Slow Cooker Reviews

I've owned this Crockpot for approximately two years now. I've only used it maybe 5 times. From the time I got it, it's always gotten /extremely/ hot on the sides, hot enough to cause a burn. Fair enough, I'd just be careful with it.

Well today, on use #6, it blew out my electrical outlet. I moved it to another outlet, and it threw sparks when I plugged it in. Although it worked OK, when someone moved it, it threw sparks out the back. ...

I am disappointed that the Rival 3745SC that was listed as nearly brand new and only used once or twice, however it has a big dent in the side so that the handle is loose. I also expected a book to go along with it. I guess that's what you get when you buy used. Next time I will buy new. It also took a very long time to arrive even though it was shipped FedEx.

This crock pot has met all of my expectations. This is my first crock pot with a removable crock. VERY nice (1) to remove for washing, and (2) to prepare a meal the night before, put in the fridge, and then put in the holder in the morning & plug in. My only negative comment on this item is outside gets very hot. You could easily burn yourself by touching the metal part (not the handles). I knew this before I bought it, as I had read the other reviews. As long as you're expecting the hot outside, you won't be disappointed in the crock pot.

I bought this and found a duet cheaper. Thought I would cancel the order and it had gone through immediately. I waited until it got here to check it out against the cheaper one and found that the cheaper one was FAR better quality and had FAR more options. The sides are weak and would not hold up to my use and though the size was 1/2 a quart size larger ( I need larger) I could not see keeping something that flimsy. I kept the Rival duet slowcooker. I have a travel case and a regular pot as well as a duet pot. It has been wonderful! I found it for $35 at Sams.

I thought this monster slow cooker would work well with my large family. I have used crockpots for years. Well the problem here is that it cooks too fast. The high setting is like medium high on the stove. The low setting is like almost medium high on the stove. I put five pounds of chicken in at 4 and by 8 I had very done chicken. I put a stew in on low when I left for work. Eight hours later....things were so done that I had mush. Yes I filled it up past the halfway point. Veggies get done without an isssue in this appliance.
I use this slowcooker now like an extra pot off the stove. On high, it will bubble and boil. I use it to put tomorrow's dinner in at five thirty in the evening. By nine that same night, I have a meal for tomorrow. I am just glad I did not give away my old crockpot. Sometimes you need the food to cook SLOWLY. This should be named the Spacious Extra Pot that can cook tons of food quickly. There is nothing slow about this appliance.

I bought this crockpot after my Rival blew itself up (shorted out) in only a year and I decided I did not want to go Rival again. We are 4 big eaters and I thought this larger size would be all the better for my family. This crock is not for the faint of heart (or novice crockpotter). It cooks very fast and needs to be very full. I used to cook a 5 lb chicken in my old Rival in 8-10 hours, well 8 hours later in the hamilton Beach, I had chicken dust. It was almost comical. I lifted the chicken out of the crockpot and the bones remained. I should say that it still tasted very good - just the texture was very soft. If you're used to cooking in a smaller or Rival brand - you'll have to relearn all your recipes. On the plus side - it really simmers a fullpot of meat sauce or pot roast. No worry of anything being underdone with this baby. Crock pot experts go for it.

I've used this product 4 times and have two broken handles. I will be throwing this product away.

Deja vu! I thought I was reading my own words when I read the other customer reviews. Looks great, cooks okay, but the lid doesn't fit. It clanks and drips hot steam all during cooking. To top it off, the outside gets dangerously hot causing the handles to crack and break. Praise the Lord, I was not trying to lift the pot at the time the handles started cracking and breaking off in pieces. It could have been hot wassail all over grandma this Christmas! I'm thinking we may have grounds for a law suit. Reckless endangerment or something.

I love this slow cooker, it's just the right size for a family of 2 or 4. I use it to cook roasts all the time and they turn out excellent. Easy cleanup (except for some stains, which I cannot remove, that appear around the inside where the liquid has cooked all day, but not a big problem). Yes, the outside of the unit gets hot but you just know that from reading the manual and don't touch it with your bare hands!! I also like the lid, it's not as heavy and bulky as some of the other brands so I feel more confident while washing it.

I've owned Rival brand crock pots since they've been on the market and wanted to replace my old one with this newer chrome model. From the very start I had problems with the water perking out of the lid and creating a mess on my kitchen countertop and floor. I tried placing a glass bowl upside down on the lid to hold it down but still had problems. The temperature seems way too hot for a low setting. Often my meal has completely dried out and burned. I usually put a meal on in the morning to have ready for dinner in the evening, but now cooking with this crockpot is a fire hazard. I've gone back to my old crock pot and plan to write the manufacturer. I wish I had read these reviews before I bought!

