The original crockpots were great. The newer ones get way too hot. I own 5 crock pots, and the ones that are all one piece actually work better than the ones where the ceramic pot comes out. So, the ones that clean easier do not work as well as the ones that don't. Catch 22.
Does anybody know of a good crock pot that does not get so hot?
I still get pretty good results from mine though. Hope you find one that works well.

Get a cast iron dutch oven....brown your meat on the stove top in that and stick it into the oven at 200 degrees or a tiny touch over and walk away.
Linda C

I do as Linda. I'm not afraid to leave the house with the oven happily cooking our dinner. It's an electric oven so nothing different than leaving with a light on. I had an old 70s crock pot & used the heck out of it when the kids were small. Got a new one...hated it & now just use a Dutch oven.

/t

I have four crock pots of various styles and ages. I have some that get quite hot and some that don't.

I have made French Dips in all of them and never had them not turn out. The meat always comes out nice and tender.

Only thing I do differently with the super hot pot is to put it on a thick towel to protect my counter top.

Seems like I am one of the few that has never had any problems with any of my crock pots! LOL

Linda

Think I am going to use my LC dutch oven in the oven from now on, on low. That's the best idea. I'll give this crock pot to the local thrift store and that'll open up a spot in my cabinet to store something that's been cluttering up my counter top. Thanks for the replies!
Robin

Crock pots are one of the kitchen tools/appliances that I have "downgraded" instead of "upgrading". After frustration with overheating on low setting, I found an older model (read brown and gold) at a thrift store for $5 and I have been a happy crock potter ever since.

I don't like the newer ones, they cook too hot, too fast. It's a safety issue, apparently the older ones let the food stay at an "unsafe" temperature for too long before heating up to an acceptable level. I still like the old ones better.

I had one, took it somewhere and now I can't find it, LOL. I'm using my mother's, she left a Corningware crockpot in my basement with a bunch of her other junk....um...stuff.

Anyway, it has a corned beef cooking in it right now.

I won't leave my gas oven on while I'm not home for several reasons. First, TWO homes in our county have burned down because the ignitors in the gas ovens were malfunctioning and didn't allow the gas valve to operate properly. If the owners were home, there would have simply been an oven fire but because both times the owners left somethng in the oven and went somewhere else, the homes burned down. My electrician husband assures me that a malfunction in the crockpot is far more likely to trip the breaker than it is to start a fire. Second, I would have to turn it on in the morning when I left for work and leave it cooking for something in excess of 8 or 9 hours, which pretty much would leave me with a hockey puck when I got home. Third, it costs far more to leave a gas oven on all day than it does to run the crockpot, the crockpot costs about 2 cents per hour.

So, for all those reasons, I use the crockpot. If you have the ability to be home all day, or even long enough to cook something for a couple of hours, I'd agree that the dutch oven is a good idea. For some of us, though, it just doesn't make sense anytime except on the weekends.

And, even on the weekends, I like beans in the crockpot better than those cooked by another method, they come out perfectly to my taste.

Annie

We are having French dip sandwiches tomorrow. One of my favorites! As for leaving the oven on while not at home, I don't feel comfortable doling that after my heating element exploded and caught fire while the oven was preheating about two years ago. Probably a freak thing but stll scared me enough not to leave it unattended.

Tracey

Yes, my crockpot does cook too high on "low" but I still get good results. I just cook things less time. I have had beef come out good cooked on low overnight, but I can't remember the cut. It's the stew cut, name escapes mostly vegetarian me. But that was shredded beef, not French dip. I use mine mostly when I'm home on weekends, and if it gets too hot I take the lid off or turn it off for a while to cool it down. The things I have cooked in it turn out OK, but it's just been the beef, chicken, and lots of bean soups so far. I do chicken for the shortest time period possible, I think 4-5 hours on low.

It's funny because I put the roast in the crock pot this morning, frozen to the core at 8 a.m. and just before I posted, I checked it and found the liquid in the pot was boiling, so I turned it to the "keep warm" setting. That was 7 hours after starting it this morning. When I went to slice the roast at 6:00 tonight, it fell to pieces. So, we had shredded French dip sandwiches. Tasted great. I have the mindset to think of cooking in my crock pot for the entire day. I'll have to change that mindset, like you suggest lpinkmountain to cooking in the crockpot for a shorter period of time. Or, I'll use my LC dutch oven.

