VitaClay Smart Organic Clay Pot Multi Cooker - Toxin Free Clay Rice Cooker, Delay Start Slow Cooker, Stew Cooker, Electric Soup Pot, Yogurt Maker, with Natural Earthen Clay Crock, 6 Cup / 3.2-Quart

I bought this slow cooker three years ago. I don’t trust most slow cookers because of their non-stick inner pot even if they are stainless steel on the outside. There are some on the market which have a stainless steel pot, however I thought that the flavor benefits of the porous even heating surface of the clay would be worth trying. So, three years later we are using the pot almost every day! I like to make very creamy porridge in the mornings. Either I put all the ingredients in the night before and set the automatic delay timer on, or I do it in the mornings and don’t have to worry about watching the pot or turning the heat off when it’s done. The automatic keep warm function is very handy for that. I add wheat germ, raisins for sweetness, hemp seeds and sometimes collagen powder along with the milk to our porridge recipe. I can’t tell you how glad I am to make something so nutritious for my kids for breakfasts with the minimum energy and effort. No more than it takes really to pour a cup of cereal! Other than for breakfasts I use this pot to make quick easy and nutritious meals when we have an extra busy day and either I only have 30mins to prepare a meal, or we need something ready as soon as we get home. Some of my favorite recipes that are a staple now in our family and are part of my recipe collection came from the recipe book that comes with the VitaClay. For example, the veggie sauce just involves cutting up the veggies and then pouring everything into the pot and setting it on stew function for two hours. It takes about 20mins to put everything together but the sauce is super healthy and I love the taste, it seems way more sophisticated than it really is and can easily be used as a main meal with some kind of protein added. Another favorite recipe from the book is their lentil stew and their minestrone soup. It’s my favorite minestrone soup recipe :) Lastly, I love using the pot to make something extra that would otherwise take up too much burner space on the oven top or be too much fuss. E.g. a side of rice or soup. I just have to put in the ingredients and then it cooks, switches off and keeps warm so I don’t have to pay attention to that and just focus on the rest of the menu. Wonderful! Impress your guests with how much you can cook in a short period of time :) There are only a couple downsides for this pot that we have found. Firstly, we are a family of four and sometimes I wish the pot was bigger so I could double the recipes and have enough left overs for a second meal the following day. At the moment only a little is leftover, enough for a side maybe. Also it’s not really big enough to make bone broth in bulk. Second point is that I would not use the pot to make yoghurt. The yoghurt I tried to make several times came out a little soggy and didn’t taste that great. I think that perhaps the porous nature of the pot means that unless you have any to do an extra tough cleaning job before you make your yoghurt the bacteria and flavors from your savory meals probably won’t mix well with making a vanilla yoghurt if you know what I mean! It’s just like a cast iron pan retains flavors I suppose. I just got a special yoghurt maker with separate small glass pots for making yoghurt and we shall see how that goes. Thirdly, although the recipe book is genius, the instruction manual is dodgy to say the least. The English is a little poor and you can tell someone who’s English is their second language wrote it. Secondly, there is an issue with the delay function. I believe you set the timer for the time you want the food to start cooking rather the time you want it to finish. However the manual says the opposite lol. Once you get the hang of how the slowcooker works you don’t really need the manual anymore for the most part and that’s a great relief. Lastly, our lid did break once but it was my husband dropping it by accident. We got a replacement shipped with no problems and have had no other breakages thus far. I am careful not to create sudden changes of temperature for the pot or put it in the sink with other dishes. The lid is hard to lift but the new models I believe come with a little metal hook which solves the problem with the flat lid knob. Customer service did ship me the metal hook after I asked which was great. Some of the The porridge can get stuck on the bottom if I don’t add enough liquid or leave it on warm for too long. However it’s easy to get off since it scrapes off with a wood spatula safely or if the worst comes to the worst you can just cook another meal in it and it will loosen up the bottom burn on.

