You know, this is a post that has been a while in the making. It’s not that there was really any research or product testing to do,(lol) or lots and lots of writing to do. Nope, the reason I kept delaying and putting off posting this list is because everytime I thought I was ready to share it, I would become aware of yet another distinctly different and interesting crock pot that is out there.

Okay, now without any further ado I present to you my own personal Rival Crock Pot Dream Kitchen!

The Rival Elume Crock Pot  

Okay, I thought I would start with one of the less ‘weird-looking’ of the ‘unusual’ Crock Pots out there.(Huh? Wha? lol) Honestly, if it wasn’t for the touchscreen faceplate on the elume slow cooker you might not think it much different from any other crock pot out there. Really, when you take a look at the Elume it doesn’t look that different from most other brushed stainless steel slow cookers. Of course the fact that it has a fully-operational touchscreen control panel sets it apart right away. Also, it has some kind of silicone coating on the handles that makes the unit much easier to ‘handle’ while it is in use. From what I have heard, the Elume crock pot works pretty smoothly and includes a very handy digital timer built into the front panel which lets you know how much cooking time is left(in hours and minutes) and after the cooking cycle is complete, it lets you know how much time is left in the four hour standby/keep warm setting. Apparently there is at least one drawback with the unit since you cannot switch between the ‘high’ and ‘low’ cooking settings without turning the unit off and on again, but whatever, that is something I think I could learn to live with if the tradeoff is a touchscreen display panel.

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The Rival 5 Quart Versaware Crock Pot

Anyway, the Versaware slow cooker is one of those kitchen counter appliances that has that whole weird vibe thing happening right off the bat! When you first look at it, it looks like some kind of strange alien robot with its big spider-like legs, sent to scour the kitchens of Earth and then report back to its alien masters. Yeesh! Seriously though, this is one cool appliance. It is a prime example of some of the more recent developments in crock pot technology and it seems to have been gaining in popularity somewhat since its release a few years back. I think part of this popularity might come from the fact that it is supposed to be much lighter than many other similarly sized (5 quart) slow cookers. It also does not hurt that the Versaware’s crock liner is made of lightweight Extreme Temperature Cookware (ETC), and also called VersaWare, which is a stoneware so versatile it can apparently be used on a stovetop, in an oven, under a broiler, and in a microwave. The lid is also apparently made of this ETC, so you can throw the lid on the crock insert and then use it to bake your meal in the oven! I would also assume that any leftovers could be left in the crock and stored safely in the fridge or freezer. Very convenient. When I had a chance to browse the Versaware’s product sheet I noticed that it did in fact play up the product’s versatility by claiming that it could “Sauté, Cook, Serve, Store and Reheat all in one pot!” They could probably call this product Damn-convenientware, but yeah, I guess Versaware has anicer ring to it.

By the way, I should mention that from what I have read and heard, there are at least a couple of sticking points with the Versaware; for one, it has been suggested that despite Rival’s claims, it does not make for a very effective saute  surface since it is not supposed to be directly on a very high heat. As well, the ETC crock surface is apparently somewhat susceptable to being easily scratched by the use of metal utensils, so anyone with a habit of using metal utensils with their slow cookers: watch out!

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 The Rival Crock Pot Trio Cook & Serve

With this next Rival slow cooker, visually, we are straying a bit further from the Crock Pot norm. The Rival Crock Pot Trio definitely has a different look to it. This time however, it is not the look of the actual crock pot itself that is unusual,(like with the Rival Versaware) rather it is the fact that we are looking at three slow cookers brought together and presented as one unit. The Trio offers us three black 2.5 quart crock pots all together on one extended base unit that measures out to a length of 32″.  What is also handy about this set up is that each of the crock pots has independent controls so that they can be used independently of one another with regards to temperature settings, cooking time, etc. I can see how this unique crock pot set up would be useful when preparing a meal for either a larger get together or for a smaller family; you could either use the multiple crocks to prepare several servings of the same food item or instead use the Trio to prepare the different parts for one meal, such as a soup in one pot, a side vegetable dish in another and the entre in the third.

