After researching slow cookers I decided on this one because it offers the temperature probe based cooking, not just HIGH and LOW options. My wife preferred this model because it has the ladel holder slot built into the handle of the lid, which should be great for carrying meals to family gatherings. We used it right away to cook a 3+ lb pot roast with potatoes,  carrots and onions. It worked great. Reviews on most slow cookers say that may overcook beef but this turned out great. We made sure to layer some vegetables under the roast instead of laying it directly on the bottom of the cooker and we set the cooker to PROBE cook the roast to 160 degrees. When we got home 11 hours later, we checked the roast with our other thermometer togget a reading and it was 169 degrees. It was still very moist and perfectly tender. In the future we will set the probe to cook to about 5 degrees under the desired temp and while it sits in the cooker on WARM for a few hours it should be perfect.