Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This was my 2015 Christmas present, but I really wish I hadn't asked for it. I admit that I love the way it looks, and the fact that the non-stick coating is ceramic instead of plastic. But after about 5 uses, I find myself using regular pots and pans or a $20 slow cooker, both for more effective browning, and larger capacity. The interior is so deep and narrow that anything I'm attempting to sauté or brown just ends up boiling in it own juices. If you're sautéeing onions, carrots and celery, they will end up boiling, and literally never brown even slightly. It's impossible to brown meat, unless you want to put two chunks at a time in, and I'm not even sure that would work. After several tries, I figured out that I will always have to do any browning in a separate frying pan. Then there's the issue of the simmer setting, which is the setting I try to use most, it will come to a simmer, which to me means a very gentle boil, and all seems like it's on track, but as soon as it reaches the 210 degree target, it cools down to the point that not so much as a single bubble ever comes to the surface and the whole concoction almost starts to congeal from cooling down. The longer I wait to see if it will reheat, the more it cools down. So I learned to constantly turn the temp to boil and then back to simmer, and back and forth. I returned the first unit thinking there was something wrong with it, but the next unit did exactly the same thing. I've tried repeatedly to adjust the simmer temp up, but it will only let me adjust it down. It's supposed to be at a target temp of 210, with a range below that in the 180s or so, but it just keeps cooling and never reheats. If I leave it on simmer long enough without intervention, it cools down to barely keep warm territory, like 160 degrees. I bought the stir tower, but have never taken it out of the box, because I don't need the stir tower if I have to stand by it constantly punching buttons to adjust the temperature up and down. Also, once you set the temperature, like saute or simmer or boil, it will take a while for it to arrive at the target temp, at which point a light starts to blink and If you press the button the blinking light will go steady. I could be wrong about this, but if I weren't watching it like a hawk and forgot to punch the button again when it started blinking, I think it eventually gives up and cools down. I couldn't find an explanation of this in the instructions, and it's hard to tell, since it always cools way down anyway on the simmer setting. I would call Kitchenaid customer service and ask for some clarifications, but the time I did call them the girl kept putting me on hold to talk to a supervisor, and then they only wanted to talk about how my two-week-old unit was manufactured a year ago (based on the serial number) so was out of warranty! I eventually gave up and took it back to Williams Sonoma for an exchange, but I wish I'd just returned it. I bought this hoping to make stews and such, and thinking it would enable me to walk away and do other things, but this takes constant supervision, if you want it to keep cooking. I cringe at how much money this thing cost, considering I can only use it as a small capacity slow cooker. Which you can get for $15 almost anywhere. On the bright side, I haven't noticed any scratches yet in the ceramic coating. If you use a wooden spoon, it doesn't scratch.