My cheap slow cooker finally gave up the ghost after 7 years of service last Tuesday.

The ceramic insert cracked clean in half while I was making a 3-bean chili, so now I'm looking for a new one under $50 that can handle a full workday of cooking without a hiccup.

3 comments

3 Comments

dylan9761mo ago

That slow cooker dying right in the middle of a chili cook feels like a perfect metaphor for modern appliances. They're built to last just long enough that you feel you got your money's worth, but never through a second decade. Makes you wonder if anything is made to be fixed anymore, or if it's all just planned to break so you buy another one.

harperjackson1mo ago

Honestly it's not just appliances, it's everything now. My favorite pair of jeans got a hole right in the knee after a year, and they don't even sell the same fit anymore. Feels like we're stuck in a loop where nothing is built to last, so you're always just replacing stuff. It's exhausting and kinda wasteful when you step back and look at it. Your slow cooker dying like that is just the latest example of the whole cheap, breakable system we live with.

david_adams15d ago

Tell me about it, I'm on my third toaster in five years. Feels like they design these things to quit right after the warranty ends. At this point I'm just waiting for my socks to develop planned obsolescence.