You've just nailed the reason I have donated the last two crock pots I bought to thrift stores! They boil on low, and I hate it. I've sworn I'll never buy another one unless i find one that's at least 15-20 years old.

It's the whole "frozen to the core" aspect that has led to bacteria build up and sickness, etc. with the old crock pots that made the manufacturers raise the temperatures.
I don't know if it would be an issue with beef roasts but it certainly would with chicken. Maybe someone here knows more than I do (which isn't much) about this subject.

It is dangerous to put frozen food in a pot that does not cook hot, however, obviously plenty of people did and still do that.
It only takes a case of salmonella poisoning once to make you never forget it. It can also kill those with weak immune systems.

Count me as someone who has a love/hate relationship with new crockpots. On one hand, I love the larger, oval-shaped cookers -- but, I really hate the higher temperatures! From what I remember reading, 185 degrees was the low setting on older pots, which is well above safety ratings. But, there must have been some issue because now low is 200 degrees and high is 300 degrees. I still have one of the crock pots that I received for a wedding shower 26 years ago and it's my favorite! It also has an auto-shift control that I LOVE. And, imagine my delight when I walked into the SA a few months ago, and saw that exact crock pot on a shelf for $7. It looked brand new, so I imagine someone was probably cleaning out Grandma's basement.

I haven't paid much attention to the digital crockpots -- what's the minimum temperature that you can program on those babies?

I was thinking it would be funny if I took this nice looking, newer one into the thrift store in town and asked if I could exchange it for an avocado colored one.lol

The idea is to get the food out of the "danger zone" -- which used to be between 41 and 140 degrees, but I think they recently raised it a couple degrees -- as quickly as possible. This is exactly why cooking large pieces of meat (or anything dense and large) from a frozen state is considered unsafe. (And I don't need to know how many people have done just that and never had a problem. I'm just saying that is the recommendation and I wouldn't do it. I really don't care what risks other people choose to take.)

So, because everyone is so litigious and companies are afraid of getting their pants sued every time someone decides to not follow the recommended process, they cranked the temperature settings up to protect us from ourselves. ItÂs pretty much the same reason hair dryers have "do not use in tub" stickers on them or coffee cups now have "Caution  contents may be hot:" printed on them.

I think I liked it better when they assumed those of use with common sense would use it and those who didnÂt would become candidates for the Darwin Awards.

I guess I'm lucky to have an old one. I've never had anything actually boil on one. I agree with Annie about leaving the stove on. I wouldn't do it but I have no trouble leaving my crockpot on all day so dinner is ready when I get home.

Had the roast cooked on a low setting, I would have turned it to high for awhile, during the cooking process. Since the liquid I'd added was boiling at one point, I instead turned the dial lower. I can understand the safety issue. It turns out then, it's not actually a slow cooker, for safety reasons.

I'm down to only cooking baked beans in my crockpot. I just don't like the "boiled" taste everything seems to have, regardless of ingredients. I used to also use it for chili, but even that I tend to make on the stove now. It's just as easy. Mine was a shower gift so it has to be 25 years old. I never noticed that it got too hot so it must be one of the good ones lol!

I have a dutch oven for the first time and I'm loving it sofar, but I would never leave the house with the oven on. I never liked doing it with the crockpot. I'm too much of a worry-wart.

Lisa

Lisa

So what color do I need to be looking for at the thrift shop...something orange or avocado green? HEEHEE!

I started reading this hoping for a suggestion to a good one but apparently they all cook hotter due to safety concerns. Figures! They don't make anything good anymore!

Well, gee, I have one of the oval shaped Hamilton Beach models that I got last year and I LOVE it! Mine does not "boil", I cook all kinds of roasts in it. But what I really love it for is to make home made stocks - chicken and beef. I let it go for 24 hours - wonderful! One thing I really like about this pot besides the oval shape is that it is NOT digital! Just a mechanical dial for the settings.