I just bought a black, 4qt "Crock Pot(tm)" slow-cooker. Turns out it
is actually made by Rival. However, I looked up some reviews on it
online (yes i should have done this first, i know). Turns out a lot
of people have listed a lot of complaints about it (some of them
pretty severe). I'm starting to see the same things with mine (lid
doesn't seal well, food burns, etc).

Are there any good quality oval slow cookers in the 4qt size? I'm not
looking for any major features, just the standard knob on the front
with "Off, High, Low, Warm". I'm reading online reviews about other
brands and styles in the 4qt size, but almost all of them have at
least one or two posts about them getting too hot. The Rival brand
name seems to be the worst about this starting about 2-3 years ago. A
friend of mine's mother says that 4qt-sized crocks are actually too
small to do any real 'slow cooking' in.

I'll gladly pay $40 for the unit that does its job over the $20 one
that won't. Are Kitchenaid products as good as they are priced?



Thanks for any help and advice.

-J

phaeton wrote:
> I just bought a black, 4qt "Crock Pot(tm)" slow-cooker. Turns out it
> is actually made by Rival. However, I looked up some reviews on it
> online (yes i should have done this first, i know). Turns out a lot
> of people have listed a lot of complaints about it (some of them
> pretty severe). I'm starting to see the same things with mine (lid
> doesn't seal well, food burns, etc).
>
> Are there any good quality oval slow cookers in the 4qt size? I'm not
> looking for any major features, just the standard knob on the front
> with "Off, High, Low, Warm". I'm reading online reviews about other
> brands and styles in the 4qt size, but almost all of them have at
> least one or two posts about them getting too hot. The Rival brand
> name seems to be the worst about this starting about 2-3 years ago. A
> friend of mine's mother says that 4qt-sized crocks are actually too
> small to do any real 'slow cooking' in.
>
> I'll gladly pay $40 for the unit that does its job over the $20 one
> that won't. Are Kitchenaid products as good as they are priced?
>
>
>
> Thanks for any help and advice.
>
> -J
>

I had a Rival that consistently got too hot, even on the "warm" setting.
I threw it and the baked beans it ruined in the trash and bought myself
a Hamilton Beech "Stay and Go" It has a digital control, but they make
slow cookers with dials, too.

I am thoroughly delighted with my HB slow cooker. The lid has a rubber
gasket so it stays put and doesn't leak like the hated Rival did. I
don't think you need to pony-up for a Cuisinart.

--
Janet Wilder
Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
Good Friends. Good Life

On Sat 20 Dec 2008 09:54:55p, Janet Wilder told us...

> phaeton wrote:
>> I just bought a black, 4qt "Crock Pot(tm)" slow-cooker. Turns out it
>> is actually made by Rival. However, I looked up some reviews on it
>> online (yes i should have done this first, i know). Turns out a lot
>> of people have listed a lot of complaints about it (some of them
>> pretty severe). I'm starting to see the same things with mine (lid
>> doesn't seal well, food burns, etc).
>>
>> Are there any good quality oval slow cookers in the 4qt size? I'm not
>> looking for any major features, just the standard knob on the front
>> with "Off, High, Low, Warm". I'm reading online reviews about other
>> brands and styles in the 4qt size, but almost all of them have at
>> least one or two posts about them getting too hot. The Rival brand
>> name seems to be the worst about this starting about 2-3 years ago. A
>> friend of mine's mother says that 4qt-sized crocks are actually too
>> small to do any real 'slow cooking' in.
>>
>> I'll gladly pay $40 for the unit that does its job over the $20 one
>> that won't. Are Kitchenaid products as good as they are priced?
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks for any help and advice.
>>
>> -J
>>
>
> I had a Rival that consistently got too hot, even on the "warm" setting.
> I threw it and the baked beans it ruined in the trash and bought myself
> a Hamilton Beech "Stay and Go" It has a digital control, but they make
> slow cookers with dials, too.
>
> I am thoroughly delighted with my HB slow cooker. The lid has a rubber
> gasket so it stays put and doesn't leak like the hated Rival did. I
> don't think you need to pony-up for a Cuisinart.
>

I must be the exception, then. I have two Rival CrockPots, a round 4-qt.
and an oval 8-qt. Both have simple non-digital controls. I've never had a
problem with either one.

