I'm a new member on eGullet and this is my first post. Hoping some food enthusiast out there can help. I'm looking to replace a circa 1970 Oster electric dutch oven with something new. Mine is battered and scraped, but I can't bring myself to get rid of this appliance that I use several times per week. It makes great soups, stews, sauces, beans, stocks, everything this vegetarian loves to eat. What is the #1 complaint about slow cookers? You have to saute ingredients before putting them into the crock pot. With my dutch oven, I can saute, turn down the heat and simmer all day. It's really a wonderful appliance, and I've never seen one other than mine. I've done a pretty thorough search on the internet and can't find anything except electric skillets and those won't work for my applications. Any suggestions? Maybe someone knows a product developer at one of the major kitchen stores and can suggest this as a "new" product. Thanks