I was a little concerned because of some of the reviews on other VitaClay products, but decided to give it a try anyway. I really liked an idea of having a clay pot in the multi-cooker. Well, I have no regrets whatsoever that I gave it a chance. I love the delayed start option, with three toddlers it makes breakfasts much easier with hot cereal being ready by the time everybody gets out of their beds. Yesterday I've cooked enough cereal for two mornings and all I had to do today is to add milk ind put it for 30 sec in the micro, while last night I braised some fresh turkey, added diced veggies and whole grain pasta, and put the pot in the fridge. This afternoon I simply added some water and put it in the cooker for 30 minutes and the lunch was ready. It's great! The taste is great, I don't have to think about it wile it's cooking, I didn't notice any aluminum on the bottom of the pot, as one of the reviewers mentioned, and another one said that she was concerned about the steam condensing on the aluminum cover and then going back to the food through the wholes in the clay lid - I've found an easy solution, I simply put a terry washcloth on top of the clay pot lid and it absorbs all of the moisture from steam. Some mentioned that it cooks too fast for the slow cooker. I think I will agree, but I never liked the food from the slow cooker anyway, so if you're looking for the slow cooker, just go for the traditional crock pot. All in all I really recommend it so far to anybody, who wants to save time in the kitchen. UPDATE 8/8/2009 You've got to be really careful with pouring cool water over the hot pot. Of course it's a common sense, but sometimes things happen. My pot had cracked and I needed to order a replacement pot and it turned out to be a not an easy task. Only 3 places on the internet ship these pots, but one has a 1 star review from a previous buyer for not shipping their orders, another one promises free shipping with no minimum orders and immediately tries to charge you $11 for shipping and the last one is the manufacturer's site [...] which charges you $20 for the shipping (the cost of the pot is around $25). It is also important that you order the right pot, because different models use different pots and the only place to find that out is [...] were you have to download the Excell file in order to find out the model number of the pot you need. I did place an order with the manufacturer after all. UPDATE 5/15/2010 I recently had a wonderful experience with making yogurt and cheese using this multi-cooker. Using the termometer I heated the milk, using the reheat cycle to 180F, turned it off and let the milk cool to 115F (thermometer similar to this one, it will beep once the desired temperature is reached Polder THM-360 Dual Probe Cooking Thermometer, Black ), than just added some plain yogurt as starter, I used greek yogurt, replaced the clay lid, placed a terry cloth on top of it and locked the top cover of the multi-cooker. It was turned off but kept the temperature beautifully for long enough to let the yogurt cultures work the milk into a great, thick yogurt. Last night I used half milk and half yogurt, just used reheat cycle again until the milk curdled (7-10 min), let it cool and strained it overnight in the yogurt strainer Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker . This morning we've had beautiful crepes filled with creamy yogurt cheese, mixed with some vanilla bean paste, rasins and a little sugar. I love this cooker even more now )

Can I give negative stars?!? FIRE HAZARD--MELTS!!!! Complete waste of time and money....let me say...I really wanted to love it! I was excited it had a safe, non-toxic clay insert and was going to replace my crock pot with the VitaClay. It spent less than 48 hours in my kitchen before it went back!! First, upon opening the box....the plastic outside part is CHEAP, cheap, can you say CHEAPLY made?! The latch that holds the lid down has a spring that fits into a shallow plastic circle...the spring popped out twice before I even used it...this means you have to shut the outer lid several times before it will stay closed...the seams are rough...the feet slid very easily across my counter because the pads are too tiny to hold it in place...Okay so I thought I would over look that....the clay insert seems to be higher quality...except...it has a fatal design flaw...the handle on the clay lid is VERY tiny...and is even recessed into the lid...so you have to grasp it with finger tips to open...once cooked it is hot and requires a towel to hold it with...almost impossible and I could see it being dropped and broken in no time...no way you could use a thick pot holder... but I decided to make do and try to cook with it....again...I REALLY wanted to make it work and keep it. So...you know that plastic smell other reviewers mention??! Yeah...VERY very bad plastic smell when cooking with it...super disappointing for a "safe" "non-toxic" product...plastic off-gassing fumes seriously?! (Im on a Gerson Therapy diet to heal cancer and this isn't what you want...) So I know the reviews say the smell goes away after a few uses...my rice did turn out fluffy and tasty...and none stuck to the bottom of the clay at all...so we washed it and put it away...the next day I thought I would make a stew...upon pulling the VitaClay out of the cabinet...I noticed it no longer sat level on my counter...there was at least a 1/4 inch difference in the height of the feet...hmmm....looking more closely...the stainless outer cover looked warped...further examination....the bottom plastic black part had actually MELTED up into the stainless cover part on one side!! By at least 1/2 inch!!! I guess we are lucky our kitchen didn't burn down! How can they sell such a fire hazard??! I wonder if upon inspection, those other reviewers that note the burning plastic smell will notice the same...its your VitaClay MELTING INTO ITSELF. SO, so disappointing. Don't bother...right back into the box for a refund.

