The Crock Pot Caveman

So, just what is the Rival Crock Pot Dream Kitchen and why am I sharing it with you here?  The “Dream Kitchen” is a collection of some of the fancier Rival Crock Pots that I have seen out in the marketplace and which I think it would be really neat to own – kind of like how we all used to browse through those Christmas toy catalogs when we were kids and think about all of the neat toys we wanted from them.  The reason I am sharing this list here is because I only recently became aware of some of these different crock pot slow cooker models myself and I am guessing that maybe, just maybe, there are a few of you out there who are also mostly unaware of some of these more uncommon Rival slow cookers.

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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Filed under: The Rival Crock Pot Experience by Steve - 2 Comments →

Recently, some of my In-laws came out West for a visit. While they were out here, they shared more than one tale of their love for cooking. One thing that gave me a chuckle was how much my Wife’s Sisters and Mother were fans of their own Rival crock pot slow cookers that they have in their kitchens back home. They shared with me a few of their favourite slow cooker recipes that did indeed sound very tasty, and were very encouraging for me to try my own hand at them some time in the near future! However, because it seems that everyone and their dog is sharing their favourite crock pot recipes on their own blogs on this internet-thingy I figure that the whole slow cooker recipe thing is already well covered without any more additions from me. I’m not saying that I will never share any recipes that are particularly a pleasant surprise if and when I try them out(never say never, after all!), but there are other things that I should get to and so that is where I will place my focus.

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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How the Crock Pot Caveman learned an economical lesson on maintaining a trusty home kitchen appliance with the timely acquisition of some Rival crock pot parts…

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! [Read more →]

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