Reddit reviews Hamilton Beach 33135 3-in-1 Slow Cooker with 2-, 4-, and 6-Quart Crocks, Stainless Steel

This Hamilton Beach 3-in-1 Slow Cooker with 2, 4, and 6 qt. crocks is the only slow cooker you will ever need.

Why this one?

• It comes with 3 removable, dishwasher-safe stacking crocks that stores compactly, a 2 qt. for dips and fondue, 4 qt. for soups and small stews / meats, and a 6 qt. to fit whatever you can stuff in it. It is engineered so the same glass & stainless steel lid fits all 3 crocks.
  
  
• No electronic displays. In my research, the ones with electronic displays failed at a much greater rate than the others. My conclusion was that heat + electronics don't mix well. I would avoid electronics for this reason.
  
  
• Other models appear to have temperature "hot spots" and burning problems. This one does not (check the reviews). There is a switch to indicate if a 2, 4, or 6 quart crock is being used to adjust the heating elements.
  
  
• Great Amazon reviews plus my own personal recommendation. I've owned mine for almost 2 years and I love it.
  
  
• The well-placed side handles make it extremely to carry to-and-from parties and storage.
  
  
• This model looks nice and cleans up great.
  
  Other Notes:
  
  
• They don't make 'em like they used to. My mother has a crock pot that is nearly 40 years old and still works. If you get 10 years out of any of these models sold today, consider yourself lucky. Adding electronics likely lessens the lifetime of the product.
  
  
• If you do break one of the crocks, you have 2 spares you can substitute until you order a replacement for the appropriate size.
  
  
• Amazon has it on sale for $52!

I use this slow cooker with 2-, 4- and 6-quart crocks. (the crocks nest together for storage)

It's nice to have a range of sizes. I uses the 2-quart for small batches or slow cooking "experiments".

We have this Hamilton Beach 3-in-1 slowcooker. It has 3 pots (a 2, 4, and 6 quart pot) that fits into a single base that heats it up. Its great, because you have a bitty slowcooker for fondu or dinner for 2, a huge one for when you have company or want a bunch of left overs, and a medium one. This is also helpful because many recipes are made for a specific size, so you don't have to bother scaling anything.

If I had to choose between the sizes, I'd go for the 6-quart. We seem to use it the most because we love reheating leftovers for lunch and many recipes are for a larger portion.

I bought my sister a fantastic unit with three different sized bowls that nest for storage. I'll try to find the model number.

Edit: I can't find the exact model, but here's a similar one on Amazon.com.

You can easily do a pot roast in a 5 1/2 qt saucepan such as this one. Rub your meat down with salt/pepper or something like Montreal Steal Seasoning. Put a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil into your saucepan and sear the roast.

Once the roast is seared, you can shove some veggies of your choice into the pan pour in about 1/2 of a cup of a hearty red wine and some beef bone broth and allow to simmer until it is cooked through. I use the following spices: thyme, bay leaf, oregano, rosemary, and occasionally sage, or a combination thereof depending on what is in my garden. I always cook meats by temperature. I have also been known to throw in a couple of pieces of bacon or sausage to impart their fat and flavor. The veggies that I use are: onions, carrots, parsnips, turnips, and celery root (celeriac).

You can use the same ingredients in the slowcooker. Put the veggies into the slow cooker before the meat. After the meat is seared place it on top of the veggies, put the spices on the meat, and pour in your liquids. If you are using onions, keep in mind that they impart A LOT of water to a slow cooked meal and you may want to reduce the red wine and bone broth. The liquid should only come up an inch of the meat.

Searing your meats does nothing for keeping moisture in the meat, it is for flavor. And it is a lovely flavor.

The roast that you didn't sear was tough and dry either because there was too little liquid in the slow cooker, or it cooked for too long. The roast that wouldn't shred wasn't done cooking in the slow cooker, or didn't have enough liquid to cook in. The slow cooker was designed to trap the moisture of whatever is being cooked and use that moisture to continually baste the meat. I always try to go for the low setting with mine, and to use the appropriate bowl (I have this one. It has three bowl sizes. To optimize the functioning of the slow cooker the bowl should be 3/4 of the way full.

With a roast, I will also turn the liquid into a gravy by reduction. Strain the liquid with a fine mesh strainer or cheese cloth, put the liquid into a large pan with a big opening at the top, such as the 5 1/2 qt pan that I linked at the top, and boil the hell out of it. The larger surface area of the pan allows for more water to evaporate more quickly. You can also thicken with arrowroot powder, but the gravy will break down quickly and turn runny.

Let me know if you have any other questions or need more information!

edit: I forgot that I also make a gravy with the liquids from the slow cooker and the veggies. I use this to turn the veggies into a thick, flavorful liquid and then bled it with the juices. While I'm doing all of the veggie squishing and blending, I'm roasting veggies in the oven, sauteing, or making a gargantuan salad.

No, but we have one of the Hamilton Beach ones that comes with three crocks of varying sizes, so if I broke a crock I would probably just use one of the other ones. BTW, I recommend this model.

I'd recommend this one, because it takes care of needing multiple crockpots at once instead of having to spend money on so many, but also is not digital and, well, I've just had good experiences with it.

Size-wise, I have one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-33135-6-Quart-Stainless/dp/B000R8A1OK/

Comes with 2, 4, and 6 qt bowls. Crocks work better when full, so it's handy to have a few sizes to choose from. I mainly cook for myself, and use the 4 qt most often.

My husband and I have something very similar to this: http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-33135-6-Quart-Stainless/dp/B000R8A1OK/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1458835638&sr=8-4&keywords=slow+cooker+3+inserts

Though the 3-5 lb roasts you ask about would likely be best suited to the 6 quart version, if you don't enjoy leftovers or freezing your leftovers, the 6 quart may be too large for your needs.

I have had great success with something like this it's a 2 quart AND a 4 quart AND a 6 quart. So you can use the one that suits your needs at the time and you just press a button on it as to which quart size you're using. No timer though just high, low, warm but the different sizes work out great at least for me.

http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-33135-6-Quart-Stainless/dp/B000R8A1OK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410730027&sr=8-1&keywords=3+in+1+crockpot