It's too cumbersome to clean, plus you'll want the luxury of assembling your recipe the night before and storing it in the refrigerator. Check the water with an accurate cooking thermometer, lifting the lid only briefly. The thermometer should read about 185 degrees. Cooking temperatures and wattage vary from brand to brand and from place to place. A Rival brand Crock-Pot slow cooker typically registers 200 degrees on low and 300 degrees on high.
Some brands feature a temperature dial with a wider variety of choices.
A spokeswoman for Rival said that some brands other than Rival cook much hotter than 200 degrees on low, and that the temperature can also vary depending on the electrical wiring in your home. Also, air temperature can affect cooking time. If your house is 60 degrees, increase the cooking time by two hours. When we tested this appliance, we loved the fact that the pot won't burn the food, but we wished for more options in cooking times. A Rival spokeswoman said that the company is developing a Smart-Pot with more options.