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The Rival Crock Pot BBQ Pit Cooker

This last slow cooker is unusual to me as much for the kind of cooking that it is intended to replicate as it is for its unusual appearance. Actually, to be fair, the Crock Pot BBQ Pit cooker does not look all that strange from the outside(when the lid is closed) . It is only once you open it up and see what is inside that you get an appreciation for just how different it is. When you look inside the BBQ Pit Cooker, the first thing you are going to notice (at least I did) is the included adjustable meat rack! I am pretty sure that if I were to go and get me one of these monsters, I would be very hesitant to start using it without at least a cursury glance at whatever instruction booklet comes with the unit: in other words, I am pretty sure that this is one Crock Pot that comes with its own definite learning curve. It is probably a pretty safe bet to say that this BBQ Crock Pot will never replace the backyard barbecue for most people that own this particular slow cooker, but it is likely going to become a nice alternative for having access to a barbecue-style meal once the Seasons have changed and the weather is no longer very hospitable to firing up the backyard grill.

So there we have it, a small collection of some of the more interesting Rival Crock Pot slow cookers out on the market. They all share in common a more unusual appearance or design but also the fact that they are all Crock Pots that would be fun to have in my kitchen.(just in case anyone out there is listening…)

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So what will this focus be? My Sisters-in-law sounded pretty enthused when they talked about the different kinds of Rival crock pot products that they have tried recently to the point where I am starting to feel pretty enthused about them myself! I believe that I had already mentioned here somewhere before that I was thinking about doing a series of posts focusing on a ‘Crock Pot dream kitchen’ of sorts, where I take a look at some of the more recent crock pot appliances that have been released onto the market, and now, emboldened by these positive reports, I am even more motivated to do this! So the next time I post here, it will most likely be a look at one of the more new-fangled crock pots on the market. Until then, happy cooking…

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The first few posts on here were obviously my accounts of learning some of the easier or more basic beginner crock pot recipes out there. Recently, however, my Wife made me aware of something that I had never really dwelt on before: the idea of the value and importance of crock pot maintenance, and knowing when to shop for the right Rival crock pot replacement parts instead of a whole new crock pot.

Recently, our trusty old Rival crock pot was starting to show its age – the knobby handle thing on the top of the crock pot lid had started to become very loose and was clearly about to brake right off. Of course I was under the impression that this was a sign that it was time to go out and start shopping around for a new slow cooker. My wife, however, had different ideas about what needed to be done. For her, the obvious course of action was to start scouting around for a replacement knob for our crock pot lid, and if that ultimately proved to be fruitless, then to hunt around for a replacement crock pot lid. Either way, she figures, the cost of maintenance should be maybe one quarter or one third the cost of going and replacing the crock pot with an entirely new one.

By keeping me in the loop and updated on the progress of her search, I was able to get a grasp on how following the motto of ‘maintenance before replacement’ can mean a long and productive shelf life for your kitchen crock pot or any other brand of slow cooker.

It seems that many people will only make an effort to search for replacement rival crock pot parts by making a visit to their local department stores or their local home kitchen appliance store. This is all well and good, but apparently anyone that just limits them self to these avenues or sources is missing out on some very useful alternatives. Other kinds of retail locations that you should keep in mind are the various liquidation or clearance centers that are out there and that might have either replacement crock pot parts or even whole rival crock pots for sale at very reduced prices that make it almost as affordable to buy a whole new crock pot as it would be to just buy the needed part or parts. My thinking here is that you could buy the new crock pot and start using it and keep your current/older crock pot for parts that you might need in the future.

I mentioned the liquidation centers as one potential source of parts for your slow cooker. Another source to keep in mind are your local charity storefront locations; charity organisations such as the Salvation Army and the SPCA and others maintain a retail presence in most major cities and can often be a source of older kitchen (as well as other home) appliances. Such a retail location might surprise you with a crock pot that is similar enough to your own to be a good pick up just for the parts, and of course there is the added benefit of supporting a good cause with your purchase.

