Customer Reviews

Crock-Pot 32041-C 16-Ounce Little Dipper, Chrome

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I use this little crockpot to make steel-cut oatmeal for a healthy breakfast, and it works just great! The temperature is fine and I haven't had an issue with overcooked oatmeal.

Another reviewer noted one of the frustrating things about this little slow cooker, and that's that the insert isn't removable, as it is on some big crock pots. That makes cleaning frustrating. I've found a good solution to that - I add a little bit of water to the pot and then insert a large ramekin into the basin. The lid still fits just fine, to keep too much water from evaporating. It turns it into kind of a "double boiler" setup, which buffers the heat and gives me an easily removable bowl of oatmeal in the morning. For a while, I was eating right out of the crock pot, but this solution is much better. Any crusty oatmeal can then just get washed out in the dishwasher and I rarely have to worry about cleaning the small crockpot itself.

I love this little appliance - I don't think anything else would work quite as well for the purpose I use it for.

Great for fondue- heat coming from the bottom and sides of the crock does a better job of keeping dips warm than a pot with the heat source on the bottom only. Compact so that it doesn't take up too much space on the table. Needs a few minutes to warm up and you might need an extension cord in order to have it on the table.

The only reason this doesn't get 5 stars is the fact that you can NOT take out the pot.

You also cannot immerse this in water, so cleaning is a giant pain.

That said, it's GREAT for dips that need to be kept warm, such as my famous 'chile con queso'. Just put everything together and plug it in.

A few hours before a party, cut a 4" block of Velveeta into 1" cubes, put in the Lil' Dipper. Add a few tablespoons of medium Pace Picante. Add 1/3 of a small can of chopped green chiles.

For more spice, dribble in the juice from a jar of jalapenos.

To thin it out, you can add cream, half and half, or milk. Or even water (but that will dull the taste).

Serve with your favorite torilla chips.

You can also make this in the microwave if you need to make something 'in a hurry'.

I wouldn't recommend putting this on a dining table, as you'd need an extension cord, and kids could trip over it and burn themselves (heck, I guess at some parties, adults could, too!) but a buffet or counter against the wall would be fine.

I use this product to cook steel cut oats the easier, better way. (Usually it involves standing at the range, stirring for at least 30 minutes.)

Before bedtime I spray inside with canola oil, add water, steel cut oats, fruit, oat bran, cinnamon, almonds, etc. put the lid on and plug it into the timer already set up in the outlet.

In the morning I have perfectly cooked oatmeal the easy way.

Afterward, I put in a few drops of dish washing soap and water to the top to soak all day until I come home from work. Then, it's a wipe and a rinse; very easy to clean.

Because the outside heats up, I use an open grate type of hot pad underneath to prevent heat from burning counter, etc.

This would rate 4 stars if it had an on/off button and 10 stars if it had a timer and accompanying hot pad. But, I'm happy using my own, separate timer and heat pad until then.

I was hosting a gathering where I needed to keep gravy warm for biscuits and mashed potatoes. I have a two quart slow cooker that is fairly small compared to a typical five - six quart pot. The two quart cooker still seemed a bit large for use as a gravy warmer. I found this 16 ounce little dipper at my local grocery and it seemed perfect. I thought it would be great for gravies, sauces, and dips. I also thought it might work for side dishes like corn or soup. Alas, this was not the case.

1) The Little Dipper Warmer does not keep food warm -- The Little Dipper only has one setting -- warm. According to the instructions, the product is only intended to keep food warm for three to four hours. It doesn't really warm anything though. I put my gravy in the Little Dipper hot and when company had arrived an hour later, it was lukewarm.

2) No glass cover -- I like my Rival Crock Pot 2-qt Slow Cooker because it comes with a glass cover. The user can easily look inside to see if food needs to be stirred or if water (or another ingredient) needs to be added.

3) Not as convenient to clean -- There was a time not long ago when slow cookers did not have removable inserts. If you have slow cookers with removable inserts, you know they are easier to clean compared to units that lack the inserts. This warmer lacks a removable insert. The Rival Crock Pot 2-qt Slow Cooker has a removable insert.

