Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

For the first time ever, I have found an electric cooking device that actually operates as advertised. My dissatisfaction with numerous crock pot/slow cookers in the past has been two-fold. First and most importantly, I could never regulate the temperature on my previous cookers according to my needs. All settings seemed to be too hot and the setting choices allowed no discretion in actually finding a real temperature (rather than high or low.) My other, less important problem with these devices was that many of my recipes had to be started on the stove top before using the crock pot setting. Now, with this Cuisinart 4-Quart Multi-Cooker, I can actually control the cooking temperatures accurately and I can do all of what previously required a stove top and an extra pot or pan right in the slow cooker, itself. I did test the cooking temperatures before putting real food into the pot and it was very accurate. At this point in time, I have used it for browning and then slow cooking one of those famous little Costco Pork Sirloin Tip roasts. It worked beautifully. Yesterday I made white bean and ham soup without pre-soaking the beans and let it sit for awhile on "warm" after it turned itself off using the timer. Worked perfectly. The only thing the MSC-400 does not do that would make me even happier, is to allow it to be programmed for a certain amount of time at "high" and then automatically switch to a "low "setting" to finish cooking. For some reason I thought it could be programmed that way, but it cannot. I would have purchased the cooker anyway, and I really could not be more pleased with it. Finally, i was a little concerned about whether I should get the 4 quart or the 6 quart and ultimately went with the 4 and it is just right for my needs. I think that It is a great size for a family of three or four.