Slow Cooker Reviews

As a slow cooker, this works, but the non-stick removable pan has little bumps along the place the lid fits. This means there can't be a anything close to a seal when the unit on turned on. So you get lots of steam escaping, and the recipe you're trying to cook dries out.

I have always found cleaning these pots a pain in the neck because you can't use steel wool or any abrasive cleaner and yet food can stick to it just like any pot that is non-stick. I just about ruined my previous crockpot, which I had for only about a month. How? Well, the instruction booklet had a recipe for rice pudding which specified,in bold letters and numbers, to cook FOR 8-10 HOURS ON HIGH. Yes, I should have realized it was a missprint, but it took 3 days of soaking and scrubbing to get it reasonably clean, and its been a pain to clean since then. Enter the West Bend 85105...

This pot has a 5-quart capacity (which for me is perfect), and is oval in order to accommodate larger cuts of meat. It also has a light which tells you it is on, and has 3 temperature settings - high, low, and "keep warm". The 6 or 7 meals I've prepared in it so far have all come out perfectly, and best of all, IT WAS EXTREMELY EASY TO CLEAN...DIDN'T EVEN HAVE TO SOAK IT!!!.

So, the bottom line is unless you need a smaller/larger pot, or enjoy soaking and scrubbing, or would like one with more features (duet, programmable, cool touch, whatever), I would highly recommend this pot to anyone! BTW, IMO these features, except for perhaps cool touch, are nothing but gimmicks.

I was very excited to see a high tech crock pot under my tree, only to find out that it is difficult to manuever. The menu screen is hard to read and I don't believe there is over 200 recipes, its like uh...what are my options? Not only is there little choice really, the buttons don't exactly function well. You have to push them very hard and you have to be a magician to find that working spot. If you have lots of time, this unit is for you.

I have to disagree with a lot of the negative reviews - I really like this crockpot a lot....the shift-to-warm feature is wonderful, as are all the programmatic functions. The lid fits just fine, and the pot is nice looking as well (yes, it's kind of big, but it's supposed to be! It's all pot, not additional packaging). I do agree that the recipes should be in a book, but, with that said, the recipes I've made so far were lousy anyway - very bland. So, the recipe function is an add-on that may be nice on principle, but not a reason by itself to buy the pot. Buy it for its digital capabilities, design and volume.

After two failed attempts with the other Rival slow cooker, I got this one for Christmas. What a difference! While the other crock pot was a slow cooker in name only, this did the job extremely well. I've used it twice on the low setting, and both times the food was cooked perfectly. The recipes were easy to follow, although it would be nice if they were also in a seperate booklet so they'd be easier to preview. Clean up was a breeze. I'd highly recommend this!

I purchased the crock-pot on sale at a local store and when it was opened on Christmas morning and set the crock into the heating unit it rocked. The lid fit well, but the crock rocked no matter which way it was placed in the heating unit. When I went to exchange the item, the store did not have any in stock, nor did any other store in the area. Now I loose the $5 I saved on the sale or hope a store receives a shipment in soon.

First i must say that I bought this crock pot on a whim. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT. It's a great size for my family and there is not one dish that i haven't made that hasn't tasted delicious.
I like the design because it is very sleek and i like that it has the print on it, because it matches my kitchen theme. If your looking for something inexpensive,affordable & reliable-this is the pot for you. It is very easy to clean and manage. the warm setting is the best, if you're not going to eat your food immediately when it is done.

I got this crock pot as a wedding gift and love it. I just throw in some frozen chicken (yes, frozen, can you believe it?) in the morning and by the time I come home from work in the evening, dinner is ready. I have used it a few times since we got married only 6 weeks ago. It has made my life much easier since I don't have to work so hard to get dinner ready when I get home from work. Cleanup has been easy so far. A quick hand wash and it is ready to go for the next day. My mom owned one of the original Rival Crock pots and it lasted almost 30 years. She has since purchased another Rival and is very happy yet again. I hope my Rival lasts as long as hers.

