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Crock Pot Burning Smell: Here’s Why A Burnt Smell Is Coming From Your Crock Pot

crockpot-steaming.gifDo you notice a 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 burning 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 augraten 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…

 

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.