3 kids and not enough time in the day to cook. i went to CR to get a review on crock pots and there wasn't anythign besides a recall back 4 or more years ago.

this is my first time so i am not sure that i am doing this correctly (or if it is proper). i just wanted to know if anyone had a crock pot that they use and love or have used and would stay away from.

thanks.

Sue I.

Hi Susan, I'm here looking for a crockpot that doesn't burn! Imagine my surprise that CR hasn't done a review!  Whatever you do, don't get a Rival Smart-Pot! You can't leave them for 8 hours or they burn; heat produced is the equivalent of a pan on a stovetop on medium or medium-high. Try to get something high end (i.e. over $100) or go to a Goodwill or Salvation Army store and get a really old one. I used to use crockpots all the time but my old ones wore out. I replaced them with this monstrosity from Rival and it's worthless.

 

Before you consider buying one, check it on Amazon.com and read the customer comments. That's teh best advice I can give.

Dear Steven,

thanks so much for taking the time to reply to me! Good to know about the Rival Crockpot and what to watch out for.  I will definitely take your advice on going to Amazon.com to see what other people are saying. If i find anything that i adore, i'll be sure to let you know!

Best of luck to you!

Sue

 

Joining the bandwagon, I am also looking for a CR review of slow cookers; how is it possible that in all these years this item has not been pursued?  I was heading out today to purchase a crock pot, but now I think I'll wait and check out that Amazon site as Steven suggested. Keep me "posted"...tks, jbc

I too am yet another individual in need of a good... no great crock pot! I have had several crock pots/slow cookers. Many of these units either don't maintain proper temperature for extended periods of time, don't warm food adequately, or are poorly made and the feet, handles, dials, or the lot quickly break. Thus leaving me with a broken kitchen appliance that will do a great job of obliterating anything that I place into it... no matter how many times I check it.

I would like a multi purpose crock pot that I can prepare Sunday's roast dinner in and turn around and use it for Monday Night Football's nacho cheese dip. Too many of these so called slow cookers have such a huge variation in between the heat settings that I either boil all the suckulance out of my perfectly marinated pork roast or burn my cheese sauce. The other extreme is that the lower settings won't even keep your foods in a respectful "safe zone temperature" let alone warm them in a timely manner.

+1 to the bandwagon!  My wife and I have had two evening meals in a row decimated by overcooking and temperature inconsistency.

Mods, add this to your test products ASAP!!!!  We need guidance!

I had a small cheepie 3 qt Rival for about 10 years that worked great. The plastic handles were cracking. Before that one I had several other slow cookers that worked great. Put a meal in and come back 6, 8 or even 10 hours later and the meal is ready.

I really wanted a slightly larger capacity so about three months ago I bought a Rival model # 33511 5 qt.

On the "Low" setting his slow cooker boils your meal dry burns it beyond consumption! The "High" setting is useless for slow cooking and brings things to a hard boil. This is the setting to use to ruin your meal even faster than cooking it on th low setting.  There's no way you can leave this cooker going for 8 hours without it cooking your meal to death. It also has a "Warm" setting which keeps the food only slightly above room temp. I surely wouldn't let the food sit at this setting for more than 20-30 minutes without fear of it spoiling. Maybe this setting would be ok for a cheese dip but not for anything like a roast.  I would highly recommend not buying this one!

Did Rival lose the formula for slow cooker design?

I'll be out today looking for a replacement today.

OMG.

I just joined.  For one reason only.  A Crock Pot Review.      

Akkkkkk!  I haven't bought one, and I'm already $$$ in the hole. 

 

Hey Helen and everyone else in this discussion thread..

I've also had a hankerin for a good Slow Cooker review but cannot find a decent site to help with my decision.  So, looking at old technology--i.e Magazines--I actually found something in one of my past Cook's Illustrated magazines  and in one issue they actually reviewed slow cookers.

The top-rated slow cookers are the All-Clad Stainless Steel with Ceramic Insert, the KitchenAid Stainless Steel, Cuisinart Slow Cooker and Hamilton Beach Programmable Slow Cooker with Temperature Probe. 

Hope this helps..but then again everyone is very opinionated about how the products work.. Hope that CR gets on the ball and offers a good unbiased test on these products!

 

I am searching the CR site for their crock pot review, which, I swear, was published sometime in the last 2 years. Could be wrong- but definitely am finding nothing on CR. If I see anything, I'll let you know.   I plan to check the saved magazines next and if I find anything, my knowledge is your knowledge.

I had to borrow my daughter's crockpot today since mine cracked during the cooking process!  Her's is a Rival, I believe, but my two chicken breasts for my husband and me looked pretty lonely in that huge crockpot.  A friend told me she recently bought a Hamilton Beach 3-in-1 Slow Cooker - White (33133H)  and loves it.  It has 3 separate crocks for cooking for two, four or six servings. I read reviews on amazon.com and the majority of them were very good.  It costs $49.99 at Target.

I realize Steven's post was last year, but I thought it is important to let y'all know to not necessarily trust an "older" model of crockpot that you might find at a Goodwill or other thrift shop.

We had a Hamilton Beach "Crock Watcher" that we purchased in the early 90's (1993 or 1994).  We loved it!... until earlier this year (2008) when the heating unit on it literally melted the bottom of it onto the countertop!  At least we were home when it happened!  Otherwise, there would have been a fire.

IMHO, I would be cautious about leaving an "older" crockpot on while I'm away from the house.

Also, another good place to read reviews is at cooking.com.  I understand that they only let you post a review if you purchased the item from them.

Folks,

You can find slow cookers here:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/appliances/kitchen-appliances/slow-cookers/slow-cookers/ratings/slow-cookers-ratings.htm

All crock pots work best when at least half full. This means small families need a small pot.

Rival has not lost the formula for making a great crock pot.  Nor has Kitchenaid lost it ability to make a great mixer; cuisinart a great processer; oster a great blender; whirlpool a great refrigerator, etc. etc. etc.  They have all CHOSEN to follow a DIFFERENT recipe by having their products made in China or elsewhere of inferior parts by people who could not care less about the quality of the product they are producing.  The old machines lasted for years if not decades but this is no longer true and the companies are living off of the reputations they earned when the produced goods under thier old "recipes."   Good luck but don't have high expectations.