I could not be more pleased with the VitaClay rice cooker! It is everything I hoped it would be. I probably invested about $1000 of my time researching rice cookers before making this purchase. I was very concerned about the VitaClay due to prior reviews I read here. I called VitaClay's manufacturer twice and I also did research at a lot of other sites. Ultimately, I decided to take a chance on the VitaClay, but I also planned to order a purely stainless steel model too. However, now that I have used the VitaClay for a week (cooking with it every day), I know this is the rice cooker for me. I do not need to look any further. It cooks perfect brown rice. I have also cooked rice + mung dal in it many times. The food doesn't stick to the clay pot. The flavors are great. I am satisfied that the quality of the clay pot is good. It passes California's tough regulations. These days I hesitate to purchase anything from China, but I'm comfortable that this product is safe. The rice cooker does not give off any unusual smells. My concerns about potential toxic materials in the cooker have disappeared after inspecting and using it. The construction quality is very high. It is super easy to clean. The controls are easy to use. The design looks nice. I feel I got a lot of value for my money. UPDATE: I have had my VitaClay rice cooker for almost two years now. i like it more than ever. It has held up well. It still looks like new even though I use it almost every day. I have had zero problems with it. BTW, the heating element does not come into contact with the food. The heating element is outside of the clay pot. The food only touches the clay. And, at the time I purchased mine, the owner of the company told me they do not use a non-stick coating on the heating element. Is there a better and safer rice cooker on the market anywhere? I have not found one. I think the VitaClay rice cookers are the best available - and the price is incredibly low too. If I ever find myself in a position to give a rice cooker as a gift, I will only give a VitaClay. And I will not cook with anything else myself. UPDATE 2: Well, it is now more than four and a half years later and my VitaClay rice cooker is still working well and I still like it as much as I did when I first wrote this review. I still give it 5 stars.

Updating my original review to say that the company was very responsive and offered a resolution that I am happy with. Though I was past warranty, they offered me a replacement (which I was too nervous to try again) or a new model/stockpot that does not build up pressure, which I was more comfortable with. Leah with customer service was very helpful, and tried to better understand what happened with my pot to try to figure out what the issue was. The company sent me a label to have my old pot sent back so that they could test it to better ensure it wouldn't happen to anyone else. I am looking forward to trying the new stock pot. Original 1 start review: I have had my VitaClay for about a year and a half. I read the manual carefully to make sure I was using it properly, and enjoyed it until it EXPLODED in our kitchen. Thankfully, my husband was not injured more than he was (burns on his face) and my baby was not in the line of fire. If my baby had been in his high chair where he normally sits, he would have been shot hard by the steam cap. The steam cap flew about 8 ft behind the cooker. The top of the cooker swung open, and the clay pot lid flipped over so that it was upside down. Broth blew ALL OVER our kitchen - counter, inside and outside of cabinets and drawers, floor, electrical cords, phone and TV. There was broth in between the floorboards, and under baseboards of our cabinets and walls, in our outlets. My husband was unnecessarily burned, and there is damage to our new kitchen and possibly our electronics which we are still in the process of testing. This product is NOT at safe as it claims. This was a complete waste of money. We are beyond the warranty at this point, and the unit is useless now. Even if they offered to replace it, I would not want another one. A refund would be awesome.

