Crockpot or slow cooker and why?

Is there a difference between the two? I guess I've always had a crock pot (or at least that's what I call it) but I kind of thought they were pretty much the same thing.

I'm with potatocakes. I never knew there was a difference. Very interesting!!

I'm getting one for Christmas!! Yippee! I think years ago they called them crockpots...now they are called slow cookers....

Well, the reason I asked was because I was trying to figure out myself what the differance was and which one I would prefer. I have a slow cooker that comes off the base, it always burns things, the lid doesn't fit tight and I'm very displeased with it. MIL bought me another slow cooker for my birthday and I was wondering if I should try this one or return for a crockpot. Just needed a little input from the pros.

I never tought about the wording. I'm thinking crockpots are what they call the smaller, cheap version. Slow cooker would be the bigger, more expensive one.

Whatever the name, the lid should fit and it should never burn anything. I just really started using one on a regular basis this fall. I still have to refer to the books to get the amount of water right. I had a stew turn into soup when I tried to just guess the water amount.

Okay, I see what you mean! Well, I have what I guess you'd call a slow cooker, then. I got it a couple of years ago as a Christmas present and I really, really love it. It's the Rival Smartpot and I like how you can "program" it (limited, really, but better than most others I've seen). You can set it to cook for 4, 6 or 8 hours and then after the time is up, it converts to a "warm" setting so your food doesn't overcook if you're not home to turn it off. I would highly recommend it. Also, the part I love most is that the whole crock part of it lifts out of the metal casing (which houses the heating element), so you can stick it in the sink, dishwasher, whatever. It makes it so easy to clean up without having to worry about getting electrocuted!

This just in...

Rival has a copyright of the name CrockPot so any other manufacturer has to call their appliances (of the same type) a slow cooker. So a CrockPot and a slow cooker are the same thing.

http://www.crockpotters.com/



kos

Thanks for all your input, guess I'll keep the one I received!