The Elite Platinum 8.5 Quart Stainless Steel Slow Cooker Review

*This review is my own thoughts/opinion. I purchased the slow cooker myself. I have not been paid to write/post this review.

If you know me, you know that I have an addiction to crock pots. I love them. I cook almost every dinner in the crock. At least 285 days of the year. But earlier this year, tragedy struck. The ceramic bowl of my last crock broke completely in half. I used to have two backups but they too had died a horrible death.

I needed to find a new crock pot and fast. I usually use a 7 quart crock but it's not quite big enough for my large family so, I searched for a larger size. That's when I found the Elite Platinum 8.5 Quart Stainless Steel Slow Cooker.

I'm a very frugal gal so I was very happy to find it for under $40.00 and even better than that, shipping was free!

The crock pot itself is pretty uneventful. It's stainless steel on the outside and black on the inside. I prefer to have a more unique look but couldn't find any in the size I was looking for.

The first thing I made was barbecue chicken the way I've been making it for years. It burnt to a crisp.

The next was meatloaf and it too burned. Next, Dijon chicken it too burned.

The crock gets especially hot on the low setting so I've now had to cut cooking times by half which really cuts in to my day. I really enjoy starting my dinner in the morning and not really have to worry about it until dinner time. With the Elite, I'm constantly having to check on it to ensure the food is not burning. There's no way I could leave the house if I wanted too.... it's that hot.

Pretty much everything I cook is on the low setting unless the recipe calls for high setting. Soups boil on the low setting! I refuse to use the high setting at all because well, I like SLOW cooking.

Washing the crock was how I expected.... unwieldy.  Trying to maneuver it in the sink is difficult but manageable. What I didn't expect was it to turn a weird milky white on the inside. No matter how much I try to get it off, it remains and looks dirty.

I'm giving this product 1 out of 5 stars. Being that I've used a crock pot almost daily for over 15 years has made me a bit of an expert when it comes to slow cooking. This is the worst slow cooker I have ever used. Too many meals have been ruined. Too much time spent running back and forth trying to ensure the meal isn't burning which totally defeats the purpose of a slow cooker for me. If you do buy this item, my suggestion is that you only make soups in it. Anything that can burn, will.