Plebe

"phaeton" > wrote in message
...
>I just bought a black, 4qt "Crock Pot(tm)" slow-cooker. Turns out it
> is actually made by Rival. However, I looked up some reviews on it
> online (yes i should have done this first, i know). Turns out a lot
> of people have listed a lot of complaints about it (some of them
> pretty severe). I'm starting to see the same things with mine (lid
> doesn't seal well, food burns, etc).
>
> Are there any good quality oval slow cookers in the 4qt size? I'm not
> looking for any major features, just the standard knob on the front
> with "Off, High, Low, Warm". I'm reading online reviews about other
> brands and styles in the 4qt size, but almost all of them have at
> least one or two posts about them getting too hot. The Rival brand
> name seems to be the worst about this starting about 2-3 years ago. A
> friend of mine's mother says that 4qt-sized crocks are actually too
> small to do any real 'slow cooking' in.
>
> I'll gladly pay $40 for the unit that does its job over the $20 one
> that won't. Are Kitchenaid products as good as they are priced?
>
>
>
> Thanks for any help and advice.
>
> -J
>


Hamilton Beach. Whatever you buy, don't get a Kitchenaid. They cost a lot
and their pots crack.

Plebe wrote:
> On Sat 20 Dec 2008 09:54:55p, Janet Wilder told us...
>
>> phaeton wrote:
>>> I just bought a black, 4qt "Crock Pot(tm)" slow-cooker. Turns out it
>>> is actually made by Rival. However, I looked up some reviews on it
>>> online (yes i should have done this first, i know). Turns out a lot
>>> of people have listed a lot of complaints about it (some of them
>>> pretty severe). I'm starting to see the same things with mine (lid
>>> doesn't seal well, food burns, etc).
>>>
>>> Are there any good quality oval slow cookers in the 4qt size? I'm not
>>> looking for any major features, just the standard knob on the front
>>> with "Off, High, Low, Warm". I'm reading online reviews about other
>>> brands and styles in the 4qt size, but almost all of them have at
>>> least one or two posts about them getting too hot. The Rival brand
>>> name seems to be the worst about this starting about 2-3 years ago. A
>>> friend of mine's mother says that 4qt-sized crocks are actually too
>>> small to do any real 'slow cooking' in.
>>>
>>> I'll gladly pay $40 for the unit that does its job over the $20 one
>>> that won't. Are Kitchenaid products as good as they are priced?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks for any help and advice.
>>>
>>> -J
>>>
>> I had a Rival that consistently got too hot, even on the "warm" setting.
>> I threw it and the baked beans it ruined in the trash and bought myself
>> a Hamilton Beech "Stay and Go" It has a digital control, but they make
>> slow cookers with dials, too.
>>
>> I am thoroughly delighted with my HB slow cooker. The lid has a rubber
>> gasket so it stays put and doesn't leak like the hated Rival did. I
>> don't think you need to pony-up for a Cuisinart.
>>
>
> I must be the exception, then. I have two Rival CrockPots, a round 4-qt.
> and an oval 8-qt. Both have simple non-digital controls. I've never had a
> problem with either one.
>
> Plebe
>
I bet they are older units like ours. The new ones are "medium cookers",
apparently someone at rival was afraid of litigation.

"phaeton" wrote

>I just bought a black, 4qt "Crock Pot(tm)" slow-cooker. Turns out it
> is actually made by Rival. However, I looked up some reviews on it
> online (yes i should have done this first, i know). Turns out a lot
> of people have listed a lot of complaints about it (some of them
> pretty severe). I'm starting to see the same things with mine (lid
> doesn't seal well, food burns, etc).