I initially purchased the VitaClay because I was looking for a ricecooker without a metal / teflon-coated cooking vessel. This slow cooker's pot / vessel is made of unglazed clay. It gets your food hotter in quicker time than traditional slow cookers with glazed vessels. Cuts cook time in half. As far as rice cooking, I mean, it cooks every variety of rice perfectly, supposing you can figure out how much water to pour in. It cooks cous cous, as well as beans, lentils, etc.. I have not used it to make yogurt yet, but it has a yogurt making function. The timer and delay start function work well. The vessel cleans like a breeze; it takes less than two minutes to thoroughly clean and dry both vessel and lid. I purchased a silicone steam basket that fits perfectly in the pot; the lid covers and top closes even with the basket, so I can steam veggies or proteins while cooking rice. It also allows use of the unit as a steamer; it isn't really a fast steamer, but it isn't what it was made for. I am a 25 year old dude, and I use this thing pretty much every day. You can set it in the morning to have steel cut oats and fruit ready for breakfast; you can have steamed rice and veggies waiting hot and warm at day's end. Also, you can buy extra clay pots and lids for approximately 25 dollars from the company; so, real easy to have something made in the fridge and then throw it in the unit, especially given the quick cook times. I have had my unit for 5 months, and I think I'm vitaclay's best spokesperson because I tell all my friend and family about this thing. The Bad? Well, the first unit I received through my amazon order had a defunct clock and timer; it would flash an error signal that pretty much meant it was busted. Amazon returns are quick and easy though, and I have had my second unit for almost six months. It sees heavy use. My last critique relates to the zisha clay from which it is made. The stuff comes from China, which sounds cool, but China is home to some serious pollution, and who knows whats in the groundwater over there (hey, we don't know here in the States either). So, I was initially attracted to the Vitaclay because I wanted to avoid marginal worries about teflon and aluminum toxicity. Why trade de minimis worry for a pot made of clay from a heavily polluted place? For its part, Vitaclay says it batch tests everything for lead and other harmfuls in accord w/ certain import regulations/standards. It is all well-documented on their website. Really though, the health question comes down to a bit of faith I think; hope this clay is safe. And, I want the clay to be safe because this is the best dang kitchen appliance I have ever owned. I am about to buy one for my mom, and I'm going to buy myself an extra pot and lid.

I was so very pleased with this that I ordered another one. I have two of the six quarts. It has helped me a lot to have food always ready. I had been gaining weight because food was not ready when I was hungry and I was eating that was around, nuts etc.. Now thanks to the delay start button, I prepare healthy breakfast the night before and it is ready when I wake up in the morning. I also prepare lunch the night before and it is ready in the morning. I can take both to work in a thermos. and at night, I either keep what is ready on warm so it is ready for the evening or I prepare something in the morning for dinner. It has really made a difference in my diet, in my health and I have lost a lot of pounds already. I use one pot to always have my bone broth ready and warm when I need it. (I cook the bone broth in a Cusinart huge slow cooker because it can fit more bones but then as I refrigerate it, I take the portion I need for the day in the Vitally). I read a lot about people who have had broken pots. You need to know how to cook with clay. Clay is a change of culture. It is not for the "American instant fast microwave" culture. Clay is a total different mind set. Clay cooking does not like changes in temperature. So for example, when I need to cook, the night before I put everything outside in the pot or at least a few hours before, if it will come from the fridge. So that it adjusts to the room temperature. When there is a burn, I put vinegar and baking soda. I have not had issues with smells as others report. But I have been cooking mostly and only with clay posts for years now and if there are smells in my other pots, I use white vinegar. Also, even if the manufacturer advises to use soaps, clay pots should never touch soaps because the soap gets into the clay. Cultures that use clay pots know that. The food really tastes wonderful and I am extremely pleased. I may later purchase an 8-cup for when I have guests to be able to fit more food. I have absolutely not regretted purchasing these two pots.