Now my discussion of various concrete retail locations is fine but it is only covering half of the possible resources out there; my Wife has made me aware that there are really a number of other online possibilities out there when it comes to shopping around for rival crock pot replacement lids or handles or knobs or ceramic stoneware liners, etc. If you feel comfortable doing any shopping online, then there are a lot more options available to you. One of the first websites I would recommend would be the official site of the rival crock pot slow cooker: crock-pot.com. At this site, you can search an online retail catalog of both brand new crock pots as well as new crock pot replacement parts that the company carries in stock and which can be ordered from the site itself. Of course there is no guarantee that your particular model of crock pot has parts available but you won’t know until you look.

You have no doubt heard of both ebay and amazon, and both of these online discount websites often have private retailers and individuals offering either brand new crockpots or brand new replacement parts available for purchase. The prices found on these sites are usually quite far below the regular retail prices you would expect to pay in most brick and mortar retail outlets. You could find a new crock pot at a low enough price to justify buying it so that you can keep your older crock pot for parts.

A couple of online classifieds that you might want to give a try are the Craigslist or Kijiji site for your local city. Both of these sites will often have people posting on them who are either offering for sale or looking to buy various home appliances at reasonable prices. Often people won’t even think to try and sell their older appliances for parts until they see a post looking to buy just such an item. In the case of my wife’s search for a replacement knob, she really was stymied and had no luck with either the stores in her area or the crock pot site, ebay or amazon. In the end, she actually lucked out and found someone offering their older crock pot for sale which was a similar
model to our own and which was reportedly in decent working condition. – it had seen some use with its previous owner but was now considered unnecessary because of the acquisition of a brand new slow cooker, lucky for us! Once we got it, we decided to use it for parts since it had a lid in better shape than ours which we went and switched out but overall showed more signs of wear than our own crock pot.

So there you have it, for maybe one quarter the cost of buying a whole new Rival crock pot, we were able to get a spare crock pot that will end up serving as a source of rival crock pot replacement parts if and whenever we should need them in the future. Score!

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Oh boy.

She informed me that this time around we were going to try out an easy (enough) crock pot fish recipe. Well, it turns out that this recipe required a few more ingredients and a little more effort but in the end it was well worth it.  You will notice when you look over the ingredients list that there are a number of things to add but despite that you will see that it is not really too much trouble.  So let’s take a gander at what we used with this crock pot fish recipe:

“The Ingredients”:

• * Two cans of shrimp (about 5 ounces each drained)
• *Two cans of tuna (about 7 ounces each – flaked)
• *Two cans of crab meat (about 7 ounces each) – pick over the contents of the cans to remove any remaining cartilage
• *One can of chopped pimientos (4 ounces drained)
• *1/3 cup of minced fresh parsley
• *Three cups of instant rice, uncooked
• *Two cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup
• *Three cups of water
• *One-half cup of dry white wine
• *One-quarter cup of onion (chopped)
• *Two teaspoons of dill weed
• *One-half a teaspoon of paprika
• *One-half a teaspoon of Tabasco sauce

My Wife was not kidding when she told me that this crock pot fish recipe is not too difficult to prepare despite the longer list of ingredients included.  First off, you need to place the first six of the listed ingredients in to your Crock Pot slow cooker.  Second, you need to combine the cream of mushroom soup with the water, wine, onion, dill weed, paprika and the Tabasco sauce. Now you have to pour that mixture over the rice and seafood mixture in your Crock Pot.  Stir all of these combined ingredients gently to make sure that they are all well-blended together. Now you need to cover and cook your combined ingredients on the low setting for between 3 to 4 hours. After that you are all done and will be free to enjoy your newly prepared – and easy Crock Pot fish recipe.  I hope that you are able to enjoy this recipe as much as this caveman did!

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This ended up being a veerrry easy to follow recipe (the kind I like) for a tasty slow cooked pork roast.  My wife made it clear to me at the outset that the most important thing for this recipe, is that you make sure that the cut of pork that you choose to go with is a good fit for your Crock Pot; it doesn’t really matter so much what cut or joint of pork you choose to go with – shoulder or leg are both good examples – more that your piece of meat is a comfortable fit in the slow cooker.

With the above caveat in mind, lets take a look at the ingredients we went with for this recipe:

The Ingredients:

* An appropriately-sized piece of pork for roasting in the crockpot.
* Some assorted vegetables cut-up into one-inch cubes – we went with potatoes and cut up carrots.
* One tablespoon of butter mixed with one-half teaspoon of ground sage and one-half teaspoon of ground ginger.

