Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I should have listened to the negative reviews here, before I bought this. First of all, it does not hold (inside the volume of space available in the ceramic "cooker" part, 8.5 quarts. When you leave the rim clear for the lid, it BARELY hold 8 quarts. I did a water test with a 1/2 gallon milk carton to measure this. Second, and most importantly, this thing is NOT a "SLOW cooker!" It is a FAST cooker! I followed all directions, I read the manual, and then I put together our family chili recipe and put it into the "slow cooker" to simmer until morning, thinking that in the morning, I would discover well simmered chili. Nope. I filled the ceramic portion, leaving about an inch from the rim, as the instructions tell you to do, having to alter my recipe to do so. I left the cooker on low, on a stable surface, not heat sensitive, and away from all disturbances. In the morning (about 5.5 hours later) I awoke to a "slow cooker" which had BOILED the food, and caused it to OVERFLOW the confines on the ceramic "cooker" part, onto the counter, over the lid, and even into the space between the ceramic "cooker" part, and the heating base under it. This created a huge mess, and almost inedible food. I have since cleaned the thing as best I could, and contacted Amazon for a return label. This hunk of junk is going back to the store. I will try a "slow cooker" from another brand and see if I get better results, because this thing is not a "slow cooker." Just to be sure it wasn't a fluke, I put just regular water into it, left the same amount of space as I had with the chili, and set it on low, and went to go do some house work. About 3 hours later, the water was BOILING, and steaming, and overflowing the "slow cooker." Save your money for a different product by a different manufacturer.