Thanks, Terry.
It is a neat unit. It seems to have almost everything one could want in a slow cooker of that size: gasketed lid that seals tight when the handle clamps are engaged, so it can be carted about without too much fear of leaks or losing the lid. The cord can wrap around the base (albeit the cord is rather short to begin with). There's a lid rest, which would be great for buffet service (or bringing unit to pot luck). A little clip inside the handle to carry an included ladle/spoon. The aforementioned temperature probe. Highly adjustable cooking times, and three temp settings: warm, low, and high. And it can be used simply like an original crock pot, with any of the three settings engaged without timeout. It auto switches to warm after either the time or the probe temp is reached.
The one thing it doesn't have, that some other brands have, is an auto switch over from high to low, such as high for an hour or two and then low to finish cooking. But I'm not sure this is something I'd always want anyway.
The finish is nicer than on the Rival. The stainless seems to be higher quality, with a near mirror (lightly brushed) finish as opposed to the matte brushed finish of the Rival. The side handles seem very sturdy, as does the lid handle, which has three fasteners. The two outer fasteners in the handle also function as steam vents, as does the hole for the temp probe.
So far, at four hours cooking on low, the chicken reached an internal temp of 130F. I'm guessing it will be a full six hours before 170F is reached, which is fine, if a little late in the day. I could have run the test on high but I really wanted to see what the results would be like if I set it in the morning, went off to work, and then returned nine hours later to something better than overcooked stew.
So far I don't see much boiling going on, which means to me this thing heats more gently than the Rival. Which in my book is a good thing. Boxed up the Rival, probably going to return it to Costco next week.
Oh, and the Rival really got hot underneath, so much that I was worried it would burn the formica countertop. This HB unit seems to stay pretty cool down below, so no such worries there.
This particular model is 33862. Sears had a similar model, the 33967. One might think the Sears model is more recent, but this one has a later date on the box (2009) and on the manual (which I downloaded from the HB website - the manual included was for the older 33966/7 models. I figure it was new enough (this spring) that they just threw in the last of the old manuals. They also included two lid holders. As far as I can tell, only one is used at any time, so I guess I have a spare ;-). The one difference between this model and the Sears version, that I've noticed so far, is that the control panel on the Sears model has visible screws at each corner. This one has extended a plastic shield to cover the screws. I can tell they are there, but it looks nicer to have them hidden.
