Rival Crock-Pot BBQ Pit Review:Bringing your Family barbeques inside.

  My Mother-in-Law has recently purchased a new Crock Pot  slow cooker for use in her household; She purchased the Rival Crock Pot BBQ Pit Cooker for use indoors in their home.  Basically, they were interested in getting an indoor alternative to the traditional outdoor barbeque - something which they could use during any Season of the Year.  A friend of theirs had seen the Crock Pot BBQ and suggested it to them and they bit.  My Wife went to visit her parents recently and had the opportunity to try it out.

My wife said that her Mother had to read through the included instruction manual before using the BBQ Crock, something that she has never really had to do with any new Rival slow cooker s before, even her Daughter's Crock Pot Elume. (that's how different this one is from the rest, I guess) I guess it is safe tio say that this appliance has its own 'learning curve' to deal with. The picture I included with this Hub shows that the BBQ Crock-Pot looks smaller than you might expect with the included meat rack taking up a lot of the space but it is not a good idea to remove it unless you are planning to use the crockpot as just a regular slow-cooker, otherwise your results might be alittle bit more on the mushier-side or even stew-like and not so much barbequed. The Mother-In-Law also recommended that one makes sure that they dry their meats out somewhat before putting them in - again to avoid them being too mushy as a result. I mentioned the included meat rack: apparently it can be used in two different positions depending on what meats you choose to barbeque with it. The stoneware crock liner is removable and is dishwasher safe which is good because it can get quite messy con sidering the nature of the cooking that you would be doing. My wife said that the liner is also oven-safe, so it's got that going for it which is nice, I guess, if you need to use it that way. Another thing that they both liked about it was the obvious (from the picture) fact that as a counter-top appliance, it is more versatile and can be located on a patio table or inside on the kitchen countertop depending on what the weather and the situation calls for.

There were a few things about the Rival Crock Pot BBQ Pit that were not so great, according to my Wife and her mother; for one thing, the BBQ Crock heats up pretty fast, so you have to be sure that it is okay that it is going to stay where it is once you start cooking with it - it has no handles on the outside of the unit with which to pick it up and it gets too hot to move once you start using it. I should mention that the stoneware insert does come with handles attached, so removing it is not a problem when you are finished cooking. Another annoying thing about it is the fact that it is rather easy to end up with burned on food on the inside of the crock insert after use and if you don't have a larger dishwasher then you might find yourself forced to clean it by hand which can be a frustrating experience. When this happened to them, they ended up cleaning it with a mixture of baking soda and water which they considered a less abrasive way to get it clean. When I looked online, I found that a few people have tried using spray on cooking oil on the insert before using it to reduce the amount of burned on gunk you have to deal with later. This leads me to the rather obvious conclusion about the appliance itself, that it is maybe alittle bit big for some peole to have in their kitchen's all the time and it might need to be stored out of the way when not in use. The problem for some here, however, might be finding the available storage space for it if you happen to live in a smaller household.

Really, the Rival BBQ Pit Crock Pot is not a replacement for the traditional outdoor barbecue and it is not intended to be. Instead it is just intended to be a way for households to have access to BBQ cooking any time of the year.