The first thing that my wife had me do is to throw all of the cut up vegetables into our empty crock pot.  She reminded me that any vegetables that you cook in this recipe will not turn out crispy, but will instead end up soft and will take on the flavour of your chosen meat.  The next thing we had to do was to rub the butter/sage/ginger mixture over the raw meat.  After doing this, we placed the rubbed meat on top of the veggies in the pot and made sure after doing so that the lid of the crock pot would close comfortably and securely on top of the crock  once it was filled with the various ingredients.

Our last decision to make was whether we wanted to cook the roast on the high or low setting, keeping in mind that the high setting will only require a cooking time of between four and six hours, while the low setting will require you to let it cook for between eight to ten hours.  Really it comes down to what your own personal cooking situation is and whether you have amore or less time to let the meal cook before serving it out.  Since we were only going to be needing a few hours after the crock pot was turned on and had started cooking to take care of a few errands, we opted to go with the high setting for this recipe.

The results?  Well I would say it was a success, however my wife was right on about the veggies taking on the flavour characteristics of the meat and this was something that I was not especially keen on.  Otherwise, the meat turned out really well and overall I would say that the easy crock pot pork roast recipe was a success!

Until the next time!

Stephen

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This is a really easy recipe with just a few ingredients for a really delicious tasting beef stew.  Before I get too far into discussing how I actually went about preparing the stew, I should give you a run down of the ingredients needed for it.  Here you go:

Ingredients:

• four medium sized red potatoes
• one to one-half  lbs. of beef stewing meat
• one-third of a cup of flour
• salt and pepper to individual taste
• one 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes undrained
• two cups of water
• three cups in total of frozen stir-fry bell peppers and onions

So, what do you do with all of this?

Well, first, you need to go and scrub the potatoes and then after that go and cut each one of them into quarters.  After doing this you need to go and place all of the cut up potatoes along the bottom of your Crock Pot.  Next, you need to go and mix the flour, salt and pepper together and then toss it with the beef cubes and make sure that the beef cubes are well coated.  Now you can go and add the coated cubes to your CrockPot.  The next thing you should do is add the undrained tomatoes and the water and stir them into the crock-pot.  Once this is all done, you can cover the crock pot and get it cooking.

Okay, now that we have our crock pot fully loaded with the necessary ingredients we can start cooking it; you should set it to cook on your crock pot’s low setting and let it cook away for about seven or eight hours, until the meat and potatoes are at the desired tenderness.  At this point you need to go and add the stir fry veggies to the crock pot and put the cover back on and let it all cook for another thirty to forty minutes (still on the low setting) until the vegetables are nice and tender.  When it is all said and done you should find yourself with a nice tasty slow cooked beef stew that will be enough to give you about four to six servings at your table.

See – I said that this was going to be an easy crock pot beef stew recipe, right? All nice and painless, and leaving you with a tasty meal in the end.

Enjoy!

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I was assured by my wife that there would not be too much difficulty in preparing this one, so that was good to hear.  Like the last recipe we tried out, this time around there would not be too many ingredients to deal with. (another plus, I would say)  So let’s cover the ingredients that we did decide were needed for this simple crock pot chicken recipe.  To repeat the recipe the way me and my wife did it, you will need the following ingredients:

Chicken (obviously). You can go with any part of the bird that you prefer really,  legs / drumsticks, wings, thighs, or breasts are all good for the purposes of this recipe

Vegetables. These should be cut up into one inch-sized cubes; you should consider cutting up between two to three cups worth for a good balance with the entre.  My wife reminded me that you are limited to only those veggies that won’t get too soft after being in the crock pot for a few hours, so consider using the vegetables that I did: carrots, potatoes and mushrooms.(I wanted to also add broccoli but was discouraged from doing so)

Cream base.  We also added a can of cream of mushroom soup, but you can go with other cream-based soups if you like, such as cream of chicken or cream of corn, for example.

