Hamilton Beach 33664 Six-Quart Slow Cooker with Folding Handles review

The Hamilton Beach 33664 is a six-quart manual slow cooker with folding handles. Its most useful distinction is storage geometry: the handles lift for carrying the cooker and fold down when the appliance is put away or counter space is tight. The cooking side is deliberately uncomplicated, with a dial and three heat settings. It is a good candidate for a household that wants a large oval stoneware pot but dislikes wide fixed handles. It is not a timed cooker, and the model’s manual cross-reference needs more care than its product page suggests.

Folding handles change the storage calculation

Hamilton Beach lists closed dimensions of 8.9 inches high by 14.7 wide by 11.5 deep. The page says the full-grip handles fold down for storage or to make more room on the countertop, then lift when carrying food. This does not mean the pot is light: the manufacturer does not publish an empty weight. Nor do the closed dimensions tell you the vertical room needed when the glass lid is open. Check the actual storage shelf and working clearance rather than treating the listed height as an open-lid measurement.

The crock is nominally six quarts. Hamilton Beach offers a six-pound chicken, a four-pound roast or up to 25 barbecue sliders as examples, and describes a serving capacity of seven or more. These examples provide a useful sense of scale but should not be treated as a guaranteed number of portions. It can suit a family meal or a party batch, while small recipes may leave a large pot relatively underfilled. The manufacturer’s slow-cooker guidance recommends a reasonably full vessel and earlier checks when the contents are only around half full. A six-quart label is not a recipe size or an instruction to fill to the rim.

Plan on checking and finishing the meal yourself

The product page says to add ingredients and turn the dial to the desired heat. Its three positions are Low, High and Keep Warm. No countdown, programmable cycle, delayed start or automatic switch to Warm is claimed. Use a separate timer and return to check the recipe; when thoroughly cooked, move the control to Warm for holding or Off. That routine suits people who prefer a simple control and can manage the finish. If the appliance needs to change modes unattended after a known number of hours, choose a model whose exact page and manual document that behavior.

The page’s Use & Care link goes to guide 840290407. That guide’s model table lists 33167, 33665 and 33666 in the SC07 group, but does not list 33664. Because the linked reference does not establish 33664 in its model table, this review does not transfer that guide’s wattage, electrical group or oven/microwave-safety claims to the folding-handle model. The exact product page confirms the cooker’s capacity, dial routine, dimensions, removable crock and glass lid, dishwasher-care claim and one-year limited warranty; the model-specific manual crosswalk remains an open point. If matching the included printed manual or identifying a replacement part, check the type/model/series label on the appliance and ask the maker to confirm the correct guide.

Cleanup and transport: keep claims narrow

The manufacturer says the removable stoneware and glass lid are dishwasher-safe. A product page’s care claim does not make the base washable; keep the electrical housing and cord dry. The exact page does not describe transport clips or a Lid Latch strap, so do not treat the standard glass lid as secured in a car. Its handles fold for carrying, but they are not described as a lid-lock system. If travel security is essential, compare the 33167’s published Lid Latch feature or a Stay or Go model with exact clip instructions. A carrying strap or folded handle alone is not a sealed transport container.

The page gives no verified empty weight, wattage, open-lid clearance or exact-use manual details beyond the page-level claims. That makes the model less appropriate for shoppers whose decision depends on a narrow weight ceiling, precise electrical load or stoneware oven use. Unknown facts should stay unknown; they are not evidence that the cooker is lighter, lower-powered or more oven-capable than a competing model.

Comparing three manual six-quart routines

Against 33665G, the 33664 exchanges a conventional fixed side-handle arrangement for folding handles and publishes a compact outer footprint. The 33665G and red 33666FG share the SC07 manual family with 33167, but no travel lock is documented for the 33665G/33666FG pages. The 33167 is the more explicit travel choice because its exact page lists the Lid Latch strap and its model appears in the associated SC07 guide. All of these are manual dial cookers rather than programmable machines; the meaningful decisions are storage, handle or travel hardware and the need to manage the end of cooking yourself.

Bottom line

Choose the 33664 if the six-quart oval size fits your usual meals and folding handles solve a real storage or carrying problem. Its published closed dimensions make a practical starting point, but weight and lid-open clearance still need checking. Avoid it if you require a timer, automatic Warm transition, transport-locked lid, confirmed wattage or a verified model-specific manual safety/care matrix. The manufacturer page is usable evidence for the listed controls and capacity, but the linked model-table omission is deliberately disclosed rather than papered over. This is a source-based assessment, not a claim of personal ownership or measured performance.