Aroma Stainless Steel Hot Pot, Silver (ASP-600), 5 quart

Thanks for perfect Chinese New Year’s celebration!
My wife is from Sichuan and Chinese New Year is a big deal. I’ve had hot pot all over China in restaurants both famous and fancy, and simple and basic. We bought this Aroma unit just for New Year’s. It’s what we’ve always been searching for. No worries about construction quality. The metal is a solid and confident gauge. It boils really fast! Temps are maintained at any temp easily.The center portion boils first and does stay very slightly hotter than the outer portion. But this is of no practical consequence or worry. A few reviews complain of liquid seeping from the center to the outer ring—NO PROBLEM! All works perfectly.We also prefer this to the other popular model it competes with because the outer portion holds about twice as much as the center area. Everyone around the table can reach the outer ring area easily. And, it’s not a difficult reach for anyone to reach the centers section if that’s where you cook your spicy soup, or a particular type of meat.Now that we have this beautiful pot, and a new meat slicer, hot pot will be happening all the time at our house!

Round separator a bit odd but still a good deal
Previously used an induction cooktop with pot. Switched to this due to annoying fan noise with the induction cooktop. Overall, I like this one better than the induction cooktop.Sound: While this one is quieter, it is not silent because the water boiling itself creates sound. However, you can turn down the power and it isn’t as annoying.Heating: This one seems slightly slower than the induction cooktop, but the pot that came with my induction cooktop was also smaller, so overall I don’t think there is a big difference. Unlike the induction cooktop, the heating is more consistent. The induction cooktop would turn on and off at lower temperatures, which made the water in the hot pot suddenly boil and then stop. Since this one uses an old school heating element, there is latent heat in the heating element even when it turns off.Pot: The round divider in the pot looks quite nice, but is not quite as easy to use. Soup ladles don’t quite fit in the outside ring. However, for the price I paid for this, I don’t have any complaints. If you are mostly using chopsticks, then it works fine. The round sides are probably slightly easier to clean than a pot with a center divider. The pot is thin gauge but a bit thicker than the one that came with my induction cooktop. The lid is quite hefty and seems unlikely to shatter. Unlike the pot that came with my induction pot, when water is boiling, the vent hole in the lid is large enough such that the lid does not bob up and down, causing splashing. One problem with the pot out of the box was that I noticed a lot of black residue in the edges where the metal has been crimped – this seems to be metal shavings from the factory. This residue is on the round center ring and on the lip of the pot. I’d recommend washing thoroughly.Base: The pot is indented on the bottom which allows it to fit snugly on the heating base. When the heating base is turned on, the pot cannot be easily removed from the heating base – I believe the heat plate on the base is expanding due to the heat which causes it to lodge into the indent in the pot. This seems like a nice side effect, as it prevents the pot from being knocked off. However, one downside of the base is that it is quite lightweight and only has 3 legs. Thus, you could tip it over the entire thing if you hit the pot with enough force. The heating base gets hot but does not burn.Overall I think this is a great product for the price, aside from the small issues noted above. I recommend it.

Easy, great, perfect for families, yummy food
Works great. We’ve had it for about a month and have used it at least once a wk. it heats up very quick. It stays warm the whole time. It does have a temp gauge that goes from low to high. I wish it had an off other than plugging it in, but that’s small. My kids and whole family love it. It’s been great for all of us to enjoy together. I plan on buying more for my family members as gifts. It’s very easy to clean, I love that you can remove from base.

Works great for hotpot
I am giving this 3 stars because while it worked well, there was leakage on the divider. It kind of negates the purpose if the spicy soup base leaks to the non-spicy broth and your guests starts asking for milk coz the non-spicy broth became spicy. There was substantial leak as well so if you are using the same soup base on both sides and is just planning on using it to divide the meats so it’s easier to scoop out, it would work well, but if you plan on putting 2 different soup bases, then it will eventually mix and will taste the same.

The heating part and the pot are designed separately and are easy to clean. This is a very clever design. It heats very quickly. It is divided into two parts, the middle and the outer part, where different ingredients can be placed. It is very convenient to use.

I’m using this for hotpot and have used it several times now. You can put two different broths in the two compartments, and there is no leakage. If you only want one broth, just fill the other compartment with water to keep the heat distribution balanced. The pot sits firmly on the heating unit. Easy to control the temperature, and when you’re done, the pot itself can go in the dishwasher. I’m very satisfied and I’m glad I bought it.

My partner and I are really happy with our hot pot. We’ve already had a few meals with it this week. It’s quiet and keeps a good temperature. I think the quality suits the price. The only issue that should be kept in mind is that the product needs a lot of power. We plugged it in at a point in the house that had a lot of other appliances plugged in and blew a fuse. If it is plugged in by itself though, we had no problems.