Rival used to be the best, but have suffered badly as have many other
brands. Part is they have reoriented them to hotter (food kops result).

Look for one with a 'keep warm' setting. This is the old 'low' setting and
you can cook on it ;-). The current 'low' is the old medium or high. The
new 'high' didnt used to exist and is there for those who want to use a
crockpot like it was a burner on the stove.

> Are there any good quality oval slow cookers in the 4qt size? I'm not
> looking for any major features, just the standard knob on the front
> with "Off, High, Low, Warm". I'm reading online reviews about other
> brands and styles in the 4qt size, but almost all of them have at
> least one or two posts about them getting too hot. The Rival brand
> name seems to be the worst about this starting about 2-3 years ago. A
> friend of mine's mother says that 4qt-sized crocks are actually too
> small to do any real 'slow cooking' in.

Actually they are a suitable size for a family of 3 or 4. I have a much
larger Rival (8 qt?) and my main complaint is the back feet came off really
early (propped on wood coasters when I use it now). Other than that, it
works well on 'warm' with a few spates of 'low' depending on what I am
making.

We just sent out the Dashi and the sweet potato-fig dish to the church soup
kitchen, and Don just loaded in some peanuts for salt boiled peanuts for
Xmas. They take 2 days on low and are best not hurried. Right now they are
on the 'low' setting and tomorrow I will reduce to 'warm' for another 24
hours to finish them off.

> I'll gladly pay $40 for the unit that does its job over the $20 one
> that won't. Are Kitchenaid products as good as they are priced?

Dunno, but tell me if yours has the 'warm' setting and if you have tried
using it as the cooking temp?

I have a second 'baby crock' (as opposed to the bigger Momma crock). It
just has 'on' (plugged in) and 'off' (unplugged). It s suitable for quite a
few things and it's temp is the old 'medium' and today's 'low'. It's
suitable for making several small batch items and holds about 5 cups. In
it, I will make a simple carrot soup (carrots, broth, butter, minimal
seasonings, blender once all soft for a thick hearty soup). That same
recipe would make too much in the momma crock, but will take the higher
temps of the baby crock well.

"Plebe" wrote

> I must be the exception, then. I have two Rival CrockPots, a round 4-qt.
> and an oval 8-qt. Both have simple non-digital controls. I've never had
> a
> problem with either one.

Same here, but how long have you had it? The problem is with the newer
ones.

My first crockpot was a Rival bought in 1978 and lasted until about 2003,
mostly with dang near continuous use. Finally had to get rid of it as the
cord was starting to go (too old a unit to have the replacable cords and the
bottom was sealed in such a way as to make it almost impossible to repair).

I have heard good things recently on the Hamilton Beech units, but my 2003
or so Rival 'momma crock' is working well enough.

On Sat, 20 Dec 2008 19:52:37 -0800 (PST), phaeton
> wrote:


If you're serious about crockery-cookery, you might want to scrounge
up a copy of Ethel Lang Graham's book "creative crockery cooking".
IIRC, there is a section early in the book that describes slow-cooker
testing and some interesting comparisons. Unfortunately, this was
1988 and the book is out of print. On the bright side, there are used
copies available through Amazon. Another note. Ethel Lang (Graham)
appears to have been a daughter or something of George Lang, whose
Cuisine of Hungary is one of two cookbooks every person should own
if he/she aspires to cook Hungarian. My guess is that her Dad gave her
access to his recipes and she reworked them for the slow-cooker. I
have a copy and it's great.

HTH

Alex

On Dec 21, 7:37*am, Chemiker > wrote:
> If you're serious about crockery-cookery, you might want to scrounge
> up a copy of Ethel Lang Graham's book "creative crockery cooking".