I purchased this Crock Pot for my wife for her birthday and we have been very unhappy.

At first I thought we should just wait until we got used to it before being too critical. We have been using it once or twice a week for over 4 months now and I still don't like it.

The lid does not fit well. When the lid is on the pot, there is a gap on both sides that allows steam to escape. Every recipe that we make requires much more liquid than it calls for since most of it evaporates. Even recipes from the Rival cook book require more liquid. Along with the escaping liquid is escaping flavor. Recipes that we have loved for years are much less appetizing than they were with our old pot.

Vegetables are not cooked properly. We cut our vegetables to a reasonable size as we did with our old pot, but even after 10 hours on low, they are not properly cooked.

In short, this pot produces half-cooked, dried out food. Buy at your own risk.

We will be replacing ours as soon as I can find a better one.

I love this crock pot. Loved the fact that it had two seperate crocks, one of which being divided. That was a nice surprise when I opened the box. I also love the fact that it comes with the travel bag. I have had no problems with mine. The glass lid is a bit heavy and cumbersome. But all in all I love it, and will order more if they are available to give as gifts!!

Amazon shipping is amazing. I received this item in 4 days from across the country. I was very impressed and happy with how fast I received it. Thanks so much Amazon.com!!

my crockpot and i have been all around the world. she has cooked many a feast and is still going strong. however, last time i had her out i broke the handle into pieces and i need to purchase a new one. i am having no luck; does anyone have any ideas? like i said i have moved around a lot (thank God for the travel bag) and i seem to have lost my booklet so i am rendered helpless for the time being. any leads would be greatly appreciated. enjoy your crockpots!!!!

Ok, I'm a little confused as to what to do with this product. When I ordered it, I was under the impression it had seperate heat settings for each of the compartments. It doesn't. Apparently, the smaller compartment is used for "side dishes" that cook for the same time and at the same termperature as the food you put in the larger compartment. When you prepare soups, roasts or stews, you can use the smaller compartment for the vegetables, which tend to cook differently than meats. Who wants to cook these seperately...I'm no Emeril, but wouldn't you want to cook everything together to blend the flavors? And the instruction booklet specifies that, under penalty of death, YOU MUST USE THE CROCKPOT WITH BOTH COMPARTMENTS FILLED! Wonderful.

The crockpot itself seems to be sturdy as befits a Rival product, and I'm sure it cooks evenly and consistently, but I found the recipe guide that came with it very scanty (IMO).

So, like I said, maybe I'm missing something here, but I find the idea of a "duet" crock pot to be little more than an expensive gimmick.

The divided dish cooker would be a great product if the manufacturer would be willing to provide some recipes for how to use it.

The model I purchased actually came with a 6-quart crock, and the divided dish was included as a bonus. The cookbook that came along with it had plenty of recipes for the big crock but not a single suggestion for the divided crock. So I visited their website to see if perhaps some companion recipes could be found there. No luck.

I then e-mailed their customer service department TWICE to request recipes, mentioning that I had looked at their website and did not find what I was looking for. Both times I was told to go look at the website for recipes.

One of the representatives actually claimed that there were lots of recipes for side dishes on the website. Well, there are none. She also suggested that I purchase any of the cookbooks from their e-store. Yeah right. I should take her advice and spend some more money when she couldn't even give me correct information about the recipes on their own website. It was disappointing that their customer service people couldn't do any better than that.

So, be warned if you buy this product. If you are comfortable inventing combinations of foods on your own to cook in the divided dish, more power to you - I have no complaint about the product itself. But I would have been vastly more satisfied, had the manufacturer only gone the extra mile and offered some suggestions of companion recipes to get me started, so I'd have a sense of quantities and cooking times. And their customer service left a lot to be desired.

