Customer Reviews

Crock-Pot 38501-W 5-Quart Round Smart-Pot Slow Cooker, White

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(115)

 

 

I'm an engineer, not a cook, hence the appeal of a crockpot (I can't boil water without burning it...)

I had an old Rival crockpot that worked well for many years (manual, round, and small). It broke, so I bought a 5-quart Smart-Pot at Costco this past weekend. I noticed it ran very hot (top of outside WILL burn your hands if touched!), so decided to test it.

I filled the unit 3/4 full of water and placed it on the high setting (4 hours) and measured the temperature after several hours with a thermometer. Water temperture was about 215 to 220 degrees F. I then repeated the process for the low temperature setting, but the temperature was about the same!

This disturbed me, so I placed a Kill-A-Watt (very handy device to measure electrical power consumption and wattage for electrical devices) between the pot and the outlet. Sure enough the unit draws the same power on the low and high settings (about 245W). Occasionally on the low settings the unit would pulse the power (this is probably how they get the lower temperature; by modulating the power, rather than using separate, and more expensive, heating elements in the manual units). The problem is that sometimes the low setting does pulse the power, and sometimes it does not. Even on the warm setting I found that occasionally the device will draw the maximum power without pulsing. It is apparent to me that they have a controller problem with the SmartPots that is overdriving the temperature. The units themselves run very hot, and I wonder if the excessive temperature causes controller problems.

I am going to return and try another one, but I suspect I will get precisely the same results, in which case I'll avoid the Rival brand entirely. This is an obvious problem that many people have complained about over the past year or so (viz. the comments), so they have either a major defect, or severe quality control problems, both of which shoudl warrant some kind of response from them. I am disappointed. If the second unit works correctly, I'll post on my success.

Interestingly, Rival makes a separate controller for an older crockpot to allow timing and temperature control (same idea of pulsing the heater current, and varying the duty cycle to change the effective heating capability --a perfectly legitimate approach), and it is inexpensive ($13-$15 on the street).

Used this item 3 times. I wanted to give it an adequate test run. It boils everything even on low setting. It gets so hot that I would never consider leaving the house with it on. The lid does not fit so all the moisture escapes. The meat did not turn out to bad, but I really had to keep an eye on the food. Defeats the purpose of fix it and forget it cooking. I absolutely do not recommend buying this crock pot.

I agree with the majority of these reviews. I previously owned a 4.5 Q oval Rival that I loved and used for years until I dropped and broke the insert. I got this to replace that one and am so disappointed. It ruined 5 meals before I took it back. All the food was dried-out and burnt way before it was even supposed to be done cooking. The lid rattled all day, letting out moisture and annoying me in the process. I had to "even exchange" it because I didn't have all the packaging and stuff. I was hoping I had gotten a lemon, but no, the replacement was the same way. This time they gave my money back. Of course I read these review too late... any suggestions for a crock-pot that works?

Even on low this crock cooked everything too fast. And after having it for 7 months it burned itself out. I was very disappointed since I liked the size and shape. I will never buy another crock with smartpot since I bought another rival and it's been fine without the smartpot feature. I am not sure if that's what it was or not but I am not taking any chances!

I've been using the Rival crock pot I got as a wedding present in 1984 and I've had fantastic results every time. This week at Costco I saw this new one and thought it would be great to have a bigger size and a removable insert for easier cleaning. Well, I just ruined a 4 pound roast which was on "slow" cook for 8 hours. It came out so dry and tough we could barely chew it. I see now I should have checked these reviews before I purchased. BUYER BEWARE!! (Doesn't anyone at Rival check these reviews??)

I have two of these after hearing that they were so great from someone on television.

They overcook everything. The old fashion crock pot I have that doesn't have the warm cycle never did that.

It looks real pretty and heavy duty, but that is where the beauty ends. Don't buy it!

Most crockpots I have looked at felt cheap. This one is feels solid. I think the round lid design is the only way to go because it just fits the pot better. This lid is all glass with no metal parts to trap dirt of bacteria. Because of the inherent imperfection when the stonewares and the heavy glass lids were made, the oval pots and lids almost never fit together well enough to form a seal. A poorly fitted lid can allow an unpredictable amount of moisture and heat to escape, which can make your cooking inconsistent. The round lid on this model allows me to rotate it on the stoneware to find an excellent fit. The same cannot be done with an oval pot. The solid color of this unit makes it somewhat immune to going out of fashion in terms of appearance. The timer with its "keep warm" feature allows me to have peace of mind when I have to stay late at work. Dinner will not be overcooked when I get home. Take it SLOW and happy COOKING!

just like all the other reviews, it burns even on low. I previously had another Rival that did not have the warm feature, and it too burned everything on low, so I bought the accessory that allows you to have a warm setting, and it did not work either; everything still burned.

I received my 5 Q Smartpot as a Christmas gift December 2004. First I tried a large ham using an 8-10 hour recipe and that setting. It was burned to a crisp when I got home. Since then, I have learned that whatever I cook, to be sure to be around to turn it off anywhere from 3-5 hours after I started the recipe (not exactly a slow cooker). I also noticed that the contents seem to boil just as much on each setting including the warm setting (see comments on the guy who tested it with Kill-o-watt --- his comments make perfect sense to me). I am wondering, since there were a couple of good comments, whether they messed up on the pulsing wattage feature to achieve longer cook times sometime after 2003?

I bought two cookers, one for each of my grown daughters, both Cookers burn the food each time they were used. Don't waist your money on this product.