was like the cooker knew what I wanted to do. I added the other goodies and returned my attention to the wine.

I don’t know if it was the wine or the cooker, but this was absolutely the best roast I have ever ate, even the wife agreed. It was delicious. By the way, the six-quart size holds a lot of food. We had plenty of leftovers for the next day.

Since I seared the meat in the pot, I was a little concerned about the clean-up. I shouldn’t have worried about it. There was not even a hint of sticking. It was a breeze to clean.

Bottomline – This a great slow-cooker with many features. It looks great and the display is bright and easy to read. It cleans up with ease and should last for many years. It is a pleasure to use. I know it is not cheap, but how many of us has bought something a little better than what we needed and been disappointed? It is an item you will enjoy having in your kitchen. If you are looking for a nice gift for someone special, this item will impress.

Bon Appetit.

The most amazing slow cooker I’ve ever had you could touch the sides through the entire process. It did not get overly hot at all but I was able to sear right inside the pan and then I cooked spaghetti sauce and they came out fantastic.

Product: GreenPan 6QT Slow Cooker with Hard Anodized Pot, Presets to Brown Saute and Steam

I didn’t think that I would ever be “that” person, but I’m now the person who gets really excited about a kitchen appliance. Even after having this slow cooker for several months now, I still get excited every time I use it. I mean, it’s a slow cooker…how exciting could it be? It’s a game changer with slow cooking, and makes my time in the kitchen so much easier. That’s something I get excited about since working in the kitchen is getting more difficult for me.

There is so much that I love about this slow cooker.
* The browning and sauteing feature is great! Why hasn’t this been done before? I can brown my meat in the slow cooker, saving the additional clean up of a skillet and the stove top. The higher edges of the crock keeps the splatter down. You can also saute your seasoning directly in the slow cooker. It really does save so much time and clean up. I find that I tend to brown my meat and saute my seasoning more now when I slow cook, which gives the dish better flavor.
* The crock is lightweight as inserts for slow cookers go. It’s easier to handle. It’s shaped a bit differently than my previous crock, which did take some time to get used to, but it fits better in my sink and dishwasher.
* When they say it’s nonstick, they mean it’s nonstick. I haven’t had anything stick yet. I’ve cooked so many things in it that would have made a mess of my old crock pots, requiring a workout cleaning session. There have been times you could barely tell I had cooked in it. The couple of times the cooked food remained in the insert, it was cleaned easily with some hot soapy water. I haven’t used crockpot bags with this slow cooker at all. There’s honestly no need for them.
* There is a well-made gasket around the top of the slow cooker, which makes a seal for the lid. It helps keep the temperature even and seems to minimize the amount of condensation on the lid. It seems to me that I get less extra water in what I’m cooking.
* The insert has handles that have silicone coverings, making it easy to remove the insert while cooking or when you’ve finished.
* The slow cooker sits on rubber feet about ½ inch above the countertop, so the counter doesn’t get hot while using the cooker. This has been a problem for all the other slow cookers I’ve used. I normally have to sit them on a trivet to protect my counter.
* The inside of the slow cooker has a pressure plate that allows the cooker to pause when you remove the insert during cooking.
* While they have several preset cooking functions, you can still set manual temperatures and times. I’ve never had a slow cooker where you can manually set actual temperatures.
* You can steam with this cooker, although I haven’t used that feature so far.

There are a couple of things that are minor issues for me.
* The whole unit is fairly heavy with most of the weight being in the base. The overall weight is a consideration for those of us who are older.
* It is also large, again most of the size being in the base, so it takes up a good amount of space in the cabinet.
* The buttons are hard to read. This became less of an issue as I’ve started to remember the button positions and didn’t need to read them.
* While the display is backlit, the modes (low, high, saute, etc) are very small and a bit hard to read.
* The cord wrap is a nice thought, but just doesn’t work very well. It’s hard to get the cord to stay on it because of how thick the cord is. I would also have liked the cord to be a bit longer.

I was rather dubious if this slow cooker would be worth the price. If you can afford it, yes it is. It cooks and cleans great. It’s crock pot cooking in truly one appliance.

There is a small cookbook you can download. You can get a better idea of how to actually integrate the browning and sauteing feature with slow cooking. The first recipe in the book is for an apple bread pudding. Do yourself a favor…make that recipe! It is so good. You can also freeze any leftovers.