Crockpot Help Needed (merged)

[Jeff G.]

Originally Posted by DramaQueen

Your first statement is right. Not everything requires 8 or even 6 hours of cooking. I have a Rival crockpot that I bought about 8 years ago. It cooks slowly and I can cook food in a 6 or 8 hour period with no problem. I bought a new one, just so I could have 2, a couple of months ago. It cooks wayyy too fast. Everything I put into the pot, filling it half or 2/3 full by the way, cooks in 3 to 4 hours.
I contacted Rival and this is what I was told by the customer service rep:
Because people tend to put ice cold food into a crockpot and because the pot brings the temp up very slowly, there was too much danger in food spoiling before it safely reached cooking temperature. Sooooo Rival upped the temperature and the speed with which it reaches that temperature. The temps used to be 250 low, 300 high. Now they're at 300 low and 350 high. Way too high as far as I'm concerned to cook for long periods. The reason people use crockpots is so that thay can go to work or wherever and be gone for 8 and the food is cooked when they get home. If it cooks in less than 4 hours, the crockpot is useless. But you still have to fill the crockpot at least half way up to keep food from burning or cooking too fast. If you have a small family, or usually make a small amount of food, then I would suggest using a 4 qt. pot. THE OWNER'S MANUAL TELLS YOU THIS.

Well,,,, that explains it.. Morons call it a slow cooker and it isn't. Get an electric roaster. You can set its temp where you want it.

[QSis]

Thanks, Drama, for the answer from the horse's mouth!

I wish I hadn't thrown my old crock away when I got my new one. It used to be so wonderful to toss dinner in my old crock, go to work, then come home to a perfectly cooked meal.

I'm bummed that I can't do that anymore.

Lee

[MsAnya]

I have heard a lot of people complaining about how the new Rival crocks cooks way too fast. I'm lucky that mine is still holding up after 6 yrs because I'm dreading getting a new one. You might check ebay for an older crock that doesnt cook as fast if you are needing a true slow cooker :)

[keltin]

Originally Posted by QSis

Thanks, Drama, for the answer from the horse's mouth!

I wish I hadn't thrown my old crock away when I got my new one. It used to be so wonderful to toss dinner in my old crock, go to work, then come home to a perfectly cooked meal.

I'm bummed that I can't do that anymore.

Lee

Actually you still can. Simply go to Home Depot or Wal-Mart and get an AC Timer. Plug your crockpot into that, and set the timer to come on 4 hours before you get home.

I used to use one of these timers for a plant light a few years back. The cats eventually decided I didn’t need that plant anymore , so I’ve come up with other creative ways to use that timer! Works like a champ!

[Caine]

My Krups rice cooker, in additon to it's rice cooking function and steaming function, has a slow cooker function. I can set the time I want the slow cooker to cook the contents, anywhere from 60 minutes to 9 hours, and then it will automatically switch to the "keep warm" setting until I turn it off.

But, I have an original, 30 year old Rival Crock Pot with a removable stoneware crock that takes anywhere from 4 to 12 hours to cook most things, depending on whether I use the LOW, HIGH, or AUTOSHIFT setting, so I've never had the opportunity to use the slow cooker function of my rice cooker.

[Barb L.]

Great idea Keltin, luckily I have older ones !

[DramaQueen]

Originally Posted by QSis

Thanks, Drama, for the answer from the horse's mouth!

I wish I hadn't thrown my old crock away when I got my new one. It used to be so wonderful to toss dinner in my old crock, go to work, then come home to a perfectly cooked meal.

I'm bummed that I can't do that anymore.

Lee

Well, first I get called a moron, then a horse's mouth. Hmmmm.

[Caine]

Originally Posted by DramaQueen

Well, first I get called a moron, then a horse's mouth. Hmmmm.

Be glad it wasn't the OTHER end of the horse!

[DramaQueen]

Originally Posted by keltin

Actually you still can. Simply go to Home Depot or Wal-Mart and get an AC Timer. Plug your crockpot into that, and set the timer to come on 4 hours before you get home.

I used to use one of these timers for a plant light a few years back. The cats eventually decided I didn’t need that plant anymore , so I’ve come up with other creative ways to use that timer! Works like a champ!

I wouldn't recommend plugging a timer to come on 4 hours before you come home because if you leave the house and are gone for a total of 8 or more hours, your food will be unrefrigerated for 4 hours or more. . This could cause more problems than it would solve.

[keltin]

Originally Posted by DramaQueen

I wouldn't recommend plugging a timer to come on 4 hours before you come home because if you leave the house and are gone for a total of 8 or more hours, your food will be unrefrigerated for 4 hours or more. . This could cause more problems than it would solve.

Interesting. I see your POV, but isn’t it the same difference as using the older crockpots. And with the timer, you could always set up to 3 on-off cycles so that it comes on for two hours, off for two, on for one, off again, on again, etc.