Hamilton Beach Portable 6 Quart Set & Forget Programmable Slow Cooker

Why it's worth it

Hamilton Beach's Set & Forget does everything our top pick does and adds a temperature probe. You stick it in a pork loin or a leg of lamb, set a target temperature, and the cooker holds off switching to warm until the meat actually hits that number.

The probe turns guesswork into a number you can read. Set 165°F for chicken or 145°F for pork, and the panel shows the meat's actual temperature as it climbs. When it arrives, the cooker switches to warm. That's more useful than a timer for anything thick, because a five-pound roast and a seven-pound roast don't finish at the same hour no matter what the recipe claims.

You get three ways to cook, which covers everything. Probe mode cooks to a temperature, program mode cooks to a time, and manual mode is just High, Low or Warm for up to 24 hours. So it works as a dumb dial cooker on chili night and as a precision tool on Sunday. Most cookers pick one of those personalities and stick with it.

From our review of 11 slow cookers, by David Sinclair, Managing Editor

What we like

• +The probe turns guesswork into a number you can read
• +You get three ways to cook, which covers everything
• +The clip-tight lid travels as well as our top pick's
• +Six quarts fits the cuts most people actually cook

What to know

• –The probe is a loose part, and loose parts wander
• –The control panel is hard to read from above