It's a reliable performer. It is well made and attractive, with a very sturdy lid that stays in place. Temps are evenly maintained, and each compartment can be set for a different temp. My only disappointment is that it gets very warm on the outside, enough to cause a burn.

I received this as a wedding present in June of '03. I waited quite a while before using it since it is only my husband and I. I did, however, use it many times over the holiday season when we were entertaining. I was very impressed with it. I use it all the time now. Easy to use if you read instructions, easy to clean. I think its great.

I wanted to start cooking at home, but I work long hours. I started researching recipes and found slow cooker recipes for many dishes (not just chili and soup). I bought this Crock Pot and I love it. I've owned this one for about a year and use it at least once a week but usually 3 to 4 times a week. I couldn't imagine not having it and have made counter space for ours. I love tossing in the ingredients in the morning and coming home to a cooked meal. It's kind of like having a chef! The crock pot will cook for the alloted time and then reduce the temp to warm. I've left mine on for up to 14 hours and still had an excellent meal when I got home.

We received a 3-quart slow cooker at our wedding- fine when there's just 2 of you to cook for. Add 3 more to your brood, and there's a problem- the standard meal for a family of 5 ends up becoming a bubbling crude flowing onto your countertop- as if I didn't have enough to clean up already!

When it was time for an upgrade, I decided to choose a slow cooker with a more modern, sleek look- no cutsey country flowers or cranberry colors for this girl. The Rival 5-Quart slow cooker is a dream- the stoneware pot itself is removable (something I didn't have on my first crockpot, so I couldn't toss it in the dishwasher)for cleaning or transporting. The coolest feature is when your food is done cooking, this cooker automatically changes to a "warming" setting, thereby keeping your food piping hot without scorching it. To date, every meal I've cooked has come out beautifully. I am, however, keeping my eye on the digital readout for the timer- you would think the heat from the cooker would crack it or something. So far, so good, though. This is the perfect slow cooker for anyone who's sick of crock pots with a "grandma" motif- check this one out! It's a bit pricier than most of the slow cookers out there, but well worth it in my opinion.

I bought one of these pots when I decided I needed a larger crock pot. As a lover of push buttons this seemed right up my alley. As I was in a hurry, I really didn't read the instructions like I should have.

Upon getting the pot home I discovered that it's basically like a regular crock pot, only there are pushbuttons for the high and low heat. However, these pushbuttons are tied to specific times for the crock pot to run, e.g. 'low' for 2 hours and more, and 'high' for 2 hours and more. You can't program it to come on at a certain time, or do anything but follow their notion of how long your food should cook.

Additionally, as some other reviewers have noted, the glass lid is a very poor fit. If you have the temp cranked up, steam comes pouring out one side or another, and water collects on the rim until it runs down the side of the heating cover.

My third complaint was that the crock pot was not hot enough. I've had seeral, and the low setting the temp should be just below a simmer. The high setting should be hot enough to eventually boil. I never stuck a thermometer inside while it was cooking, but certainly it never did boil beans at all, even after hours unattended!

So, this is why I'd recommend you look elsewhere for a medium/large crock pot: poor construction, terrible lid, won't heat t

The lid is NOT supposed to fit snuggly, some steam has to
be allowed to escape. This is not to say that their are not some
mutant lids out there, but these people are barking up the wrong
tree. And, don't think your lid is about to explode either, unless you put a crack in it. Handle it carefully and it will last forever.
This is a slow-cooker, but not for slow-learners.

I received this crock pot as a gift and used it once on the low/10 hour setting. I'm lucky that I was home for damage control because it started scorching my stew after 3 hours. Terrible product.

I use this crockpot quite often, and love the fact that I can spend 15 minutes in the morning and then not think about dinner again until I'm hungry that night! I have two minor complaints. One is that it gets very hot on the outside; melts nearby butter, for example. My old, non-programmable pot had a cooler exterior, which I miss. My only other negative comment is that it is kind of limited in terms of timing. You can choose 4 or 6 hours on high, or 8 or 10 hours on low, and that's all. I'm sure those settings are sufficient, but I would like to have a little more flexibility. The fact that it goes to a Warm setting automatically when the time is up is great! I wish my programmable pressure cooker did the same!

