Crockpot question

[Blondie]

As you may have already read, DH gave me a 6 qt. oval Rival crockpot for Christmas, with the removable crock.

My old one (a 4 qt.) didn't get hot on the outside, even on the high setting.

Using my new one today, the outside gets extremely hot!

Is it supposed to be that hot? It's so hot, I can't touch it!

 

[Beanie]

LOL Blondie...I feel like I am trailing you around the DIS and thinking the same things you are...Mine also gets really hot on the outside...especially at the top of it...I was also wondering this same thing...

 

[Dopeygirl]

I have the same one and mine does get hot. I've never had another one, so I wasn't sure if they all did or not. I just have to keep reminding myself to grab the handles!

 

[Blondie]

Okay, I feel better now! I thought maybe it was defective or something.

It's just that with my old one (from 21 years ago) it only got warm on the outside.

This new one I have gets extremely hot on the outside, and I can only touch it if I use the handles!

 

[piratesmate]

I have the Rival 5.5 qt oval & it also gets hot enough on the outside to make me jump back if I bump it. My previous one is a Rival 4 qt round with removable crock. The heating unit also gets hot on this one. My original one (from 26 yrs ago) did not get very warm on the outside, but that one did not have a removable crock. It made me wonder, too, why they now get so hot. I can't leave the butter dish sitting on the counter within 12" of the crock or I get a puddle of butter.

 

[Kermit]

Mine gets very hot, too. In fact, I have to pull it out from under the cabinets or it builds up too much heat.

 

[Blondie]

I guess the reason it gets so hot is to accommodate the fact that the crock is removable, and it needs to get extra hot to heat it.

 

[SimplyMagical]

We also have a Rival (a 6qt. only a few months old) -- ours gets warm on the outside, but never so hot that you could burn yourself. You might want to touch base with the Rival company just to make sure you do not have a defective crockpot.

 

[sha_lyn]

Newer crock pot actually get a lot hotter than the old ones. The older ones didn't get up to a safe temp quick enough to stop the growth of bactieria. That could explain part of the reason why it seems so hot to you. I also thing the nwer ones (especially some brands) do not have as think walls as some others. so they let more heat from the element come through to the out side

 

[christineann]

My crockpot gets hot, too, on the outside. I place it on a large lucite cutting board/hot mat because I am (probably overly) cautious. Do you leave your crockpots on while you are away from home?

 

[sha_lyn]

I will leave mine for a little while but not all day. It cooks too fast for that and i ahven't figured out a way to ajust that yet ( I guess I could make ssure everythign is very cold first). I will leave it for about an hour but haven't had a reason to leave it any longer than that with no one at home.

 

[piratesmate]

When I was working, I often left the crock pot on all day while we were gone. I've never had trouble with things getting done too quickly with it. (I have a Rival with removable stone crock.) I know my older sister uses the other kind - pan that sits on a heating "tray" - and doesn't leave hers & things cook more quickly.

When I was working, I mostly used it for roast beef or pork - but rarely remembered to take them out of the freezer the night before. So things were usually put in frozen & I cooked on low.

One of my favorite things in the crock is sweet italian sausage in spaghetti sauce. That's actually better when it's left all day.

I was looking at recipes on Rival's Web site & was surprised that they recommend cooking some things before putting them in. I wouldn't have thought about putting anything in that wasn't cold - if not frozen - for me, it was always a "lazy" way of cooking . . . just throw it in & walk away, come back & it's done!

d

 

[WorknFires]

I have 3 different crock pots (some get hot & some don't) including the Rival you're talking about. The newer ones do get hotter on the outside like sha_lyn said to kill bacteria. I work 12 hour days and think nothing about leaving mine on for that length of time. I usually sit the hotter ones on my stove between the burners so that I don't heat up my counter tops. There are lots of appliances that we routinely leave on when we're gone (dryer's, radios, etc) that could cause fires but we don't give them a second thought. The crock pot is no different. Yes, it could, but I'd go crazy if I spent my days wondering which appliance was burning my house down today.

Oh, by the way, if you really want a quick fix for a potential fire... never leave your toaster or toaster oven plugged in when not in use. You'd be surprised at how many fires are attributed to a toaster that hasn't even been used in months.

Cheryl

 

[Blondie]

Thanks for the tip WorknFires!

I always unplug our toaster after being used!

 

[WorknFires]

Your Welcome Blondie! Now for the more important question...

What to fix in our crockpots???? Anyone with new recipes?

Cheryl

 

[Blondie]

Here are two websites I've come across with crock pot recipes!

http://www.cookingcache.com/crockpot.html

and

http://www.justcrockpotrecipes.com