There is nothing quite like coming home to a freshly prepared meal, and one of the ways to achieve this is with the help of a slow cooker. This handy kitchen appliance will allow you to cook a variety of different foods over a few hours at a low temperature, which makes sure the meat is thoroughly cooked and tender, and all the flavours and juices are sealed in. With such a huge variety of different models and brands on the market today, it can be tricky finding one that is affordable and reliable.
Today we are going to look at one of the more budget models currently for sale on the market – the Ronson Slow Cooker RSC100 model. With a very tempting retail price of just under $40, this model seems great value for money. But does the low price mean the quality is sub standard? Let’s have a look at that below.
What kind of reputation does Ronson have?
Ronson as a company has a rather long history, with the organisation existing in various different forms in the past century before branching out into kitchen appliances in the later half of the last century. They sold a range of different appliances, and had a reputation for making quality affordable goods. A few years ago the appliance section of the company was bought out by Breville, who now own and distribute the brand. The Ronson brand was re-released and redesigned to compete with some of the other value brands for sale on the market.
The Ronson RSC100 Model
One of the first models to emerge from this was the RSC100, which we are going to look at now. First, let’s have a closer look at the model itself. This slow cooker has quite a nice design in our opinion, and the bulk of the body is made out of stainless steel. The bottom of the unit features a curved matt black base, which is complimented by the black handles on the side. On the front of the unit is the main operational dial, which is fairly basic and self explanatory.
Above that is the logo in bold red lettering which is small enough to notice, but not too prominent that leaps out at you. The black ceramic cooking bowl sits on the top of the unit, and this is removable which makes serving your food a little easier. And finally there is the glass lid so you can keep an eye on the cooking progress. Overall it is a nice clean modern look which should fit in nicely in any kitchen.
Features
Now let’s talk about some of the features. This Ronson slow cooker has a capacity of 6 litres, which is quite respectable. This puts it in the medium sized category, and it will comfortably make meals to feed a small family. It has three different operating temperatures of Low, High and Warm.
Operating the machine is as simple as plugging it in, adding your food, and turning the dial to the required setting. There is a small red led on the front of the control panel which will light up when the machine is in use.
Since the Ronson RSC100 is on the budget side of the price scale, there is no built in timer or other fancy features. As mentioned above, this has a removable cooking bowl. This makes cleaning it a bit easier when you have finished your meal, and it is fairly simple to take out and put back.
The handles on the side are cool to the touch, so moving the unit while it is still hot is not an issue. The cool touch handle is also present on the glass lid, so stirring or tasting the food is quick and easy.
Performance
Now onto the most important aspect of all, the performance of the model. Obviously with such a low price there are going to be some concerns about quality, so are they justified? This is unfortunately a little tricky to answer, simply because there are a very mixed bag of user reviews for this particular model.
On one hand, it seems like there are quite a few happy people who seem satisfied with the quality and reliability of this model. Around half of the user reviews are from satisfied customers, who were only too happy to recommend this model.
On the other hand there are quite a few common complaints about the Ronson RSC100 model, and the repetition of these claims leads us to believe that they are worth reading about. Let’s talk about some of the complaints so you can decide for yourself. The first main issue seems to be related to the temperature control of the unit.
Many people have complained that this model gets too hot even on the Low setting, which leads to overcooked meals. We have seen this reported a few times, although no reason for this is known. It could be related to a faulty thermostat, or perhaps it is this way by design.
A second common fault is related to the cooking pot, which has been reported to crack near the base. This could possibly be related to the potentially high operating temperature of the unit, thereby making the ceramic pot more brittle over time. The third and final reported issue with this model is that it stops working altogether. We have read a few different user reviews where this has happened, sometimes after only a handful of uses. These three issues have been talked about a fair bit, so they certainly aren’t isolated incidents.
The Verdict
So the big question is should you spend your money on this Ronson Slow Cooker? In this case we would probably say no, especially if you were paying full price for it. The issues we have read about make it seem like there are some quality control issues, or at the very least a large faulty batch of these models for sale. For a similar price you will likely get something a bit more reliable, so we would recommend you steer clear of this particular model.
If you find one for sale or a cheap second hand model, then it might be worth a shot. Otherwise if you are looking for a reliable slow cooker, it is probably best to avoid this one and keep looking.