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Sear...ockery&x=0&y=0

(or when the above URL breaks
http://tinyurl.com/9f699g
)

> appears to have been a daughter or something of George Lang, whose

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Sear...gary &x=0&y=0

(or when the above URL breaks
http://tinyurl.com/9cqsz3
)

The Ranger

On Dec 20, 7:52*pm, phaeton > wrote:
> I just bought a black, 4qt "Crock Pot(tm)" slow-cooker. *Turns out it
> is actually made by Rival. *However, I looked up some reviews on it

Hit your local thrift or appliance repair shops and get a Rival that's
older. The newer Rival models suck road kill through a straw. I
wouldn't recommend a Cuisinart either because of the style.

The Ranger

On Sun 21 Dec 2008 07:50:14a, cshenk told us...

> "Plebe" wrote
>
>> I must be the exception, then. I have two Rival CrockPots, a round
>> 4-qt. and an oval 8-qt. Both have simple non-digital controls. I've
>> never had a
>> problem with either one.
>
> Same here, but how long have you had it? The problem is with the newer
> ones.

My 4-qt unit is about 8 years old. However, my 8-qt unit is only about 2
years old. I don't find that it cooks particularly hotter on the low
setting than the 4-qt unit.

I admit that I've heard many stories to the contrary.

>
> My first crockpot was a Rival bought in 1978 and lasted until about
> 2003, mostly with dang near continuous use. Finally had to get rid of
> it as the cord was starting to go (too old a unit to have the replacable
> cords and the bottom was sealed in such a way as to make it almost
> impossible to repair).
>
> I have heard good things recently on the Hamilton Beech units, but my
> 2003 or so Rival 'momma crock' is working well enough.
>
>
>

On Sun 21 Dec 2008 06:34:30a, George told us...

> Plebe wrote:
>> On Sat 20 Dec 2008 09:54:55p, Janet Wilder told us...
>>
>>> phaeton wrote:
>>>> I just bought a black, 4qt "Crock Pot(tm)" slow-cooker. Turns out it
>>>> is actually made by Rival. However, I looked up some reviews on it
>>>> online (yes i should have done this first, i know). Turns out a lot
>>>> of people have listed a lot of complaints about it (some of them
>>>> pretty severe). I'm starting to see the same things with mine (lid
>>>> doesn't seal well, food burns, etc).
>>>>
>>>> Are there any good quality oval slow cookers in the 4qt size? I'm
>>>> not looking for any major features, just the standard knob on the
>>>> front with "Off, High, Low, Warm". I'm reading online reviews about
>>>> other brands and styles in the 4qt size, but almost all of them have
>>>> at least one or two posts about them getting too hot. The Rival
>>>> brand name seems to be the worst about this starting about 2-3 years
>>>> ago. A friend of mine's mother says that 4qt-sized crocks are
>>>> actually too small to do any real 'slow cooking' in.
>>>>
>>>> I'll gladly pay $40 for the unit that does its job over the $20 one
>>>> that won't. Are Kitchenaid products as good as they are priced?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for any help and advice.
>>>>
>>>> -J
>>>>
>>> I had a Rival that consistently got too hot, even on the "warm"
>>> setting. I threw it and the baked beans it ruined in the trash and
>>> bought myself a Hamilton Beech "Stay and Go" It has a digital
>>> control, but they make slow cookers with dials, too.
>>>
>>> I am thoroughly delighted with my HB slow cooker. The lid has a rubber
>>> gasket so it stays put and doesn't leak like the hated Rival did. I
>>> don't think you need to pony-up for a Cuisinart.
>>>
>>
>> I must be the exception, then. I have two Rival CrockPots, a round
>> 4-qt. and an oval 8-qt. Both have simple non-digital controls. I've
>> never had a problem with either one.
>>
>> Plebe
>>
> I bet they are older units like ours. The new ones are "medium cookers",
> apparently someone at rival was afraid of litigation.

My 4-qt unit is about 8 years old; the 8-qt unit is only 2 years old. I
haven't noticed that it cooks hotter.

I'll have to look into the Hamilton Beach ones. I think I saw those
at Target as well. I'm going to return my Rival if i can. Mine is a
simple one with the settings of High/Low/Warm.

