New crockpot to hot!

[jake62]

Hello:

Newbie here.

I managed to break the liner of the old Rival 3745 crockpot my deceased wife used to slow cook all day with.

In trying to find a replacement I ordered a new Crockpot. It was to hot even on the low setting. I called Crockpot and they were going to send me a Rival replacement. I called them back a half hour later and canceled the replacement saying I would take it back to the store as I wanted to get a different brand. She told me she would try and stop the replacement shipping, but if it arrived, to just keep it.

I ordered a Hamilton Beach “stay or go” because of the extra features for about $5 more than the Crockpot. Tried it out and it got to hot too!

I decided to test these with a digital and old style thermometer. They were at 201 and 202 degrees on low.

It is my belief the old crockpots worked at about 170 degrees.  These new ones are supposed to be at 200 degrees on low.

This makes it impossible to turn it on in the morning and off after work at 8 or 9 hours without the food overcooked and some sticking to the insides of the crockpot.

Upon investigation I have found out all the new crockpots are this way. The change came about 3 years ago.

The replacement Rival did show up anyway but I haven’t taken it out of the box knowing it too would be to hot.

My question is:

Is there any crockpots or slow cookers in the 5 quart range that a person can leave on all day without ruining or overcooking the food?

The only other solution I can think of is to add a resistor or something to drop the wattage output to reduce the temperature.

Jake

 

[phatch]

That's too bad. I have an OLD one I use occasionally. Those new temps are definitely too high for my altitude as that puts  low setting at a full boil.

 

[jake62]

I decided to let the food in the Hamilton Beach cool down so I could test the WARM setting temp. I have been hearing the warm setting temp is 160 degrees on most crockpots. That is to low a temp by about 10 degrees to cook with. 

I reheated the food at the WARM setting and retested it with a digital thermometer. It was 180 degrees. The liquid was not bubbling or boiling at that temp.

I think I will keep this crockpot and just use the WARM setting to cook with. I can always turn it up if I am going to be home for the day. 

 

[leeniek]

I have the same problem with my new crockpot.. it is definitely hotter on the low setting than my old one was.  My old one still works just fine but the handles on the sides were coming off so it was time to retire it for a safer model.  I do use it from time to time for backup or when I need to have two slow cookers going at the same time. 

My new one, I find runs a little hotter than the old one did and I've adjusted cooking times with it... that came after a lot of overcooked crockpot meals! 

I've also noticed that the overheating is only a problem when the crockpot is only half full, so I do my best to make sure when I'm cooking something in it that I do a full batch and the pot is full... the burning doesn't happen then, and I just freeze the leftovers for later use. 

 

[leeniek]

I've wondered the same about the keep warm setting, Jake!  I think I'm going to test it on mine as well and see what it gets the food up to.

 

[jake62]

I should have added that 165 degrees is the min govt recomended temp for most cooked food. So the 180 degrees should be fine.

My Nesco dehydrator came today so I have another appliance to test now.

The best deal on the Hamilton Beach 33162R crockpot was $32 at Amazon with free shipping.

The best deal on the Nesco FD-75PR dehydrator was $44.50 at Amazon with free shipping.

 

[chefedb]

Plug it into a timer and set timer to go off twice maybe for 20 minutes, see what happens . This will lower temp and then pot will have to  go up again. If you can't cook by temperature, you can cook by time  (like microwave does).

 

[leeniek]

Jake those are good prices... I'm not much of an online shopper though.. I'll browse online and when I'm going to buy I go into the store and get it in person, just so I can see what I'm buying and maybe I'll want it or maybe I'll say forget it.. you never know. 

 

[jake62]

For me it is 25 miles to town where the stores are. Sometimes when I am in town I will browser around for what I am looking for but in most cases things are cheaper online. I can wait a few days to save twenty or thirty dollars on each item.

With local tax rates at 7 percent it also makes a difference. A lessor dehydrator was $60 plus 7% tax in town where the better Nesco was on Amazon for less and no tax.

I buy 4 or 5 items in a month sometimes and it adds up.

 

[leeniek]

We pay alot more in sales tax than 7%.. I think with the new HST (harmonized sales tax that combined the provincial sales tax with the federal goods and services tax) it's around 15%.  It's been that way here for years... and the politicians wonder why cross border shopping is so popular now!  I have never been dinged at the border for duty on any of my trips across to shop and I spend upwards of $200 each trip.  It seems they're only interested in alcohol and tobacco being brought over and I don't smoke and as for booze, I can buy it here and that's fine with me.  It is cheaper in the US but once the duty gets added on there is no deal at all. 

 

[kyheirloomer]

I am not a big fan of slow cookers. Far as I'm concerned, they have always operated at too high a temperature.

We had one of the original Crock-Pots when they first came out, and it didn't work any better than the modern ones.

There was a period when Friend Wife and I were both gone during the day. Figured slow cookers would be a solution to the hot-dinner problem. What a joke! Three machines (two different brands) and anything cooked in them for more than 6 hours was overcooked.

Still got them kicking around. Any crockpot fans looking for additional units? I'll make you a good deal.

 

[jake62]

What make, model and how old are they? If they are the older units it looks like they are selling pretty fast on ebay. Stoneware liners for older units are extremely hard to find.  

I would like to find one for an old Rival 3745. I think it is 4.5 quart.