What's That Smell Coming From My Crock Pot?
Do you notice the smell of burned wire or overheated plastic every time you use your Crockpot or slow cooker? That's exactly what I experienced every time I used my Rival Crock Pot for the past 2 years. This week... it finally died.
It was a long, slow death. (Precisely the way that a slow cooker should go, right?)
The smell was always so strong, and so long-lasting, that I can't help but think that my Rival Crockpot was simply overheating each time I used it. For the most part, the food seemed to cook okay.
The day my Crockpot died, it simply wouldn't cook sliced potatoes (for an augratin potato dish I was making)... even after 6 hours of cooking on HIGH.
The burning smell started the very first time I used my Crock Pot.
Naturally, I thought it was just the "newness" of the product that just hadn't burnt off yet or something.
Wrong.
Over the course of the past 2 years, I've probably used my Crockpot about once every 2 months. And the burning wire smell always continued.
The worst part: it would linger long after the meal had been cooked and served. Sometimes it seemed like days that the entire house (especially the first floor -- where the kitchen is located) would smell like burnt plastic. Ugh!
I guess it was the heating element all along...
Apparently, I'm not the only one:
Rival Crock Pot user
Hamilton Beach/Proctor-Silex Crockpot user
There's Probably Another Crock Pot In My Future
I think I'm still going to buy a new one though. Crock Pots are quite convenient -- under the right conditions.Although I admit... I never really use my slow cooker nearly as much as I thought I would.
Back in the day, when I had limited skills in the kitchen, a Crock Pot was the perfect answer. But now that I'm enjoying cooking more and more on my own, I find that I like the immediate gratification of having stirred, sauteed, baked, and broiled my own concoctions -- by hand.
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