Side by Side Comparison of: Hamilton Beach vs Donald Hanson

I got one of these (or a similar model) a few years ago. I use it at least once a week. I gave this specific model to a friend, and she uses hers more than I use mine. Just about every morning, she throws something in the cooker so that her family has a warm, healthy meal at the end of day.

It can take a bit of time to figure out how to plan in advance to use these, but once you find the options that suit your tastes and needs, this is an excellent tool. I like that this has a "keep warm" feature that lasts for several hours after the food is cooked. I wish you could program it so that it would cook a certain amount of time on high and then switch to low for a certain amount of time; right now, the only way you can switch from high to low is if you are there to reset the programming at the right time. The stoneware and lid can also go in the dishwasher.

This slow cooker is excellent. I ordered this to replace a very old Crock Pot that had its lid finally fell apart on. This seems to be very well made and heavy duty. I was worried about the probe hole letting out moisture, but I can't see anything escaping. This cooks to perfection, without getting too hot. When my old slow cooker was on warm mode, I could see the liquid boiling. This cooks AND warms to the proper temperature. The programmable timer is easy to use and handy. The rubber gasket and clips on the side are great features, as well, in case I need to transport food.

Love it! Cord wraps up and stores on the bottom.

Nice Features for a crock pot. It is very large. I think you could put two roasts in, or a rather large turkey breast, I have not tried that yet. The best part is the amount of control you have. The lid has a rubber gasket to keep all the liquid from collecting under the edges.

What I did as soon as I got it: Lift out the ceramic pot. Washed the crock with warm soapy water. Then I made a large amount of beef stew, 3 pounds of barely pan browned stew meat, with half a jar of spaghetti sauce as a seasoning. This cooked on low for 5 hours. Saved all the extra liquid and 3/4 c of beef bits from the stew adding two cups of stock, and immediately made a lentil, barley, and green pea soup, right in the same session, cooking on high for an hour. Now I have enough food frozen for four meals.

As to the smell that was mentioned in some reviews, almost all new electric cooking devices have a "new" smell. If you realize that some of the adhesives, oil, etc needed to put the device together might burn off, then you are mentally ok with it. In about 15 minutes that process is done, and you won't have it again.

This thing is awesome. I've found that the gasket around the lid tends to absorb aromas - mine still smelled of adobo a week after washing. But so far that's my biggest complaint. I haven't used the temp sensor yet. When I unpacked it I was startled by how large it seems, but in the end it's a perfect size for most recipes, especially since I tend to add in plenty of spare ingredients. Great value for what I paid! Glad I finally gave in and bought a slow cooker (after years of stubborn refusal).

These are pretty awesome little clips! I wanted to move my herbs to my deck, but didn't want to have to put them on the deck floor. I ended up just attaching a board and put them clips onto the board and it's working out great! We had a pretty bad thunderstorm/wind over the weekend and all the pots survived - none fell off. :-) I went with a previous reviewer's suggestion and got 6" terracotta pots so I'm unsure if it would hold anything heavier - but they seem super sturdy!

This is my second order on these Pot Klips. A very unique idea, simply screw or nail the clip on any wall or post, and clip on flower pots! We use 8" and 12" clay pots and despite the size, and being filled with potting soil, these clips hold it securely. My wife has put 24 pots of herbs on our fence using the screws that came with it. The screws hold the clips in the wood fence with no issues, and the clips are petty much hidden from view with the plant in the pot. This clips are high quality metal and look like they will last many years. This is a really great way to decorate your fence with hanging plants, or just putting herbs where you can get them for cooking.

makes my fence look nice and it is very easy to use. I didn't know it came with screws. extra plus! I love to plant herbs but it takes a lot of space. I created more space more herbs, and more room for tomato plants

Love these pot klips. Used them on a fence and everyone wanted to know what was holding my pots. Every clever klip.

These clips are great! I was worried that they wouldn't be sturdy but they hold a pot very well. I used them to hang regular terra cotta pots on my deck rail as well as along the retaining wall in my driveway. Great way to add plants to places where a pot won't sit.

These are the klips I've been looking for. Hold the pot against rain and wind. My fence looks beautiful, and my backyard is organized. Thanks you.

I like having this because I can have it cook all day and come home to dinner ready, I'm still trying to learn the in and out and tips for it. Food that shouldn't be soupy because of all the steam build up, but there's info online giving you pointers.

