Vitaclay V7900-8 - the cooking mode on stew only cooks for about 15 mins and switches to keep warm mode even though I have set the cooking for 2 hours.

it is possible that you have misunderstood the instructions
for a slow cooker you have low medium and high
press slow cook and on low and in 8 hours the food is cooked
I see from your statements that you expect the cooker to be set on slow cook but cook at a high temperature fast
if it says slow cook --9 hours and the temp is 125 degrees , have you waited 9 hours to see if it is cooked as the slow cooking process is by the gradual build up of heat in the container that is not expelled by radiation to the air
in a pressure cooker , that build up of heat also builds up pressure and so it cooks better
other solution--- if it is not right return it for a warranty refund or if out of warranty , junk it and get a different make

The Cook setting is High heat for cooking the Warm setting is Low heat just to keep it warm after cooking is done, really hope this helps?

1 Use setting 1 (warm #1) only to warm rolls and muffins. At 140 degrees Fahrenheit, this setting should not be used for cooking.

2 Use setting 2 (warm #2) to keep cooked foods warm until they're ready to be served.

3 Use settings 3, 4 and 5 (low, medium high) for cooking. The setting you choose determines the length of time the food will cook. A typical meal with meat and vegetables needs 7 to 10 hours to cook at the low or #3 setting, 4 to 6 hours at the medium or #4 setting, and 2 to 3 hours at the high or #5 setting.

All West Bend slow cooker models eventually simmer at the boiling point, or 212 degrees. The setting simply determines how quickly the cooker will reach that temperature.

300 watt is not a huge consumption of electricity, depending of course on, how often, how long and how high temperature.

Regards

Here are the settings

Turkey, fresh, 10 - 14 lb, 350° F, 15 to 17 minutes / pound

A roster is a roster... when it comes to cooking they all cook by time and temp.

Time and temps can be found in this rival manual:
http://www.rivalproducts.com/manuals/MANUALS/RO180_43_56431310.PDF

Here are 2 recipie sources:
http://allrecipes.com//HowTo/how-to-cook-a-turkey/Detail.aspx

http://www.food.com/recipe/perfect-whole-turkey-in-an-electric-roaster-oven-339453

With any search engine (google, yahoo et al) use this search phrase for more recipies:

Roaster oven baked Turkey

Thanks for choosing FixYa,
Kelly

This slow cooker has 3 settings LOW, HIGH, & WARM
When you plug the slow cooker in the display should show a "0". When you press the "COOK TIME" button, the display should go to 1 then 2 then 3 etc. each time the "COOK TIME" button is pressed. If 1,2,3,4,5 or 6 hours are selected, then the slow cooker will operate on the "HIGH" setting. If 7,8,9, or 10 hours are selected, then the slow cooker will operate on the "LOW" setting. To start the cooking cycle press the "ON/OFF" button. To interrupt the cooking cycle at any time, press the "ON/OFF" button. When the cooking cycle is complete, your slow cooker will automatically switch to the "WARM" setting. If the "ON/OFF" button is pressed when the the digital display shows "0", then the slow cooker will automatically start on the "WARM" setting.
If the "COOK TIME" button does not change the display numbers then unplug the slow cooker and hold both buttons down as you plug the slow cooker in. Keep the buttons pressed for a count of ten, then release them and the slow cooker should work correctly

The difference is the time and how warm it cooks. Low cooks a slow, lower heat - cooks 6-8 hours. And High is a faster cook at 4-6 hours. I tend to use low for stews and chilis.

The manual basically says... This slow cooker has 3 settings LOW, HIGH, and WARM. W hen you plug the slow cooker in the display shows "0". When you press the "COOK TIME" button, the display should go from 0 to 1 to 2 to 3 etc. each time the "COOK TIME" button is pressed. If 1,2,3,4,5 or 6 hours are selected, then the slow cooker will operate on the HIGH setting. If 7,8,9,or 10 hours are selected, the slow cooker will operate on the LOW setting. To start the cooking cycle, press the "ON/OFF" button. To interrupt the cooking cycle at any tim, press the "ON?OFF" button. When the cooking cycle is complete, your slow cooker will automatically switch to the WARM setting. If the "ON/OFF" button is pressed when the digital display shows "0", then the slow cooker will automatically start on the WARM setting.
If the "COOK TIME" button does not change the display numbers, unplug the slow cooker. Hold down both buttons and plug the slow cooker in and keep them pressed down for a count of 10. Release the buttons and the slow cooker should work now.

Heat intensity is warm, 1, 2, 3 (highest)
How to operate: Plug in. Set timer to amount of hours to cook. Press the SELECT button to scroll thru 4 settings - "warm", "1" (Low), "2" (Medium)", "3" (High). Once the desired cooking temp selected, press the "round circle" power button to begin cooking. The time display will now start to count down to "0:00" When the cooking time has been reached, the slow cooker will automatically go into "warm" mode for a maximum of 6 hours, then automatically turn off. NOTE: Not recommended using the WARM setting for more than 4 hours at a time. NOTE2: To stop the cooking process at any time, press the "round circle" power button. The unit will default to "0:00" time but the indicator light in the "3" high position will remain on.

You should keep the lid on as much as possible. You are correct; once you open the lid, the liquid inside can quickly lose temperature at a rate of 10-15 degrees per minute.

Additionally, taking the top off allows steam to escape, which reduces the point of cooking in a slow cooker (cooking in a relatively closed system, with the steam condensing back to water and flowing back into the broth).

It's not doing a whole lot to the flavor (aside from causing the stew to thicken with the loss of water), but it is definitely causing the cooking to take longer than it should.