Sunbeam SecretChef HP8555 Questions & Answers

Unfortunately not. It's the one feature missing (and something we missed in an earlier slow cooker we had). It does have a "warm" function though, which stays on for around 4 hours once your food is cooked which helps.

No DandJ it does not have a preset progam facility which is a pity. What attracted me though was the searing capability which I find to be good and suits my purpose.

Yes we have owned about 6 of these Secretchefs over the years and have had to replace under warranty each one due to the thermostat not reaching past 100 degrees, ( this problem seems to occur within 12 months)Sunbeam was contacted about the problem but wouldn't replace this one because it was out of warranty. It must be known to Sunbeam but they have not fixed the problem, as much as we love this product for its versatility it's now only useful as a expensive slow cooker, we are not buying another Sunbeam Secretchef.

You have a dud. I had the same problem with bubbles when I seared. Sunbeam would not acknowledge although I found out they had replace the manufacture of the pan because of this problem. I bought from Good Guys and they replaced with a new item. When using the new one I found out how it should be. Really gets hot and sears off meat. Your cooker was probably old stock. Kick up hell. Val

I’d contact Sunbeam

Sorry, but i don't think the coating can be fixed.

Have never tried this sorry, so can’t help.

Didn’t ever have this problem. As it’s so new I would get straight on to the Sunbeam number. Sounds like a dud. Only thing I can think of that might cause this is a power outage that might confuse timer but they would know.

My 3 yr old appliance has bubbled and flaking off, probably into food. No assistance from Sunbeam.

Yes you can. Make sure you put the meat on top of vegetables such as potatoes, to keep the meat off the bottom of the pan so the juice from the meat won't make it too wet.
It will certainly make the meat tender, however if you want to achieve the crackle on the skin, unfortunately you would need to put it in the oven for around 30 minutes after the meat is cooked to get that crispy skin. Slow cooker don't have the function for that.

Unfortunately you can't put the insert or lid in the oven, the instruction manual says not to put on stovetop in microwave or in an oven.

The reply is no,perhaps you could contact Sunbeam to ask if they can help with a solution.

Thanks sussanne and jensco,
I just brought it home and can see that the handles are rubber which would obviously melt in the oven.

There is a keep warm function so if you were to set in on low for say 6 or 7 hours it will automatically go into this mode once the cooking has finished.

Hi. I used mine 4 times and could see no issue with the safety. But then I didn't leave it on for 8 hours (luckily).
As regards to knowing if it is old or new stock, I would start by contacting Sunbeam Customer Service. Make sure you have the model no. and probably the serial no. before you call. I would also suggest emailing rather than calling so that you get a written response.
May I stress one point to you? When you want to slow cook, you need to set 'slow' then 'low'. Otherwise it will default to 'high'. Well that's what mine did. Maybe I hadn't read the instructions properly, but my attention was drawn to this important step by the salesman at David Jones when I called. As I said in my previous post, I believe it would make sense to default to 'low'.
The next time I made sure I selected 'low', but it still cooked on 'high' and the liquid was bubbling in 2 hours, and the lamb shanks were tough.
Having said all that, I should say that a friend of mine has the same cooker and swears by it, and her mother has bought one too.
Maybe I was just unlucky, but going by the number of similar posts, I am not alone.
Good luck with it, I hope it is successful and even joyous for you.
Maybe you could post a report when you have had a chance to try it out.

I find it all depends on the quantities that you are cooking. If you cook a smaller than 'serves 4 - 6' kind of quantity then yes, the food can dry out and be over cooked. If I'm cooking a leg of lamb, the 8 hours on slow is absolutely perfect. Ive cooked smaller cuts of meat and its terrible. You just have to work out how it best works for you...but on the whole, I have found I can leave it for the 8 hours and not worry about it. Just depends on what you're cooking. Hope that helps :)

Thank you but unfortunately there is only 2 of us. Quite disappointed in the product overall

Someone else on this feed was told by Sunbeam that it had been addressed and new stock would be ok. The only question left is are you buying new or old stock. Guess you could ask the store you are purchasing off but who knows. Sorry I can't be more helpful - good luck - apart from this issue, it's a great appliance.

I was told by Sunbeam that they had changed the coating just prior to Christmas 2015 but as Grace123 has pointed out, you hope you are getting the new stock. I have purchased a new one myself but got added warranty, just to be sure. It is a great product though so I hope they've got this sorted.

Sunbeam has responded to quite a few posts BUT NOT THIS ONE!

I don't think there is a function to delay the start of cooking - I'd also be really worried about any food or meat sitting in the slow cooker at room temperature for 4 hours prior to cooking as you could end up with food poisoning. I totally understand where youre coming from - they need to make a slow cooker with a refrigeration mode until the set time to start cooking. Now there's a thought :)

As far as I'm aware you can't. I have thought about purchasing a plug in timer and using that to delay the start time by a few hours but agree that you wouldn't want to delay more than an hour or two if meat coming out of a freezer bag should be ok but would want to be careful. There is a keep warm function once the slow or high slow cook function has finished but I think it only lasts a few hours. We used to use the plug in timers all the time at my work to start hot towel cabinets a few hours before opening hour to ensure hot....relatively cheap and reliable

Hello - yes the handle does get really hot - always use a towel to pick the handle up.
With the washing - sometimes hand washed it, sometimes dishwasher. It is dishwasher safe according to the instructions.
Hope this helps :)

I can't say that I remember the handle ever being hot. With the insert, I always hand-washed it and never put it in the dishwasher (even though it says you can) but the coating still bubbled off. However, I have contacted Sunbeam who have told me that they have changed the coating on the insert just before Christmas 2015. I have just purchased another of these slow cookers as I love the size and it has been a fabulous slow cooker (besides the coating). I did however purchase an extended warranty on it, just to be doubly sure. I personally liked it enough to give it a second chance. Hope this is helpful.

The handle/lid does heat up when the slow cooker has been on for a while due to the heat/condensation. I don't see it as an issue I'm just careful when I lift it off to use an oven safe glove when it is extra hot to the touch but usually I can pick lid up without any protection - probably a good practice though to use a tea towel as per another suggestion

RRP is $199 but shop around as you will find it for much less at some stores

I am one of the people who bought this cooker and it does not "slow cook". I was told by Sunbeam to return my cooker, but the second one was no better. I was not able to get the information from Sunbeam as to whether there are many faulty cookers or whether it is a design fault. There seems to be no difference in temperature between high and slow cooking and if someone left it on for 6-8 hours,the meal would be overcooked. I would really like Sunbeam to say what the problem is.

I agree with the above comment. It does not slow cook and, in my humble opinion, is just not suitable to leave on all day without supervision as it cooks too fast even when on low. Sunbeam keep saying to talk to its help desk but what's the point when nothing changes. I would like to know why a 'slow cooker' is in fact a 'fast cooker on slow'. I can only use mine when i am at home to check progress. The whole idea of buying this product was to have a meal ready when I get home from work. It is way too ready and not nice even when on 'keep warm'. Sunbeam continues to dodge the issues and I will keep telling people not to buy this expensive piece of cookware. So don't buy it unless you can be home to turn it on and turn it off. A very disappointing purchase.

I'm curious to know whether you both were cooking large (4+ serves). Lorry below believes that their cooker was cooking too fast because it wasn't full enough. Trying to decide between the Breville ikon (sear on stove) and this Sunbeam. I must say that my recent experience of Sunbeam's customer service makes me fear what would happen should there be an issue with the slow cooker.