Had the water problem as stated by other consumers. Water
puddle in front of slow cooker and on the floor. Slip and fall
danger. Not a small puddle at all.
ALSO MAJOR temp problem. On LOW, my meat cooked in about half the time. 6 hours (3.5 lb. pot roast) recipe was for 10-12 hours. The warm feature was set by the manufacturer,still continued to cook my meal. Dangerous situation to say the least.
The Hot temp on low and the water spewing everywhere happened with 2 different Rival pots. returned both.,

This Rival crock pot is my third or fourth crock pot. All of its predecessors eventually stopped working. However, none of them experienced the problem I discovered when I first used this model: The lid is too light to keep water from building up around the edge of the pot. Eventually the lid begins to float on a layer of hot water around the edge of the pot. I had to keep mopping the water away from the rim of the crock pot in order to keep it from overflowing onto the counter--and that water was hot, as it was condensing from steam. I was using the low setting, so I'm not exactly dying to find out how fast the water builds up when I set it to 'high.'

The next time I use this pot, I'll try setting some kind of weight on the lid. If you purchase this model, beware of hot water leakage, and adjust for the fact that whatever you are cooking in the pot is going to be a little drier than you might have expected because of the escaping water.

Slow cookers are great. This one isn't. Here's why:

-- Instead of a heatproof handle, like every other crock pot I've ever seen, this handle is metal and gets hot.

-- Lid doesn't fit snuggly, so food dries out and extra liquid is necessary. It also spatters on the counter, and can be messy.

-- The smart function is stupid -- you can't independently set the cook times and the reduced heat. It cooks on low for 8 to 10 hours or high for 4 or 6. Lot's of recipes have different times, and they can't be properly set in this pot. It's practically useless.

-- You can't set the "warm" function independently of the cooking functions. For example, if you were cooking in the kitchen and wanted to serve in the dining room, you couldn't move the pot to the dining room and set it to warm. The pot only does "warm" after it's gone through the whole cooking cycle.

Conclusion: Don't buy this slow cooker. Buy a different one.

Between my mom and I, we have tried 3 different Rival 38601 6-Quart Smart Pot Slow Cooker, Chrome models. All of them have cooked much hotter than our old crock pots. When I cook in this one, I don't start cooking until afternoon so that our dinner won't be overcooked. Everything always burns in the back and on the bottom. The front of the crock pot cooks better. I'll be returning this one and getting a totally different crock pot. Both my mom and I are very dissappointed in this particular model. I've refered to the manual and followed directions, and it still is not they're best model. I've tested it with boiling water. I can boil water just about as fast in the crock pot as I can on my gas stove! Not much of a SLOW cooker. I use the crock pot 2 times a week. So I am an experienced crock pot user.

I admit I was hesitant to buy this with all the negative reviews posted here, but after researching it, I did buy it and I'm glad I did.

I love coming home from work to the smell of something cooking. I now have three crockpots and they are used quite a bit. The programmable features work well for me. If something needs to only cook for 8 hours, and I won't be home for 10 hours, no problem, it goes directly to "warm" mode.

The other nice feature is the lid and removable crock go either directly to the dishwasher or if I'm really in a hurry, I can put the unused portion into the refrigerator in the crock that it cooked in.

For those others who have spoken of meat burning in the crockpot - duh! read the directions! Unlike other brands, the Rival crockpots are heated both from the bottom and around the sides. Therefore, you need to have meat or liquids touching the sides as well as the bottom.

It is true the outside of the crockpot gets VERY hot. That is of no concern to me. There are handles to lift it with a potholder. There really is no need for your hands to come in contact with it when it is that hot!

I really like this product and I think you will too.

I arrived home after my crock pot was on for 8 hours and witnessed the wrath of this crockpot! My hot sausage and spaghetti sauce was reduced to five pieces of sausage and black sludge! I was devastated and was sure this is a defect, but after reading these reviews, it's par for the course.

This is a horrible crock-pot. The first one I owned went back to the store for an exchange. I thought there was something wrong with it. Everything I cooked turned into a horrible, burned mess!! I exchanged it for the same one. Same problem. It cooks WAY TOO HOT!! This one is going back too. I think I'll have to find another brand.

It is so frustrating to come home thinking you're going to have a nice hot meal and instead find a shrunken up, burned meal. Or, my chili at a rolling boil on the "warm" cycle. My other crock-pot is a Rival and it's fine. This is frustrating!

