Need Crock Pot Recommendation

I have a Rival Versaware. I love it!!! You can brown your meat on the stove in the crock pot and then transfer it to the base that has warm, low, high. It comes with a wire grid that you place on top of the burner and then you can brown your meat on the stove. This saves a step and a dirty pot. I have had it for several years and I love it. It does cook pretty hot on high. If you are cooking a dish and leaving for work, cook on low. It was a gift, I am not sure where it was purchased. My guess is Macy's or Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Happy Cooking!!!

I like my fry-daddy. You do have to make sure you and your kids understand it gets hot on the outside. This would make it not good for kids --if you do not watch them or they are always right there with you. I like it because I can fry food or crock in one--saves space.

Well, I used a small old rival until the plastic lid broke. The only thing I didn't like was that I couldn't take out the pot. Then I got a large Rival with two different pots, one with a division so I could have two different foods in it! I really love that one and then I purchased a smaller one last year because sometimes I would like to have two and sometimes I would like to have a smaller pot. I use them both several times a week.

There's a Rival that comes with three different sized bowls and they are really cute. That is probably a really good purchase for those who want an option of cooking a small amount or a large amount (because I have found that an appropriate size crock helps in slow cooking.)

S., mom to 4 girls with no time to stand over a stove!

For Christmas last year my husband bought me the Hamilton Beach programmable slow cooker. It's been wonderful! You program it for the time you want and then when it's done it turns to a warm setting. It has a meat thermometer probe that you can insert through a small opening in the lid and then when the meat reaches your desired temperature it turns itself off. Also there are locks on both sides to keep the lid in place for traveling.

Good luck,
K.

go to the blog called "a year of slow cooking"- she cooked for 365 days in a crock pot- she loves all crock pots and knows what to recommend - btw she has some awesome recipes!

http://www.target.com/s/ref=sr_ln_3?ie=UTF8&searchVie...

Hamilton beach is a wonderful brand - but I have to say that the Rival I have - I NEVER had a problem with - it could be that you just happened upon a bad one - I use mine ALL the time during the cooler months and let it cook while I am at work and nobody else is at home (my house does not burn down :-) ) I make soups, whole chickens, stews, roasts and all sorts of things....

good luck on finding the pot that really suits your needs..... and happy cooking!

The Rivals I've had haven't been duds, but I've worn out one because the handle fell off...still worked after 19 years of use :) The newer models have better low/high settings and switch to warm automatically (I know they've probably done this for years, it's new to me though! :)

Haven't tried the Hamilton Beach brand. I think Costco has the Rival brand for a good price if you shop there.

definatly stay with the size you need. i bought a large one thinking we only use them for company...my hubby is the cook and uses it all the time so we have big batches of whatever! also i just wanted to tell you that heating plastic is linked to cancer. the whole pba or what ever. once heating plastic, especially soft film plastic the chemicals will leak into the food and basically your eating plastic chemicals. i vote for soaking the pot and washing it after. a little extra time and elbow grease is better than eating plastic. good luck.