4) 16 ounce capacity isn't much -- I thought 16 ounces would be perfect for dips, sauces, and gravies and this might be the case if you are having a party of two. When you take the warmer out of the box, its size is underwhelming. I acknowledge that "little" is in the product title and I could have easily pulled out a measuring cup to visualize product capacity. The capacity just isn't that great and you can forget about using this for small side dishes. It is just not large enough for gatherings over four people.

5) Short extension cord -- I live in a house that was built in the 1920s and outlets are not prevalent. The two foot cord requires an extension cord to operate.

I think I will be looking for a one quart cooker to replace the Little Dipper. The chrome exterior of the unit is very sleek and the stoneware interior is of typical Crock-Pot quality but its inability to warm, small capacity, and other limited features make it a flop for my house.

This product is made in China.

Despite the fact that this product is made for keeping dips warm, I love it for cooking. I use it every night to cook a serving of steel-cut oats for the next morning. I just set it on a timer, have it come on at midnite and shut off at 6am, add 1/3 cup oats, a pinch of salt, cinnamon and a cup of water, and voilá, breakfast is ready when I get up. Very versatile product, and travels well (make your own breakfast in your hotel room...)

The Little Dipper at 16 oz. makes a wonderful item for hot dips,Little Smokies, or meatballs for snacks at cocktail time. It was used everyday after Christmas for this purpose. Of course being a slow cooker it takes about an hour to get things hot,once hot though and unplugged it kept the items hot for at least an hour. We would highly recommend this product.

I bought this after after my son was born and I began searching for a good bottle warmer. All of the bottle warmer reviews were so-so, but I noticed that a lot of the daycares we visited used crock pots. Given that we only heat one bottle at a time, I didn't really want to invest in a large crock pot, so this fit the bill and can be used for its intended purpose as well. It heats refrigerated milk in a Dr. Brown 4 oz or 8 oz bottle just fine. I do make sure it is plugged in a bit before I need to heat the first bottle, as it takes a few minutes to get going. Then, I fill up the water throughout the day as needed. Usually when it is feeding time, I'll just pop the bottle in and then take my little man for a diaper change. By the time we finish that (5 minutes or so), the milk temperature is perfect. My son only eats 5 oz at a time right now, and that's about as high as the water level will go before overflowing with the 8 oz bottle...so I can't say how well it is going to heat once we fill the bottles a little higher than the water level. For now (about two months into using it), it works just as I had hoped. If the bottle has a small amount that is well less than the water level, then the bottle will float rather than staying upright, but that isn't really a problem given that this Little Dipper is so small that the the bottle just tips sideways until it rests on the edge of the pot.

The little dipper is absolutely great! I make oatmeal every night for my breakfast. I pour water and l/4 cup oatmeal into the dipper - plug it in and in the morning - perfect oatmeal. It doesn't matter whether it cooks 8 hours, l2 hours or more. It is always perfect and I don't have to worry about fires or overheating.

By my owning, using and finding three improvements that Rival could make to this otherwise fine little pot, I may help someone determine if it's right for them:

#1 It gets hot. Depending where you touch it, really hot. The stainless steel can burn you. I have Jetboil camping stoves that cook with gas that have a neoprene sleeve that one holds to avoid getting burned. Rival, please add neoprene sleeve or other cool device to the cooker to allow better handling.

#2 The cord is, as others have said, short. It's hard to put it, thus, on a dining table to use as a dip and sauce warmer, unless you want a guest tripping over an extension cord. Hamilton Beach has a holiday crock 1.5 qt shaped like a pumpkin that is all ceramic, has a crock-type heating base, but ALSO a second metal base that requires no electric cord, but rather a tea candle! Tea candle (like a fondue) to keep it warm on the table. Ingenious!

#3 The lid is a rather chincy piece of black thin plastic. The pot being stainless steel is much better built than the lid. A slightly heavier lid, with rubber ring (like Hamilton Beach full size models) would be ideal--helps food stay warm, less seepage of heat around top/lid, and more fitting with the upscale look of the device.