West Bend 87905 Slow Cooker: The Science of Delicious and Convenient Cooking

There is an unspoken magic to a slow-cooked meal. The gentle warmth emanating from the kitchen, the rich, savory scent that promises comfort, and the fall-off-the-bone tenderness of a tough cut of meat—these are the small triumphs of culinary patience. The slow cooker, a staple in millions of homes, is the alchemical vessel that makes this possible, transforming humble ingredients into something truly special with the simple application of time.

For decades, the West Bend slow cooker was considered the gold standard, a testament to a time when kitchen appliances were built to last, often for a lifetime. But something has changed. The West Bend 87905, a product that carries the weight of this legacy, is a case study in a modern paradox: a brilliant design concept that is consistently let down by the realities of modern manufacturing. This is a story about a product that is both an engineering marvel and a profound disappointment—a perfect slow cooker that, in many ways, has broken.

The Alchemical Vessel: The Unseen Science of Slow Cooking

Before we delve into the object itself, we must understand the science it employs. The magic of “low and slow” cooking is a complex interplay of physics and biochemistry. At the heart of this transformation is the breakdown of collagen, a tough, fibrous protein that makes up the connective tissue in meat.[2] When cooked quickly at high temperatures, this collagen contracts, squeezing out moisture and leaving the meat tough and chewy.[3]

A slow cooker, however, operates at a different tempo. By holding the internal temperature of the food between 160°F and 180°F (70°C and 82°C) for an extended period, it encourages a kinetic process where collagen slowly dissolves into gelatin.[10] This gelatin is a rich, silky liquid that lubricates the muscle fibers, making the meat incredibly tender and succulent.[3] It’s a process of profound textural change, turning a tough brisket or a pork shoulder into a dish that effortlessly falls apart.[2]

Beyond texture, slow cooking is a masterclass in flavor fusion. The sealed environment of a slow cooker traps aromatic compounds and moisture, ensuring that flavors don’t escape but rather circulate and intensify, bathing the ingredients in a concentrated braising liquid.[11] While the high-heat Maillard reaction is off the table, the gentle, long-duration heating allows for a “subtle Maillard reaction” to occur over time, adding a savory depth that can’t be rushed.[11, 12] This isn’t just cooking; it’s a form of patient flavor development where time becomes a key ingredient.

A Legacy of Ingenuity: The West Bend 87905 Design

The West Bend 87905 is a product of this rich history of culinary innovation, and its design is what truly sets it apart. Unlike a traditional Crock-Pot, which features a heavy ceramic crock encased in a heating unit with elements on both the bottom and sides [4], the West Bend is a “true slow cooker.” It consists of a lightweight, removable metal cooking vessel that sits on a separate heating base with a bottom-only element.[4, 13]

This two-part design is an act of engineering genius. It allows the cooking pot to be used directly on a stovetop to brown or sear meat before being transferred to the slow cooker base.[14, 15, 16] This single-vessel process eliminates the need for an extra skillet and simplifies cleanup, making it a favorite among home cooks who appreciate the seamless “one-pot meal” experience.[4, 9] Furthermore, with the cooking pot removed, the heating base itself can be used as a convenient griddle for making pancakes, grilled cheese, and more.[17, 18] This multi-purpose functionality is the product’s greatest strength.[19] It is, in essence, a kitchen Swiss Army knife.

A Cautionary Tale: The Cracks in the Modern Heirloom

Yet, the accolades for its design are consistently overshadowed by a sobering reality. An overwhelming number of modern consumer reviews paint a picture of a product that no longer lives up to its legacy of durability. This is a bitter pill for those who, like many, owned a vintage West Bend slow cooker that lasted for 20, 30, or even 50 years.[8, 9, 5, 20]

The complaints are specific, recurring, and deeply frustrating. Users report that the metal of the cooking pot is now so thin that it bends inward under normal use, requiring manual reshaping to fit the lid.[5, 6] This thinness is also the likely culprit behind the “disturbing popping and clicking” sounds the unit makes as it heats up and cools down, a disconcerting symphony of thermal expansion and contraction that unnerves many.[5, 6] The temperature control, too, is often described as unreliable, with some units running so hot that the WARM setting boils and burns food, while others “will no longer boil food” even on HIGH.[6] Even the markings on the control knob, which indicate LOW, MEDIUM, and HIGH, are reported to wash off after just a few hand washes.[6] These are not isolated manufacturing defects; they are systemic flaws that reveal a fundamental shift in product philosophy from durability to disposability.

The Non-Stick Conundrum: Science and a Failure of Trust

Perhaps the most critical and concerning flaw is the premature failure of the non-stick coating. The purpose of a non-stick surface is to reduce adhesion between food and the pot, and the most common material used is Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), widely known as Teflon.[21] This material is hydrophobic and has an incredibly low coefficient of friction.[22] However, it is also part of a larger family of substances known as PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” which have been linked to a host of health issues.[23, 7]

While manufacturers have largely phased out the most notorious of these compounds, PFOA, the issue with the modern West Bend slow cooker is not just the potential for toxic release from overheating—it’s the outright, rapid failure of the coating itself. Multiple users report that the non-stick finish begins to bubble, chip, and flake away after just a handful of uses, even with careful hand washing and the use of non-metal utensils.[5, 6] What follows is a more alarming issue: rust appearing in the spots where the coating has peeled away, exposing the underlying metal.[5, 6] This is a severe breakdown of the material science that creates a potential health and safety risk for the consumer. When the very feature designed for convenience and ease of cleaning becomes a source of risk and frustration, it represents a profound failure of the trust that a brand has built with its customers over generations.

A Choice for the Discerning Cook

The West Bend 87905 stands as a testament to both ingenuity and compromise. Its design is undeniably clever, offering a versatile “one-pot” solution that addresses many of the inconveniences of a traditional slow cooker. But its modern execution serves as a cautionary tale. For the discerning cook, the decision to purchase this product comes down to a choice between its valued versatility and its demonstrated lack of durability.

This is the great challenge of modern consumerism. We are often presented with products that seem to solve a problem with a beautiful design, but whose underlying quality has been silently sacrificed in the pursuit of cost-effectiveness. In a world of disposable goods, the story of the West Bend 87905 slow cooker reminds us that a product’s true value isn’t just in its features, but in its ability to last—and in the trust, it earns. For some, the solution might be to seek out a different, more reliable model. For others, it might be to find one of the original, vintage West Bend cookers at a thrift store, a tangible piece of a more durable past.