As a few people have mentioned here, the main things I'm reading about
Rivals are that they used to be great, excellent products, but now the
newer (as of 2-3 years ago) crock pots:

1) Get too hot, as in they burn the food, burn the countertop and
eventually melt the plastic handles off the sides.
2) The handle on the lid breaks, and the lid itself tends to shatter.
(must be the inferior "new pyrex" like newer glass caseroles and pans)
3) The lid doesn't sit flush on the stoneware, causing much
evaporation.

There seems to be a conscious design change which caused the heat
increase (as someone mentioned, maybe a food-safety cop thing). Just
about all slow cookers they make have the same complaints. Pages and
pages of them. There is also an attempt to bring up a class-action
suit against Rival for recalling certain models, then telling
consumers to cut the cord off and send it in, only to stick them with
no replacement and the burden of disposing of the (now useless)
product.

It sounds like the Rival of today is a different company than the one
we all knew. Too bad.


How do the ones with the 'lock down travel lid' work as a regular slow-
cooker in non-travel mode? Any insight on how long the rubber gasket
will last, or if it falls off if it'll work as a regular cooker w/o
it? I don't know that I really need the travel feature, but i think
that is all Target tends to carry. I'm not opposed to ordering online
(amazon, etc) but if i can avoid it i will.

Thanks for the help and advice.

On Sun, 21 Dec 2008 08:31:58 -0800 (PST), The Ranger wrote:

> On Dec 21, 7:37*am, Chemiker > wrote:
>> If you're serious about crockery-cookery, you might want to scrounge
>> up a copy of Ethel Lang Graham's book "creative crockery cooking".
>
> http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Sear...ockery&x=0&y=0
>
> (or when the above URL breaks
> http://tinyurl.com/9f699g
> )
>
>> appears to have been a daughter or something of George Lang, whose
>
> http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Sear...gary &x=0&y=0
>
> (or when the above URL breaks
> http://tinyurl.com/9cqsz3
> )
>
> The Ranger

i find using angle brackets ( < > ) works just as well for line breaks:

<http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=George+Lang&kn=Cuisine+of+Hungary &x=0&y=0>

your pal,
blake

phaeton wrote:

> How do the ones with the 'lock down travel lid' work as a regular slow-
> cooker in non-travel mode? Any insight on how long the rubber gasket
> will last, or if it falls off if it'll work as a regular cooker w/o
> it? I don't know that I really need the travel feature, but i think
> that is all Target tends to carry. I'm not opposed to ordering online
> (amazon, etc) but if i can avoid it i will.

I have one of the lock down lid Hamilton Beach units. The gasket is fine
and I have the unit about a year. The gasket keeps the liquid in the
cooker from evaporating and it also seems to keep the odors out of the
house better. You don't lock it down when you are cooking.

Mine has the program and the probe. I think I've seen it for about $40.


--
Janet Wilder
Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
Good Friends. Good Life

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. I returned the Rival and got
4-qt Hamilton Beach 'lock down' unit with just the knob on the front,
like i wanted. I saw the ones with the probe and the elaborate
controls, but i guess i'm old fashioned or something. Heh.


Now that that whole hassle is done and over with, I need to decide
what to make in it. :-D


Thanks again!

phaeton > wrote in message
...
[snip]
> Now that that whole hassle is done and over with,
> I need to decide what to make in it. :-D

Easily remedied!

ERNESTO'S MEXICAN FOOD CHILE VERDE
Source: Ernesto's Mexican Food, Sacramento, California

INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds lean pork roast (cut into 1/2-inch cubes)
10 green tomatillos
2 tablespoons diced jalapenos
1 small onion, chopped, reserve some as garnish
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons canola oil

METHOD:
Place most of the ingredients in blender (except pork) and
puree.
In a small pot, brown cubed pork with three tablespoons of
canola oil.
Make sure to brown all sides evenly. This should take about ten
minutes.
Set entire group of ingredients into crockpot. Cook on low
setting for additional 4-6 hours; cook on high for 2-3 hours.
Add fresh jalapenos and chopped red onion prior to serving
as garnish.