Works great and cooks food evenly. I have yet to use the probe so I can't comment on that. The only complaint I have is that the decal over the buttons seems to be coming off already.

my chicken often overcooks. and if you click "program" while the program setting is running, you have to rest it all together. otherwise, the product is great

My old, manual slow cooking was showing wear, and the positive reviews for this slow cooker won me over. People I've known who have spent hundreds of dollars on more expensive models, such as All Clad, haven't been satisfied with them in terms of value for the money. The Hamilton Beach performs perfectly, cleans easily, and has a large capacity. It's even made me a convert in terms of thinking you can't steam "roast" a chicken in a slow cooker, because this one does it beautifully. The only feature that is nice, but I'm not sure I'll use very often, is the temperature probe. I use a slow cooker only when I want to set-and-forget about it, and tend to rely on my oven or grill for more perfectly timed food.

I purchased this crock pot after the previous one I had, of a different brand, kept scorching my food. I have used it 3 times so far and it seems to be a vast improvement over my old one! I like that you have the choice of manual mode or a program mode and it really like the fact that you can tell it to go into warm mode just by pressing a button. (My old one had to finish the set time before it would go into warm so I really appreciate this feature.) The size of the pot is perfect, not too big and not too small. It's easy to clean-up since the bowl is removable. I have only washed it by hand but it hasn't been difficult to get clean. I haven't used the meat thermometer setting yet but I think it's a really great feature to have. It does have a really loud beep when you change modes or when your time is up but it doesn't bother me. I'm happy with my purchase.

Work just as described

Work well. Simple to use.

These clips don't look like they would hold pots that have a really thin lip, but they actually do. We've had windy days and so far so good. The only thing I don't like is the fact that it holds the pots at an angle, which creates a mess when I'm watering the flowers since the water immediately drains out of the lower side.

Thanks for a fast smooth transaction A++

These clips seems to work as stated. I have them hanging on a fence, supporting clay pots full of flowers. I've only had one pot fall off, but that was when the fence was bumped hard by my dog, so I think they will be great overall.

These worked out great and I have more faith in these than I do the plastic versions. They're also very easy to instal and discreet. I'd recommend them.

Average to a little better than average cooker. The Temperature (probe) controlled mode is virtually useless. Probe is way too short; so unless you are cooking a mountain sized 10+ pound beef roast, half a pig, or a gigantic turkeysaurs the probe will not penetrate to the center of the flesh. The Manual mode (pick High or Low temp and no timing function) functions quite well, no biggie here. The "Timed" mode also functions very well (pick High or Low and a cook time, time up temperature setting goes to Warm), lets's hear the cheers for this mode; one that functions and is also useful. A bit on the pricey side, but seems of good quality (I have no knowledge of it's future reliability). Would I purchase this cooker again, NO I would not. Take $15 off the price and trash the temperature probe and I might consider.

I waited a couple months to write this review. I have mixed feelings. The base is the cheapest flimsiest metal possible. The lid seal takes on the smell of whatever I cook. I've tried scrubbing but won't come off - worried I'll break it. The thermometer is pretty useless. It does slow cooking.

It took 3 tries to finally get one with a decent crock. The unit itself is not what I expected. The lid does not fit tightly on the crock and the lid itself has two venting holes, plus the hole for the temperature probe. So my minestrone turned out like thick stew because most of the liquid cooked off on low through all of the holes and poorly fitting lid. The instructions tell you not to cook with the latches on so that you don't damage the rubber gasket. This crock might be better for cooking roasts, but I haven't tried one yet.

For some reason things seem to come out tougher than I'm used to with my other crock pot and this is even using the low or warm setting but things just don't come out as tender as with my old manual unit. I do like the digital time on this and I will use the probe quite often if I am cooking things in a hurry so it doesn't over cook but things still seem to be a little chewy.

I like this for cooking most things but some things i don't. even even on low, everything in the slow cooker boils no matter how liquidy or thick. i was doing homemade bbq sauce, weenies and meatballs because i had the random craving, left them on low for a few hours, string occasionally, went back a couple hours later and the sauce was still liquidy and still at the same level but EVERYTHING was black.. i could almost cook everything at what the low temp should be but on warm! irritated but ill just use warm instead of low, guess it doesn't have a true warm setting than since warm is equivalent to what low should be lol

Excellent product

Nice idea but pots tend to fall off too easily.

I followed the instructions for hanging these, and some of the clips "dropped" by pots. I had high hopes, but they did not quite meet my expectations.

The clips hold light pots quite well but the pots are fixed at an angle making water pour out when you water the plants.

I had to work on these clips or I felt like my pots would fall out when there was wind. They hung very loose. Would not order again.

Bought one of these 2 years ago. Haven't used it a lot, maybe half a dozen times. It worked fine for what I needed until yesterday when it failed to heat. The heating band that actually provides the heat is no good; open circuit. I can't find a replacement part anywhere. So now I have a $50 boat anchor. Disappointing. If I had used it a LOT I could see this, but it is infrequently used and well cared-for.
Won't buy again...Its operation is fine, but not the longevity.