This was a good and versatile appliance while it lasted, but recently the buttons stopped working well, and now it has stopped working completely and there is an electrical short in it that causes my home’s circuit breakers to pop. For the price, I wish it had lasted a lot longer. I’ve never had to toss a crock pot before except for the one that lasted so long (over 25 years) that one of the feet broke off. I’m sad I paid so much for this and it only lasted a little while. I just paid to replace the clay pot that recently broke, too. I can only think of a couple of appliances I’ve ever owned that only lasted 18 months. Bummer. Most last for decades!! This appliance seemed to work fine with yogurt and soups that start with room temperature ingredients. However, the first time I tried to cook meat in it, the meat was apparently too cold (room temp meat seems unsanitary to me?) and the clay pot cracked. After it stopped working I took it apart to see what was wrong. So it appears that the clay pot cracking during use is a known risk. But the electronics are not really protected from spills when this happens, maybe not even normal moisture?? Also there is not a good way for spills to drain or be cleaned up if the clay pot breaks during cooking. It’s not a great design considering how likely the pot is to break and how the electronics and switches aren’t separated from liquids that might spill as a result. Also who knows if the electrical short is a fire hazard?? At least I kept the crock pot I got as a wedding gift 30 years ago...guess I’ll make dinner in that since the warranty on this one is expired.

La mejor decisión que pude tomar respecto a la compra de un crockpot. La comida queda deliciosa y tengo la tranquilidad de que la cerámica contribuye a mi salud.

Thus is the healthiest rice cooker I could find anywhere.

I'm really impressed with the function of the VitaClay slow cooker. For instance, I've been trying to make Kuri squash soup for years with the skin on. It has always seemed that no matter how long I cook it for, or at what temperature, the skin always has rough bits that remain through the blending process. With the VitaClay, the squash cooks in less than 1.5 hours and the skin/squash is perfectly creamy. Chicken soup (cooked with the bones) was incredibly flavorful. What an excellent appliance. Would definitely recommend.

Love this product! It's the best on the market if you are really care about your health. I personally love this product and I take care about this product with a lot of love.... No fridge, wash in room temperate (no cold or hot water)... Always wait till the post is complete cold!

Amended review: After only 6 weeks after purchasing the vitaclay - the insert cracked WHILE it was cooking a meal - which happened to be a bean soup. The soup leaked everywhere into the unit. I cleaned up the broken clay as best as I could and then contacted Vitaclay shortly afterwards. I was told that if I could prove to them that the clay shattered while cooking and IF I paid over $60 for processing/ shipping/handling - only then would they replace the insert. Never mind the actual UNIT which probably would not work since liquid had seeped all through it. I was not impressed with the client service and did not opt to pay $60 for an insert which I would not be able to use. Not impressed with this company at all. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I purchased this multi-cooker only a month ago, but its already become indispensable. I had recently been educating myself on the pitfalls of various cooking appliances I had in my home and realized that I had a slow-cooker with lead in its liner (!!!) and a rice cooker with non stick coating that was peeling off into the rice (!!!) both of which I had been using to cook foods for my family for years! I wanted to find a product to replace these two items that was safe and more organic, and in my research, I came across the VitaClay cooker. For me, I love that my food is only touching natural clay. I haven't tried the yogurt making feature yet - but it works great as a rice cooker (something we eat at least 2x a week) and as a slow cooker (its a little hotter than a traditional slow cooker, so you need to adjust the cooking times slightly). One of the best features is the delayed start option! You can wake up to nice oatmeal breakfasts or come home to wonderful casseroles. I would definitely recommend this product.