Breville Avance Programmable Meal Maker SLC80

Happy user – Had mine for 6 years, maybe longer. for no problems that I can make out except high setting can get a bit too hot and overcooked a meal once. Overcame any potential future problems by using the combined high/low function and halved the time for each.. Have not found this feature on other models. Maybe medium is supposed to take it's place.… Read more

Regularly fill cooker, set time and just leave until dinner time as warm feature stable temperature and food does not dry out.

Recently found the lid doesn't bounce too well on a tiled floor so happy to purchase same from a dissatisfied user.

Broken after little use – Have owned the slow cooker for about 2 years I think. Haven't used it for about 4 months I would think, was working fine and then I put a meal in last night - thinking I was clever and all and got up to find it hadn't cooked at all. tried again on the high setting for 4 hours - still nothing. As far as I know it has just sat in the cupboard up… Read more

high, nothing has damaged it or caused it to stop working...very annoying.

I also thought it cooked at really high temps but haven't never had a slower cooker I have nothing to compare it to. Big bowl size, good heat if you are watching the time and checking the food. Broken for no reason after little use. cooks too high a temp and spits out the side of the lid on high.

I TOOK IT BACK FOR A REFUND – Following my review yesterday, I did a bit of Googling for more info. I found quite a few unhappy users who were complaining about excessive cooking temperatures, resulting in serious overcooking on the LOW setting. I decided I had better do some time and temperature tests before my one week refund option ran out. Just as well I did!! I… Read more

did some chicken on the LOW setting using the 6 Hour setting recommended in the User Manual.

I checked temperatures and progress every half hour. It was cooked to perfection in 2 1/2 Hours!!!

I didn't bother to wait to see what it would be like after the full 6 hours!!! However I think we may all be certain that there isn't any possibility that it would have improved!

So I took the chicken out to cool. And I took the cooker back to the store for a refund.

I will do a bit more homework before deciding what to buy as a replacement.

BUT ...... I do know it won't be a Breville! And I will go for something less pretentious. Timer easy to understand and set. Limited Settings. Can't manually bypass or select WARM setting. Cooked much too quickly on LOW setting.

More like a Fast Cooker than a Slow Cooker – I have had a slow cooker before,(many many years ago, 1970's, gorgeous burnt orange model! Very avant grade! ) and I could start the meal in the morning, leave it all day to cook on low, and it would provide a delicious meal ready to serve at the end of a busy day without so much as a stir. Unfortunately, this is not the case with this model. I… Read more

liked the idea of being able to program in a start and finish time and that one can even combine the high and low settings and have it kept warm when finished. However, this is not an option anyway, as the high setting is virtually the equivalent of a rapid boil, and the low setting is akin to a steady simmer. I would go so far as to make the assumption that the low setting is really the high setting, and that the low setting required for a real slow cooker to do the job well, is non existent in this model.

Having said this, and realising its shortcomings, I have been able to cook many delicious meals in it, (makes an absolutely wonderful pasta ragout sauce and great curries) but there is no way that I could walk out of the house for any significant length of time and leave it unattended. (which completely goes against the concept of what a slow cooker is meant to allow one to do!) In fact the longest I have left this cooker on is three and a half hours on "low" (with occasional stirring required) and the meal is fully cooked. Leaving it longer would overcook it and completely dry it out, and unfortunately, this has happened a couple of times.

I thought mine was a bit of a lemon, but having read some other contributions to this post it appears to be a common problem.

I do wonder whether Breville are aware of this? I have several Breville appliances, and find their products are generally very reliable. In fact, I have just purchased a Breville BEM410 Scraper Mixer after reading the favourable reviews for this mixer on this site:) Liked the idea of programming in cooking times and high, low or combination settings. Thermostat is set too high, thereby negating any benefits to be had in programming. Cooks meals too quickly. Need to stir, even on low setting, and add more fluid to prevent drying out of meals. Cannot leave unattended.

Cooks well but not really something you want to leave unattended – We have cooked a variety of meals with this slow cooker. Lots of people I know put all theirs in and go off to work to return to a cooked meal at the end of the day. With this one you really need to be able to check on it occasionally as it cooks faster than you would really expect for a slow cooker - we also tend to put more liquid in it to… Read more

stop meat drying out. I like the convenience of having it all bubbling away in one pot but would recommend that you not leave it on while you're away from the house for long periods of time. Inexpensive, wide variety of meals you can cook in it. Not a 'slow' slow cooker, cooks faster than you would expect but does produce delicious results if you keep an eye on it.

OK – I love this slow cooker and the meals I cook with it usually turn out well with the meat tender and juicy. After reading some of the other reviews, I would be interested in trying a different brand if mine ever breaks down so I can see the difference in cooking. But for me, I am happy with the Breville and have had no problems with the timer or… Read more

heat settings. I like that it is programmable and that it has the low, high and keep warm features. The bowl is removable and easy to clean. I haven't had many disasters with this slow cooker, but I now realise that the low setting is quite a high heat. I usually add alot more liquid than they recommend as I have had one meal cook too dry after following one of the recipes in the book.