In addition to the above ingredients, you should feel free to also add any herbs or spices that might suit your tastes.  For this recipe, my wife recommends a teaspoon of either crushed garlic or ginger, as well as a teaspoon of any herbs that she thought would be a good fit, such as thyme or rosemary.

This turned out to be a pretty easy, straight forward recipe to follow, too;  we started by adding the prepared vegetables into the empty waiting crock pot.  Our next step was to take the collection of chicken pieces and distribute them evenly into the crock pot.  After, we went and added the crushed garlic as well as the before-mentioned herbs.(in this case the rosemary and thyme)  Once this was done, I poured the whole can of cream soup evenly over the contents of the crock-pot.  After you add the soup it is time to place the lid on your crockpot and start it cooking!  From what my wife said, the choice to make was whether or not I needed the meal to cook quickly or over part of the day; for those wanting to cook this recipe on a high setting, you would want to make sure not to let it cook for much more than 3 or 4 hours, and for those wanting to have the meal cook over a longer stretch of time, the desired length is apparently 6 to 8 hours on the low setting.

Something that you really need to keep in mind is that if you are going to be adding any herbs,  my wife suggests that the time to do it is during the last hour and a half of the cooking time. I forgot this tidbit, and because I added the herbs with maybe less than an hour to go in the cooking time, I decided to add to the cooking time to give the herbs time to fully ‘blend’ with everything else.  Well the extra 45 or so miutes that I added to the cooking time of the chicken in the crock pot was maybe a mistake, since the chicken seemed a bit on the over cooked side. (if that is possible to tell with a slow cooked meal) So that is something to really keep in mind if you should decide to follow this recipe yourself.

Good luck!

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We tried out this rival crock pot pot roast recipe standby to help me get my feet wet, so to speak.  We started this beef roast recipe in the mid morning  on a weekend when we both had the time free to try it out, expecting the end result (if edible) to be ready by dinnertime.  My wife promised me that we would end up having a delicious pot roast in its own gravy ready and waiting for us at the end of it all. ‘ Okay, honey’, I said.

I guess at this point I should cover all of the different ingredients that my wife and I used in the making of this pot roast recipe.  After the fact it seemed like we pretty much ended up with a standard or typical slow cooked pot roast,so I assume that the ingredients used are pretty typical.  We used the following:

* one boneless-beef sirloin tip roast,  about three to five pounds in size (we went with sirloin tip but I guess that there are other cuts of beef roast available to choose based on one’s personal preference)

* one-half cup of regular all-purpose flour, divided into two, one-quarter cup amounts

* one envelope of  prepared onion soup mix (one of those essential ingredients that I had no clue about before doing this recipe!)

* one envelope of brown gravy mix (ah – so that’s why she could promise me a roast ready in its own gravy)

* two cups of cold water

* some optional ingredients based on your personal taste or preference (read below to see what we chose to go with)

So my wife had me go and cut our beef roast in half and then roll the halves around in the first  one quarter of flour.  Then, she had me place the divided roast pieces evenly in our slow cooker.  The next step on my learning ladder was to properly combine some of the other remaining ingredients; I was instructed to combine our onion soup mix, our gravy packet and the remaining one quarter of flour into a bowl and to also stir it all up with a fork to help make sure that it was already somewhat combined before the next step.  That next step was to stir in the cold water into the dry blended mixture and then stir the ingredients all up together to make sure that the resultant mixture was all well-blended. (very important for the final result of the gravy, I was told) My wife then had me pour this mixture evenly over the roast waiting inside the crock pot.   Remember those ‘optional ingredients’ that I mentioned earlier? Well, this is the point at which you can go ahead and add them in.  I did so.  We decided to go with one cup of chopped carrots, one half-cup of cut green beans, one half-cup of chopped onions and a couple cloves of freshly chopped up garlic, all thrown into the crock pot at the same time.  Finally my wife had me place the lid securely on the rival crock pot and set it to start cooking on low.  We decided to let it cook like that for up to eight hours, figuring that we could always check on things half way through the cooking time to make sure that the liquid had not evaporated too quickly and to add some more if really necessary.  Well, we touched base with our slow cooking beef roast at roughly the halfway point of its cooking time and found that the amount of liquid left was sufficient/ still good, so we just re-secured the lid  and let it keep cooking along for another four hours.  My wife actually ended up suggesting to me to let it cook for another forty minutes after the first eight hours just to make sure it was tender enough for my tastes and I decided to take her up on her suggestion.  I am glad I did, because the end result was something so tender and succulent, that I could scarcely believe that I had a hand in its creation! lol.  The long and short of it is that we ended up enjoying a dinner of slow cooked beef with a side of mashed potatoes.  It’s funny how you can feel so spoiled by the results of your own efforts when those efforts turn out so well.