I really like the controls on the Rival 38501 crock pot. They are easy to read and easy to use with one push of a button. The clean up was also very easy and user friendly. Another good quality of the Rival 5QT crock pot is the appearance. I had many compliments when we had guests over of how nice it looked.The downsides of this product are the safety issues. While we cooked in the crock pot for the day, I noticed that the longer the pot would stew, the handle on the lid would heat up. This made it very difficult to open up the lid while trying to serve. The clear lid is wonderful to see how your food is doing, but I think the handle needs to have a safer substance. Maybe a full plastic handle instead of the hard metal or steel (I am not sure what it is made of).
Overall the crock pot is very nice I just have to be careful with my children, guests, and myself when serving anything in it.

I bought 2 Rival Crockpots (slow cookers) over the last 2 months and I had to bring them all back because they were cooking too hot. A slow cooker should not boil on low and you should be able to cook on low and let it cook for 8 to 10 hours. Also, you should be able to slow cook a tough piece of meat and make it tender by keeping it on low. Your meal should not cook in 2 or 3 hours on low. I will never buy a Rival Product again and it seems that even the Programmable ones are defective.

The size is great. The presentation beautiful. The price was awesome.
On a "low" setting it boils..does not simmer. It is too hot!
Have tested it on 2 recipes and have had to throw one of them out..
I am experienced cook and was replacing a 30 year old crock pot!
Was a wee bit hesitant to do another one today, fortunately I came home early enough to salvage it!
It is definately not a "slow cooker"..6 hours cooks everything!
Am sure that the "wraparound " heat has alot to do with it!
Am in hopes that Rival will arrange a FedEx pickup and replace the unit!
I spent hours shopping for this!
Should have gone with the Farberware!

I have been using crockpots for 25 years. To me they are a must have in the kitchen. For what ever the reasons I have owned 4-5. This crockpot is as good as any I have ever owned. I like the removable crock, it makes cleanup a snap, and I serve the meat from it as well. I also make the meal the night before and put it in the fridge. I also like the high and low settings. If I get a little bit of a late start cooking something I turn it on high for a while, then let it cook on low. I love to make corned beef, red potatos and cabbage, and pot roasts in this crock pot because of its size. I also own a small one I use for beans, the crock is not removable and it is harder to clean. You must be careful not to get the components wet. I have seen the programable units, but I just plug mine in in the morning and dinner is ready when I get home.

I really hated the cheap plastic lid. This model's handles don't crack and fall off like the newer stainless steel models do. It is not big enough for a family, but great for a side dish or for a couple to use. It is lighter and does not get as hot outside like the newer models. However, cleanup is awful as the lid gets cloudy with time and the interior is tough to keep clean as the stoneware is welded in. I solved the problem with Reynolds oven bags, but they are very expensive! Save your money for a model where the crock can be removed for dishwashin and the food storage in the fridge under a heavy glass lid.

I got this one from a store, and when I went home I found out on the internet that this model was on recall. I called the Canadian number provided on the web-site, and the lady who answered told me the model is not on the Canadian recall list. So I asked if it were different from the US model, and she said it is just not on our list. I was still skeptical, so I went to the Canadian web-site, and sure enough the model number was on there too. So I called customer support again to figure out what is happening. The new representative refused to help me untill I open the box and give her the number at the bottom of the pot. I tried to tell her that I didn't want to open the box but she wouldn't listen. I decided to return it to the store and not buy any thing made by this company again.

After about three (3) uses, the handles on both sides of the crockpot cracked and became unusable. I droped a seven-bone roast in the middle of the floor and burned myself in the process. The only good thing about the "worst crockpot ever made" would have to be the durability of the "pot" itself. That's the only thing that hasn't broken on this ...waste of money!!!

I've had this crockpot for about a month, and have used it a half-dozen times. Here's my experience...

What I do like: The keep-warm/low/high heat settings work properly, and the heating element cooks uniformly. The crock can be removed from the unit for easy serving and cleaning. The food is well-cooked and tender. The oval shape is very nice to work with, although it takes up a lot of room on the shelf (my kitchen is quite small).

What I don't like: It is not a particularly attractive design. The construction appears to be pretty flimsy and I'm not confident that this item would stand the test of time, because it seems like it wouldn't take much to break it. The glass lid is very light and doesn't fit securely, resulting in more cooking odors than I care to smell for 8 hours at a time and a significant loss of moisture when cooking. I cooked the exact same recipe two days in a row (one batch to take to a sick friend) and because the lid sits haphazardly one of the batches came out verrry reduced.

I'm glad I saved the packing material because this morning I'm planning to box it up for return, hoping to find a more substantial and satisfactory unit.

Cooked one meal in this slow cooker and it was boiling in two hours! Lid was thin glass and seemed to be popping. Much too hot even on low setting. Back to the store with this cooker. If you want to cook for an army maybe this will work but for normal size meals forget it.