I think I got it mixed up with a different one. It is not well made and I used it right away--it didn't cook a rather expensive roast well. I cooked it on high for 4 hours as per the instructions, and it was a bloody raw mess--and I only eat medium rare. This was not cooked at all on the inside. Besides that, it is extremely flimsy--feels like a soda can. I thought there was plastic covering the key pad but was the key pad, which can easily be peeled off. It isn't going to last long, I suspect. I'll probably use it to cook soups and casseroles, but not meats. It has a 2 or 4 hour setting. I couldn't get the probe to work, at all.

This slow cooker was used 3 times tops and on the last usage of it, it stopped working on me. We put some pork ribs in it and set it to cook. After returning home, it was cold. All of the lights were on but the meat and sauce that was in it was cold. Now I'm going to have to go through the hassle of trying to get a replacement one because it was just purchased at Christmas time. I hope the warranty department doesn't give me a hard time with replacement of it?

Glaze on ceramic insert has defects. Glazing has a few small "bubbles" on the interior bottom of ceramic insert. Some "bubbles" are "popped" and therefore open to the surface below the glaze. I don't want surface underneath the glazing to come in contact with the ceramic underneath and also I think that over time the unsealed glazing will cause problem with more bubbling and possible problems with the ceramic structure.
These bubbles are small and maybe some wouldn't care but I plan to use mine often and this problem with constant heating for long periods of time concerns me.
I like the unit otherwise so I returned this one and ordered a second but same problem is on the second insert too.

I like the digital timers but The dern gasket for the probe keeps popping out and I find it laying around or I have to go hunting it down. I had loaned it to my friend and found it on my floor. She had to roll up some foil and shove it in there.

If I was looking to buy one, it would not be this one.

Klips went up just fine, but with each wind storm (50+ MPH) a klip fails and I lose that 6 inch pot. Disappointed.

does not hold any other pot ,other than pictured very disappointing

these only work on a very specific kind of pot with a very deep lip

You can use the temperature probe to turn off the heat at 150 degrees HOWEVER the "warm" temperature is about 160 degrees. This is the lowest temperature you can cook at.

We bought this less than a year ago, and I have used it about once a week. Tried to start it like normal and nothing, my display lit up at first and let me program it, then it just cut off. No display, no heating, etc. so very disappointed in the product....HB is obviously another in a long line of manufacturers of throw away appliances....

Bought this for my daughter....quit working after second use. the company made her send a photo of item with the cord cut off and 12.95 to send a replacement slow cooker, which also quit working after the first use. I am not sure if she got that one replaced but I feel after all that trouble they should refund her 12.95 and the full price so she can get a decent one from another company. It is not like this is a cheap item....and cut the cord off and sent a picture....REALLY....Hamilton Beach is the one running a scam not the customers unlucky enough to have made a purchase of this crappy item! What a total disappointment. I will NEVER buy another product from this company again. NEVER!

The first one I ordered had a bad crease in the ceramic. It was so deep the glaze didn't penetrate and you could see the white ceramic in the crack. It was located across the top of the handle and about 1 inch into the inside. At first I was going to just ignore but it bugged my wife. I returned it (great returns amazon, A+). It also had a lot of small "defects" across the surface. They were difficult to see but the surface wasn't smooth like a crock pot should be.

2nd one, although it had no cracks, also had a lot of these surface defects. On this one I could see little chunks. Assuming the machine may have sputtered little tiny flecks of ceramic onto the surface prior to glazing (or maybe over-sprayed glaze?). Either way it seems the bowl manufacturing may have had a batch of poorer quality. Is that why they are cheaper? I can't speak to how well the unit worked (rely upon others reviews for that) but it seemed to be of quality in the rest of the design.

We were in bad need of a crock pot so I decided to switch to different product. We stayed on the same manufacturer (Hamilton Beach) and the other unit we got worked fabulous. I am assuming they just had some blip in the molding department and QA was lacking and let them slip.

This seemed like an excellent purchase but... Once opened I discovered the digital controls faceplate was made to very low standards and was warping away from the body. The whole unit also didn't sit level on the counter. Most importantly when I turned it on it slowly began to smell quite foul, smoke, and crackle from within within about 30 seconds of turning on the heat. I'm returning it.

I tried them with plastic terra-cotta colored pots, and the pots slip right out making the klips unuseable. I have yet to try them with clay pots, but am hoping these more substantial pots will stay in these klips.

Was not able to use yet, due to the wrong pots.

Stupid item

Narrative did not make it clear this is for use on wood only. Given I would have to pay return postage, really not worth returning. Will give to church rummage sale

Very hard to find pots that fit the clips so they remain in the bag. Wasted money!

Not hold good