Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Between my sister, two previous roommates and the one I just bought I've used four of this exact size and model. I want to like it because it has some great features (the clip on lid, the little vent hole, the oval shape, the removable crock) but it has a major problem with temperature. After 7 hours on high the contents of the crock measured 140 degrees and the outside was so hot you could not touch it. According to crock-pot.com it should take a slow cooker 3-4 hours to get up to 209 degrees on the high setting. I had to pull the corned beef brisket out and finish it in the oven and all of the rest of the goodies in the braising liquid had to be finished on the stove. This just shouldn't happen. The other three I have used had the same problem where the outside got really, really hot. My sister's, on low, completely scorched chili an inch deep all the way around and across the bottom in five hours. It's almost like they have the high and low settings mislabeled on the machine. So, two that the previous roommates had seemed okay (other than the extremely hot exterior) and two others that seemed defective. Seems like a 50% chance you'll get a dud.