Too Slow! – My experience is the opposite to others I have read, this slow cooker is way too slow! It does not come up to temperature let alone boil! Dishwasher safe Takes longer to cook than it should

Terrible – Thanks to all the reviewers of this product from 2008, I wished I had read these before I bought this product. I purchased this slow cooker in May 2009. Have used it 4 times since, 1 without supervision, dinner had burnt within 4 hours of an 8 hour low temperature recipe (using the Breville cook book) builder had to turn it off to save the house… Read more

from burning down! At its lowest temperature food boiled and liquid splattered onto the bench top. I had read and followed every word of the manual provided and understand the low/high combinations. Like previous reviewer "I can now only use it under complete supervision which defeats the purpose of having it". Harvey Norman said they would replace it with the same model. I have lodged a query with Breville. It's capacity, and timer The lowest temperature is boiling

Terrible – This was a birthday present given to me in June 2010. I have used this product only 4 times and each time it ruined the meal I was preparing. It boils all the food to mush and burns the food on the bottom - and this is on the low setting. Not safe to leave unsupervised. I would not recommend this product to anyone. None for this brand and model. The temperature at which it cooks at is far too high.

Excellent – I use this slow cooker all the time, but for those people who are unsure of this product I have one bit of advice, read the instructions very carefully. This is a great machine and I love it, but I had to read it about 5 times before I fully understood how it works. There are a few great features of this slow cooker, high, low, a combination… Read more

setting of high and low, and warm function. But to understand these functions you need to read the book, and use sensible recipes. Like any appliance, it will take a while to learn to use it, but once you do, you can cook a variety of recipes and begin experimenting.

Terrible – We returned the first one we had because it boiled the food and the replacement we have just picked up is just the same. Back she goes to be replaced with a different brand. Looks good and has an easy to clean bowl. The automatic function would be useful if the the cooker worked properly. This slow cooker is actually a fast cooker which boils rapidly on the low setting. Cooking to the recommended time results in puree.

Terrible – I used the slow cooker twice, once for a stew and once for a pot roast. Both times the temperature was too hot, the stew cooked at a rolling boil, and the roast was so overcooked it disintegrated. I took the slow cooker back to the shop and exchanged it for another but the replacement was the same - the stew was boiling vigorously on the low… Read more

setting and was very overcooked after 6 hours. I would not recommend this slow cooker Simple to use, good instruction/recipe manual. It cooked at too high a temperature on low setting. The meal was very overcooked after 6 hours on low.

Terrible – I too have found that this slow cooker is not a slow cooker at all! It was boiling what ever I put in it (on the low temp). Completely useless. I returned it and exchanged it for a Sunbeam 5.5 litre which is wonderful - a genuine slow cooker. It is programable - which is a handy feature Food cooks way too fast

Good – I like the convenience of this product. It was reasonably priced and is simple to use as well. I use it along with my Breville rice cooker, for a great meal. This meal maker is easy to use and had a heat function and timer. It looks great in my modern kitchen. I like the recipe book that came with it as well. I have several Breville Avance… Read more

appliances and find them very reliable. The crockery pot is easy to clean. None so far - I have not had any problems as yet - I only use this cooker every fortnight or so.

Terrible – I have had this slow cooker for 2 1/2 years and in that time used it about 10 times. For the last 6 months it has been very unreliable. I set it to high for 4 hours and within an hour or two it switches itself to the keep warm setting or it jumps suddenly from 6 hours to 2 hours or even worse - off. I can now only use it under complete supervision… Read more

which defeats the purpose of having it. I also found that everything was overcooked if I left it for more than 4 hours on low. Being my first slow cooker I thought this might be how they work until I came on here and noticed other people are saying the same thing.

I wish I had realised what a terrible slow cooker this was when I first bought it. I paid $90 for something that is now completely useless and when it was working it wasn't that great either. I rang Breville and they have said it is too old to do anything about it - so I guess they don't think it is a problem that the electronics only last 2 years. Avoid this model - the more it can do means the more that can go wrong. It's looks Overcooks food

Is unreliable to use after a couple of years

Terrible – Don't both with this brank go straight to Sunbeam I had a Sunbeam slow cooker which lasted over 15 years. I thought I would try a different brand, big mistake. From now on I will stick with what I know works. Stylish, that's about it. Started of great but each time I used it (which was a total of 10 times over 2 years) the heat got lower and lower until I came home from a very long day at work to find my dinner still raw and uncooked.

OK – I am hesitant to recommend this slow cooker. My first just stopped heating one day (out of warranty - of course) and I thought that I had a dud so I bought a new one and that one has today just packed it in midway through my beef stew. Exactly the same problem as last time and again out of warranty. Despite having a stack of spare ceramic… Read more

bowls, I think I may buy a different brand. The programming function; its looks. It's reliability or lack thereof!