Well this was one easy crock pot recipe learned, possibly the first of many…

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Well to explain why this blog came into existence, I have to first explain my own situation.  I have been with the same partner for over four and a half years now (and married to her for the last two) and over this time I have found myself slowly evolving into  a domestic situation in which I have become more and more use to not preparing my own meals, but instead reaping the rewards of being with someone who is a very very good cook.  Sure, I occasionally take up the task of preparing our meals, but for the most part I have over time become quite accustomed to enjoying having my dinners prepared for me.  On those occasions when I might be left to fend for myself, I am able to whip together something to satisfy my hunger that is borderline nutritious.  Of course sometimes I am guilty of just throwing a frozen pizza in the oven or  something equally insidious. But whatever – it wasn’t like it was a regular occurrence,  right?

Well recently that all started to change.

My lovely wife, who has been attending a full-time Nursing program in college for the past year, has just recently completed said program and earned her Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) Degree. (Yay!)  The good news for her  is that soon after completing her training, she was able to find work in the field and so has recently started her gainful employment as an LPN.  The only unforeseen consequence of all this is that many of her recent shifts have  seen her working either in the mornings right upto the dinner hour, or in the afternoon, going right through until the witching hour.  In either case, she has obviously found herself with precious little time to deal with a nightly dinner menu.  Because of my early start job hours I find myself at home by the middle of the afternoon most days and obviously much more available to deal with the dinner.  There is really just one problem and I bet you can already see it coming: my wife is not always too thrilled with what my cooking talents have to offer, and to be fair to her, she has also decided that she cannot complain about this fact without offering some form of recourse.

For years, my wife has been what I would describe as very well versed in the ways of the slow cooker; In fact, until we were given a new Rival Crock Pot as one of the gifts at our wedding shower, my wife had been faithfully using the same old Crock Pot for years and years, telling me and anyone else that would listen that it was “still good enough to get the job done.” Well with my wife being a most able teacher of slow cooker basics and with me needing to acquire some new cooking knowledge sooner rather than later,  it was decided that it was way past time that I learn from her some of her more easily duplicated slow cooking skills.

So there you have it:  a guy who before now would have been very hard pressed to tell you the practical differences between a rival crock pot 2 quart, a rival crock pot 4  quart and a rival crock pot 6 quart slow cooker; what a rival crock pot bbq is and how it actually works; what a rival crock pot smart pot or rival crock pot versaware pro or rival crock pot elume are and what it is that they might do, has now had to come to accept that he will shortly be put to the test and will soon find out whether or not he has the skills necessary to successfully master the ways of the rival crock pot stoneware slow cooker.  Okay, master might be way too strong of a word to use when talking about me and cooking in the same sentence, I will easily admit that.

I will also admit that I have no real clue as to what a rival crock pot double dipper is, but it sounds naughty and I think I want to find out.

I have not committed to using any one specific rival crock pot cookbook or recipe book (my wife has a number of reliable crock pot recipes filed away and of course there is always that handy modern wonder known to many, called the internet.  I have committed to posting up my slow cooker experiences but I have not yet decided on whether or not I will be including any beginner rival crock pot reviews on here.  Before I take that step it is probably better to make sure that I have mastered the fine art of not burning down the apartment or harming any innocent plants or small pets during my cooking experiences.

So no big promises, no grand designs hare at the start.  I don’t claim any plans to become a slow cooking guru by the time I am done, just hopefully, a better cook.  This is one caveman who hopes that by the time he is done, he is able to handle a rival crock pot as ably as his club…

PS. If you think that I am fretting over nothing, feel free to let me know!

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