Would not purchase another one of these crock pots.
Pros:
Functional oval shape, attractive exterior, large capacity
Cons:
Cooks on VERY high heat and cremates meat, cannot replace lid.
The Bottom Line:
I would not recommend this product because the really high temperatures cremate meats, the lid had a poor fit, and it's IMPOSSIBLE to replace the lid if it's broken.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
We received this crock pot as a wedding present in May 2005 after we requested it on our registry. We used it about once every couple of months until this Christmas (December 2008). I liked the crockpot's stainless-steel exterior. The oval shape was great for roasting larger pieces of meat, making soups, and other large dishes. I was concerned at times that the crock pot seemed to cook things on very high heat, much higher heat than my smaller crock pots. Soups and Chili's did fine, but I found that larger cuts of meat (especially chicken) got absolutely cremated even when cooked on low heat. And the feature that was supposed to turn the cooker to "warm" mode after the alloted cook time was done never seemed to actually reduce the cooking temperature, or if it did it was pretty imperceptable. Overall, the crock was functional, but not as gentle on the food as other slow cookers I have used. I was also puzzled by the fact that the lid had a very poor fit on the stoneware insert, which was a result of the insert not having a completely uniform rim.
Just after Christmas 2008, I dropped the lid and it shattered. I called Rival to order a replacement lid and was REALLY surprised to learn that Rival did not make ANY replacement lids for this model. The customer service rep told me that the model was "really old" (3 years????) and that Rival did not make any lids that would fit it. In fact, Rival's only replacement lid still in production was for a round crockpot. Rival did offer me a 25% discount on a new crockpot, but I passed.
Since a crockpot is useless without a lid, now I have a unit that still works but is useless because I cannot replace a part. I am NOT cool with putting this appliance in a land fill, however I don't want to store something I can't use for the next 30 years. In scouring the internet for a lid, I have come across MANY, MANY other customers in my same predicament. It seems irresponsible to the environment and to customers not to offer better product support. My mom's crockpot lasted 30 years, I guess those days are gone.