This pot's been a breath of fresh air in MY life! I'm in the "kids' taxi driver after my work day ends" phase. I just prepare the meal in the pot the night before and refrigerate. Next morning, I turn it on and get home to dinner-and without the preparation mess! I like the options of cooking up to 6 hours on high heat or up to 10 hours on low. That way, if I don't get the meal in the pot until later, I'm still ok. Then, if I need to do errands after work, the pot switches to warm after it finishes cooking. For my last meal, I brought some dried beans to a boil, then let them sit overnight. Next day, I cooked them on low for 10 hours and voila! The beans were cooked and the meal delicious.It DOES get hot on the outside,but that's not a problem for me. The removable inner ceramic pot makes cleanup easy do. I'm not usually this domestic, but I have to say I LOVE it!

I was surprised to see so many people were disappointed with this crockpot. I absolutely love mine. I love that it will cook and automatically set to warm once the cooking time is done. I have no complaints and find it to be very useful. I would highly recommend this brand for anybody interested in getting a crock pot.

We bought this crock pot to replace an older Rival pot that doesn't have a removable stoneware insert, in hopes that it would be easier to clean and use. I loved the look of this pot as well as the convenience. Since we've been happy with the construction and performance of our older Rival pot, we picked a new one from the same maker.

What a mistake...apparently, Rival's design and quality control are no longer what they once were. The outside of this pot heats up far more than our older pot does, to the point that it is a burn risk. Plus, the lid is very lightweight and doesn't have a "lip" to send condensation back into the pot. Instead, it slowly spits boiling hot water all over the counter. Since we have a toddler and safety is a major concern, this pot went right back to Target! We've been looking for a better model, but all the Rival pots seem to have the new flimsy lid and thus probably the same spitting hot water problem. Not sure what to suggest, except not to buy this pot.

I recieved this crock pot as a wedding gift over a year ago, and I absolutely love it! I've used it to make pot roast, chili and chicken & dumplings, and it has performed wonderfully everytime! Mine sits on the counter and I have not had to lift it a lot, but have had no problems with the handles. I would highly recommend this crock pot, the stainless steel looks great, the black crock is easy to clean and doesn't stain, it's easy to use and lets me cook dinner while I'm at work!

Still works great after one year. The lid fits well. I like the dark crock pot because it doesn't stain - the white ones can stain. No problems with handles or with the pot getting too hot - I do use pot holders if I'm moving the cooker around.

Believe everything that has been said about this crockpot before this review, because it's all true! It has burnt everything! It is the worst piece of equipment in my kitchen.

I received this item as a shower gift. For the first two years it worked great. However, over the past two months I have spent about $50 on roasts that were overcooked and as hard as a brick. At first Ithought it was the cut of the roast, but now I have discovered that crock pot no longer cooks on low.

I have owned and/or used several Rival crock pots and think they are wonderful. This one was a waste of money. It is almost aways in use. The handle on the lid started to crack and come loose. It finally broke off and the glass lid shattered on the floor. I haven't been able to find a replacement lid, so I've been covering the crock with aluminum foil when it is in use.

I purchased another Rival crock pot (Rival 6-Qt. Slow Cooker) and have been VERY happy with it. It doesn't have all the fancy accessories (but they are available separately), but I haven't had any problems with it.

I have also noticed that food will ocassionally get over cooked because the pot gets too hot. If you are cooking meat or something in a gravy sauce, it will burn. I've noticed that I have to water down thicker sauces if I don't want them to burn or I have to constantly watch them and keep stirring them. This takes away from the convenience of this item.

The 'smart-pot' is great and I found that it is available separately, I am definitely going to get that attachment.

The dipper is great for cheese dips or for dinner for one.