Crock Pot Replacement

[kskenmore]

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday my 2 year old Crock Pot Thermoshield apparently had a thermostat failure while I had it at work in a chili competition. My chili won! Which was great of course, but soon after lunch time a burning smell filled the office and upon investigation my Crock Pot was going nuclear! It had melted a large plastic serving spoon into the chili and melted the plastic on the bottom of the Crock Pot. The chili was not just burned, but at top around the edges it was turned into black ash!!! Like it had been on fire or something! This Crock Pot had been used only about 4 times and was in "WARM" mode when it did all of this. Needless to say, I will NOT be buying another Crock Pot brand slow cooker.

I was looking at older units on eBay and saw many West Bend Cooker Plus units. Does anyone have any experience with these? Are they good or bad? If I buy new, what do you recommend? Thank you! I am looking for 6 qt or 7 qt.

 

[appnut]

An elderly woman, in her late 80s, early 90s, had her house burn severely a feww weeks ago. She attributed the fire due to her crock pot being on during the night. Everyone in the house had to jump from 2nd story windows.

 

[rickr]

Purchase an old Rival Crock Pot at the thrift stores, or on eBay. Make sure it is from the 1970's, or at the latest, 1980's. You can tell by the colour, what era you are looking at. True, the old ones did not hold as much, however, you can purchase two vintage ones for what you will pay for one new one. (and a new one just might burn your house down, so there's that....)

 

[polkanut]

You can check out my thread about the Hamilton Beach slow cooker I found in 2016.  If memory serves me right, I think I only paid $5.00 for it.  It works great!

I finally found a Hamilton Beach slow cooker w/ auto shift.

Today there was a small estate sale just 2 blocks up the street from our house so I decided to take a look. Well, I didn't need any rosaries, but the woman must have had about 3 dozen or so. But, amongst other things on the kitchen counter was this lovely. It looks very pristine, and...

www.automaticwasher.org

 

[kskenmore]

Thanks!

I think you guys have solid advice. An old one is probably the way to go! At least one made in USA from Rival. The only slow cooker I have found on Amazon that doesn't have any super bad reviews saying it died in 3 months or melted down, is the Calphalon Digital Saute Slow Cooker.

 

[rp2813]

Congrats on your winning recipe!

I'll add my $.02 to what's already been stated, and that is, thrift stores almost always have a few vintage slow cookers on the shelves and you can get them for ~ $10.  Forget about ebay, the prohibitive shipping charges, and potential for breakage.  Hold out for one that has a removable crock.  I'm not a fan of the West Bend unit pictured above.  I don't think that method is as good at slow cooking as a crock pot and they're kind of small.

 

OK, $.03 -- I suggest you go with a slow cooker that has the "auto-shift" feature, which starts out on high and then automatically switches to low after 20 or 30 minutes.  I know that Hamilton Beach and Farberware slow cookers have/had this feature.  I have a 6-qt. round HB "Crock Watcher" with auto-shift as well as an oval 6-qt. Farberware that also does auto-shift.  The Farberware is much newer but works well.  The HB is from 1990 or so and I'm fairly certain has the same heating system HB has used since the '70s.  Modern electronic controls on slow cookers are for the birds.  Mechanical controls with knobs will virtually eliminate the chance of nuked chili ever again.

 

Finally (we're up to $.04 now) another option to consider is a small Nesco type "Full Range" roaster oven.  They can be used like a crock pot and hold 6 quarts but also double as a small oven when needed, with thermostatic settings from around 175 to 450.  Set to 200-225 for slow cooking.  They run about the same price as a slow cooker at thrift stores, but aren't as commonly found.  I've attached a picture of one similar to mine.

 

[kskenmore]

Thank you RP2813. I think you are right. With shipping on ebay old Crock Pots and the like are often $60-$80! That Nesco is beautiful!! I really like the idea of actual temperature control. I will stop by a few thrift stores in the next week and see what I can find! Thank you so much for the advice.

How

 

[kskenmore]

Crock Watcher it is!

Hi Guys,

I went into the closest thrift store and found exactly what I wanted. A 6 qt Crock Watcher for $2!! The knob is missing but I already ordered one off ebay so total cost will be about $8. Cooked some delicious Taco Soup in it tonight and it worked like a charm. Couldn't be happier!

