We discovered the same thing - could not control temperatures properly in newer slow cookers.
We first considered the slow cooker alternative from 360. All made in USA and nice components.
However, we are wanting something to make bone broth and this requires larger pots than will fit on this cooker base. This item works fine for small portions. But we need something to make stock in, as well as some larger roasts for braising. This means we will need a larger base than that one, because the 360 base will ONLY work with the two pot sizes they sell with it ( 2.3 qt and 4 qt).
Therefore, we decided to order the Vollrath Mirage Pro 59500P induction counter top base with larger, heavy duty cookware (Demeyere stock pots and 360's larger stock pots). This base has a heating element size 10.25 but some people are using pans up to 12" wide.
We had wanted the Cooktek induction countertop as the base since it is better, but the cost was outside our budget. The Vollrath is not quite as expensive, but is almost as good.
We could not use a cheap induction cooker since they have auto-shutoff after a few hours (can't override it) and they have the same problem most regular slow cookers have -- lowest temperatures are too high (usually like 150F for induction and over 200 for typical slow cookers). But these higher end commercial induction cookers go down to like 80 or 85F and can be finely controlled and have no auto-shutoffs.
So for smaller portions the 360 slow cooker is an option, but we found an alternative for larger dishes.
We discovered the same thing - could not control temperatures properly in newer slow cookers.
We first considered the slow cooker alternative from 360. All made in USA and nice components.
However, we are wanting something to make bone broth and this requires larger pots than will fit on thi...