Rival Crock Pot - Slow Cooker 4.5 Quart SCR450 Review

When we bought our home three years ago, my aunt gave us the Rival 4.5 Quart Slow Cooker as a housewarming gift.  I had never used one before and my mother never used one when I was growing up so it sat down in the basement for almost a year before I decided to try it out.  I think my first attempt was Italian-style sausage, peppers, and onions.  It turned out well so I branched out and now consider it an absolute staple for fall and winter cooking.

This is a very simple slow cooker with just three settings: off, low, and high.  The high setting is supposed to cook meals in 6-8 hours while the low setting takes something closer to 10 or 12 hours.  Unfortunately the "high" seems to be too hot while the "low" is too cool to get dinner cooked in time for dinner.  I've wished that this product had a "medium" setting dozens of times.  A "warm" option would also be helpful for when the meal is finished but you aren't quite ready for dinner.  What I usually do is use the "high" setting while I'm at work (from 7am until 2pm) and then turn the slow cooker down to "low".  We eat dinner between 7 and 8 so this little adjustment works for us and results in fully-cooked but not over done dinners.

You are limited only by your imagination in what you can cook with your Rival 4.5 Quart Slow Cooker.  I use it for sausage/peppers/onions, pot roast, bolognese sauce, chicken stew, pulled pork, meatballs, and even once for macaroni and cheese.  I've read about people making apple pie and such in their crock pots but I haven't gotten that adventurous yet. 

It's very easy to clean this slow cooker after use.  Both the crock and the lid are dishwasher safe so I usually just throw them in with the rest of the dirty dishes.  The heating element cannot go in the dishwasher and is easily cleaned with a warm, soapy sponge. 

Despite the fact that the temperature controls could use some improvement, I do like this slow cooker and will continue to use it 1-2 times a week this winter.  I hope to get a larger one with some more advanced settings in the future but am happy enough to use my Rival 4.5 Quart Slow Cooker in the mean time.