Now I am very curious if any of you know the difference between a Crock Watcher and a Crock Watcher II? I was trying to date the Crock Watcher I found and I know it is 1990 at the earliest because it says Proctor Silex on the bottom along with Hamilton Beach. It surprised me to realize they made it with the exact same pattern on the outside for so many years. I saw a Crock Watcher II on eBay that still said Scovill. What made the II different?

Anyways, thanks for the advice!

 

[rp2813]

Congratulations!  Excellent choice and a great score!

 

I have no idea what constitutes a II as opposed to a I.

 

I have a Dominion brand "Crock-A-Dial" that's a Scovill product, but it's clearly an early type with integrated crock.  I bought it primarily for its name, but also because I didn't have a 4-qt. size and it had Auto-Shift.  There were others from Scovill with catchy names, like "Simmer-On" but I can't remember the rest of them off hand.

 

[polkanut]

My 4 quart version dates from 1976 according to all of the literature that came with it. 

 

[polkanut]

This TV ad debuted in October, 1976.

 

[combo52]

Crock Pots ?

If you have an electric range just use a good sized pan with a tight fitting lid on a low heat setting.

 

Or 

 

Use a pressure cooker on a gas or electric range and get the same results in well less than a hour start to finish.

 

I have never seen the need to have a CP cluttering up my kitchen.

 

John L.

 

[dustin92]

Hmm.. Apparently Crock Pot hasn't fixed the issue.. My mom had one in the early 2000's that apparently did the same thing- filled the house with the smell of burning plastic, burned the contents of the pot and never worked again. Scorched the countertop too. Hers was a manual control model with no warm setting, 4qt or so with a beautiful dark blue-teal crock and some awful 90's floral pattern on the base unit. We still have the crock as it's a great large baking dish, although the lid got broken some time ago.

 

[rp2813]

Huh?

Last time I checked, stoves found in the average kitchen were not portable.  Just saying.

 

[ea56]

I have a 6 qt. Rival w/ a removable liner that I bought in 1987 which I used mainly for taking stuff to work for potlucks.  One thing that was especially good was baked potatoes for a baked potato bar potluck.  Everyone in the unit would sign up for something to either put on/in the potatoes or other items like a salad or dessert.

 

You just wash the potatoes, dry them, rub the skin with butter or oil and wrap them in foil and place them in the crock pot.  I got to work at 6:45 am and would plug it in and set it on high.  By lunch time the potatoes were “baked”, and were always a hit.

 

Then while Mom was still alive and we’d host large family dinners the crock pot was handy for keeping chili and other things hot for a buffet, like baked potatoes or corn on the cob.

 

But now I almost never use it anymore. It resides on a top cabinet shelf to avoid clutter.  I prefer using the stove and my Farberware Classic SS pots.

 

But for portability or an extra source of heat for a buffet dish a crock pot can’t be beat.  And simple is better than all these extra features on the new ones.

 

Eddie

[this post was last edited: 10/29/2020-00:29]

 

[combo52]

Ranges Are Not Portable ??

I have never seen a range where the cookware was bolted to the stove top, if you are going to a picnic you just take the Dutch Oven or pan or whatever to the picnic.

 

John L.

 

[kskenmore]

The office kitchen does not have a stove top. Usually the food is prepared the night before and kept refrigerated and then brought to work in a slow-cooker and heated throughout the morning to be ready for lunch time. It is always great to have a slow cooker. Also, some people have gas ranges and aren't thrilled at leaving those running all day or night.

Everyone's situation is different.

Wow! It is scary to have a slow-cooker melt down! Thankfully it is rare the damage extends beyond the cooker itself.

Also, I think I may have figured out the difference between the Crock Watcher and Crock Watcher II (or Simmon-On II). The "II" have a white milk glass "crock" instead of aceramic stonewear "crock".

 

[rp2813]

I agree 100% that room temperature chili would not win any awards!

 

I had the Crock Watcher with white liner.  I don't think those are milk glass, though.  Just some sort of white material used for the ceramic mixture to produce the liner.

 

[pierreandreply4]

Ricardo slow cooker

do not know if you have this product in the us but if you order from canada make sure to check if they will ship to your area if purchased online

RICARDO Digital Slow Cooker, 6 qt (5.4 L)

This crock pot is the must-have kitchen appliance for every busy family. The size of this crock pot is perfectly adapted to RICARDO recipes.

boutique.ricardocuisine.com

RICARDO Digital Slow Cooker, 6 qt (5.4 L)

This crock pot is the must-have kitchen appliance for every busy family. The size of this crock pot is perfectly adapted to RICARDO recipes.

boutique.ricardocuisine.com