What a Crock!

I've had the Rival Stainless Steel Crock Pot since December 2004 when I received it as a gift. I've used it probably thirty times to make beef stew, pot roast, skirt steak and a few other recipes.

Why would anyone want a crock pot?
I used to ask myself that question sometimes before I got this crock pot. In a time where time is of the essence, why cook things slowly?

As I have discovered, there are two reasons:
1. Things that cook slowly often taste much better. Meat is more juicy and tender; sauces and gravies richen in flavor.
2. It's incredibly easy, flexible, low-maintenance cooking. You don't have to watch food to prevent it from burning. Since the heat levels are low, you don't have to stir and worry about adjusting heat. You can load all the ingredients into the crock pot in the morning, go to work and return home to the delicious smells of your ready-to-eat dinner. That's right, you don't need to stir or check it at all! In the case of meat, it's virtually impossible to overcook it--longer cooking times only make the meat even more juicy and tender. At last, working late at the office has a plus side!

In addition, the exceedingly inexpensive price of a crock pot (many are under $20) means that if you only use it occasionally, it's still a great thing to have in your kitchen.

Appearance
This is a pretty nice-looking crockpot as far as that goes. It's stainless steel and the pot is black ceramic. It's oval-shaped so it takes up less space on the counter than round crock pots do. It fits in my rather narrow kitchen cabinets, which is a plus.

Features
Being a typical crock-pot, there aren't many features here. There's a High setting, Low setting, and Keep Warm setting. That's all there is, and that's all there needs to be.

The oval shape of the Rival Crock Pot is a great idea, though. You'll discover that much of what you'd cook in a crock pot is oblong--roasts, ribs, etc. With a round crock pot, you'd have to cut the meat into chunks to fit it in the crock pot. Not so with the oval.

Once you've tried the oval shape, there's no turning back.

Performance
The crock pot works as expected, and cooking results have been fine. In the world of crock pots, there is a wide margin of error, so unless you get stuck with a very poorly made or malfunctioning one, you're golden.

The only issue I occasionally have with this crock pot is its capacity. There isn't enough room for four servings--only 2 or 3. I live in a two-person household, but I like to double quantities to generate leftovers. Alas, this is not possible with this size crockpot. However, since crockpot cooking requires so little effort, this isn't a huge problem.

Is the crock pot easy to operate?
It's very easy to work--just plug the crock pot in and rotate the knob to the desired setting.

Is the crock pot easy to clean?
Yes, considering that you're dealing with baked-on food, it's pretty easy to clean. The ceramic pot itself is somewhat non-stick, and it can be placed in the dishwasher for easy cleaning. I've never had to scrub it to make it clean, but I have had to soak it. For the most part, you'll only need to lift out the ceramic pot and clean that, and lightly wash the lid. However sometimes you will have food drippings on the body of the crock pot, so you will need to wipe that off with a cloth.

Is the crock pot durable?
Well, since there are so few moving parts, crock pots typically last for decades. This is another reason they are such a great value.