Cleaning a Crock Pot

[justjunque]

Hey all.
Because I have an affection for older appliances, a family member has requested that I try to clean up their somewhat vintage Rival Crock Pot.
I'm guessing it's probably 1990s.
I tried an interweb search, and all I could find was cleaning tips for the crock itself, or how to clean things like hardware IN a Crock Pot.
Here's what I'm looking for:
I need a way to clean cooked-on stuff off of the painted exterior, without damaging the paint. There's already one area on the back side where a chunk of the paint has been chipped off. I'd like to avoid doing any further damage.
Has anyone successfully done this? If so, I'd love some suggestions!
Thank you!

Barry

 

[tomturbomatic]

Take out the crock, if removable. Turn the can upside down on a towel and spray with something gentle like Simple Green and let it run down into the towel. Use a soft wet cloth to wipe the outside. Repeat as necessary.

 

[rp2813]

I'll second the Simple Green suggestion.  In my experience, it performs better than Totally Awesome.

 

Along with a toothbrush and some toothpicks.

 

[justjunque]

Thank you. I'll definitely try the Simple Green.
I didn't even bother to ask about the cloudy plastic lid. Short of some sort of polish, which I don't have, I figured there's no way I'm getting it clear.
And, I don't even know if polish would work.

 

[ea56]

You know I’ve seen that some people use toothpaste to polish the cloudy lenses on their car headlights. Maybe that would work on the crock pot lid too?

Eddie

 

[rp2813]

Eddie, more specifically, Crest toothpaste.  I used Crest on my 2003 Subaru's headlights with good results, and have seen advice on line that recommends Crest.  Some time later, I tried some other brand; I think Colgate, and it was disappointing. 

 

I think if that lid has gone through the dishwasher, even Crest may not help.

 

[easy]

Cloudy lid

I have a Rival Crock Pot as well. For the lid, I simply replaced it with a Pyrex
clear glass lid. They all used to come with these and they can be put in the dishwasher withuut a problem.

 

[DADoES]

 
Toothpastes, or some of them, have abrasives which is how/why they can clear fogged headlight lenses.  Magic Eraser (which is abrasive melamine foam) may also work, keep it wet when scrubbing.  According to www.sinoyqx.com and Wikipedia, melamine foam (and by extension, Magic Erasers) are simply a foam-like material made of a formaldehyde–melamine–sodium bisulfite copolymer. That's fancy science talk for a porous rough material.

 

[justjunque]

Yeah. I have no idea if the lid has been put in the dishwasher.
Actually, this is the first I've seen this Crock Pot. I have no idea what kind of treatment (or mistreatment) it's received over the years.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Well, I think we can safely assume that it was not abused by overly thorough cleaning.

When those wide 5 Qt crock pots came out there were two reasons for the plastic lids. One was weight. The second was the plastic had less thermal conductivity than glass so the low wattage heat was not lost through the glass, but traveled through to the center of the dish. Whether or not you can restore the plastic lid to its shining sparkle, keep it around for the cooking operation and use the glass lid for serving. Then somebody will drop it because it is heavy and hot and you will have to go back to the cloudy plastic lid anyway.

 

[sudsmaster]

I'll second the advice to replace the plastic lid entirely with a glass lid. This cooker was probably sold with the plastic lid for cost purposes, and little else.

 

[rp2813]

Good to know re: the magic eraser for headlight lenses.  I'll try that next time.  There will always be a next time because we gave up a two-car garage and workshop when we moved, and the more time the car spends outdoors, the quicker the lenses cloud up.

 

[DADoES]

 
Be aware that Magic Erasers can cause scratching if misused.

 

[justjunque]

Tom,

That made me laugh.
I'm the only one in the family who really seems to make an effort to keep things like appliances, vacuums, etc, clean and new looking. Everyone else just basically uses them, and keeps them clean enough to be sanitary.
I'm the "fuddy duddy" who they turn to when something needs a thorough cleaning. Then, I usually turn to you all for tips!
Sometimes I can help, sometimes not.
And, you're right about the likelihood of someone dropping the glass lid. I'm definitely going to stick with the original plastic one; whether it's clear or cloudy.
Maybe breakage is another reason the manufacturers switched to plastic.

 

[ea56]

Another thing about the original lid is that just because its cloudy doesn’t hurt the runnin’ of it none! Plus, those Pyrex lids are heavy and they get hot when the Crock Pot is in use. Someone at a potluck could grab onto that hot, heavy lid while they’re tryin’ to get a serving of the Chili, or whatever else is in the pot, yell ouch and drop that nice, clear Pyrex lid and have it shatter into glass shards that will spoil the whole damn pot for everyone else.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

Eddie

 

[ea56]

Another thought about Crock Pots. I had one of the original Crock Pots in the early 80’s that didn’t have a removable liner and it had a Pyrex lid, which of course got broken. I used to use the Crock Pot with the lid from my 2 qt. Revere Ware saucepan and it fit the Crock Pot just like it was made for it and worked just fine, plus it was unbreakable. Necessity is the mama of invention.

Eddie

 

[sudsmaster]

I was about to say, look for a stainless steel lid that fits. The crock pot won't care much.

 

 

[DADoES]

 
I have a "Fiesta" no-brand slow cooker with a 3.2 qt oval removable crock liner and glass lid with a chrome ring.  The side panel is chrome.  The crock, side handles, base, control knob/escutcheon, and lid knob are navy blue.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Glenn, Sounds beautiful.