Review: West Bend 4-Quart Slow Cooker

I love this slow cooker and use it several times a week for baby food as well as family meals. I used to have a Hamilton Beach 6-quart slow cooker, but I never really liked it. It felt flimsy and the lid never fit correctly.

But my West Bend 4-quart slow cooker has been fantastic. It's much sturdier, the lid fits correctly, and 4 quarts is a better size for our family. Actually, I like this slow cooker so much that it's my second one - I ruined the crock that came with my first one by leaving tap water in it for several weeks to warm Alex's bottles during those early days when breastfeeding wasn't going well and we had to supplement. The tap water ended up leaving a hard crust all around the inside of the crock that I couldn't get off. In fact, I think so highly of this slow cooker that I even got one for my mom.

The removable stoneware crock makes prep and clean up extremely easy. I often load it up the night before and park it in the fridge, then pop it into the cooker in the morning on the way out the door. After dinner, both the lid and the crock go into the dishwasher. Even when food has gotten stuck to the sides, I've never had a problem getting it off.

The 4-quart size usually makes 4 to 6 main dish servings, so I can see myself getting a larger crock pot when the boys are a little older and eating more. Until then, I'll continue to rely on this extremely affordable and reliable version.