Personally, I take it as a sign from above that if the handle melts it is time to get rid of the appliance. It is a safety hazard. Here's a suggestion: Box up the crock pot along with a big sob story about how you are a single mother with smallpox and an expensive orthodontist, or better yet, how you were going to send the thing to the Consumer Product Safety Commission but wanted to see if Rival could fix it first. Send it back to them and see if they send you a replacement. If not, no big deal, you can buy them pretty cheap at about any discount store.

Here's a link to the Rival Crockpot website. You can download manuals. Here is a link that might be useful: Rival Crock Pot info

I broke mine the first time I used it, while washing it. Very easy to damage. I got on the rival website--got their number and they replaced it for something like ten bucks. When I got the new one, the lid that I still had didn't quite fit right. I called them, but they weren't very helpful this time. I can still use the thing, but the lid doesn't quite sit right. I wouldn't buy this crock pot again. If I could find one like my old one, I would buy another like that one. Now, I don't even remember what brand it was. It was a metal pan with a clear glass lid that sat on a "griddle" basically. Loved that crock pot!

Hi Sandy, Yes I am interested in what parts you have of the Dazey Chef Pot. I've had mine for 20 + years and it's great. I only use it for crock pot cooker. My crock portion just cracked. I have a suspicion that a family member plunked something down hard on it the last time it was soaking in the sink. Funny, I've been researching getting a new one and for every slow cooker you find, somebody has a problem. I came here to get some advice and found one of my old posts right here! It would be great to be able to just replace what I need or the whole thing. I have it set that you should be able to contact me, I think through the member page or something. Let me know. Thanks, Nicole