Rival 4071-WN 32-Ounce Hot Pot Express, White
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List Price: Our Price: $8.87 You Save: $6.12 (41%) Availability: Usually ships in 2-3 business days Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Rival 4071-WN 32-Ounce Hot Pot Express, White
Customer Review: Great accessory in Iraq, though it's 110V only.
Summary: 4 Stars
This was great to have in Iraq. I had one in 2003, and I got another when I came back in 2008. The Hot-pot allows me to make coffee, tea, hot chocolate, cook macaroni, heat soups, and so on. There are a few types offered here at the PX, but they all have an exposed heating coil. Therefore, they are only good for heating water. The Hot-pot has a non-stick burner at the bottom that easily comes clean. (Don't be an idiot like me and attempt to clean it by scraping it with a field knife...bad on teflon!!)
An obvious alternative is a microwave, but those are a LOT less portable, more expensive, and the Hot-pot doubles as a bowl. The lid easily snaps on and off and has a covered spout for easy pasta straining.
The biggest disadvantage I ran into was that this device only runs on 110V power. I really could've benefited from a dual voltage appliance. I had to find a power converter big enough to handle a heating element anytime I wanted to use it. So I got a bargain (8 bucks) on the Hot-pot, but I had to spend another 75 dollars to get a power converter. That's not a big deal back home, but if you are getting one for overseas, keep that in mind.
If you plan on sending this as a gift or in a care package to a soldier overseas, I should say that most people get power converters anyway. Guys get converters for everything from alarm clocks to X-boxes. Don't let the power difference dissuade you. If nothing else it'd be something good they could trade off.
Back home, this product would be good for a dorm, hotel room, office, camper/RV, or boat. I sure got my money's worth out of it!
Customer Review: Great multi-use hot pot
Summary: 5 Stars
I had never heard of hot pots before I went into res a few years back, though the chance to use one was welcome and shortly after I purchased one of my own (this Rival model - my friend had an older model).
For water, I'd have to say that it's quicker to heat than any kettle I've used in the past. Granted, I haven't used many newer model ones, but perhaps due to the larger heating surface area of the hot pot, it heats quicker. Regardless, five or six cups of water only take a few minutes to bring to a boil.
It's functional for heating food, although it often requires a lot of attention. It's fine for ramen or perogies or pasta or something where you're boiling IN water, but as soon as you heat a soup or thicker liquid, the quirks of the heating mechanism show up. Though there are different temperature settings, the element is either on or off - 'high' just means it's on constantly and 'low' means it switches on and off every few seconds. For soup or stew, even on low, you'll need to stir fairly often even though it is non-stick.
Cleaning it can be annoying, too, but it's a small price to pay for the convenience. It was a life-saver in res, serving me up late-night snacks from Kraft Dinner to ramen and soup and perogies, and I use one to this day for just heating water, as it's quick and the pop-lid makes it easy to fill and empty.
I actually have gone through three of them - one was borrowed by my parents (and never returned as they liked it so much) and I bought another to replace it - then when I moved in with my girlfriend I found out she had one too.
Customer Review: Love it
Summary: 4 Stars
I just love this hot pot. It is what it is, and it does what it says it's supposed to. It's not fancy, but it heats water in a matter of minutes. The temperature knob doesn't have any markings on it, so I took a permanent marker and put a dot on the dial so I could see if the temperature was on low or high (low is left; high is right, and this is not rocket science.) That is the only thing I found confusing about this hot pot, but for the price, it is well worth having to mark the dial by hand. If it were a Cadillac, I'd have been disappointed, but it's a hot pot, so it was fine. The main thing is it heats water in a snap and also has a built-in thermostat, and it continually cycles to keep the water hot. I make perfect hot tea in it. The pot's interior does stain somewhat, but I am sure that tea would do that anyway. This staining is just another example of "it is an imperfect world in which we live," and I'm not all that surprised about that. Anybody who complains about the staining should research how to get the stains out, but I just don't really care because the stains don't mean it is not clean, per se. Another thing is you have to be careful when you open up the hot pot when it's full of hot liquid, but it can be done if you hold the handle with one hand to steady the pot and then sort of hold the lid down with the heel of your hand while you gently pry the lid off with your fingers. I really like this thing. It's terrific. If you can be "in love" with a hot pot, then call me crazy.Customer Review: Excellent electric kettle for those on a budget
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this electric kettle to replace an old, leaky stovetop tea kettle. I remember this brand from my college days--my mother sent both myself and my brother off to college with one so we could make instant soups, hot chocolate, and the like in our dorm rooms. I liked it then, and I like it now.
Since I'm the only one who drinks hot tea or coffee in our household, the size is just right for making a half-pot of French press coffee, or a pot of tea. It boils very quickly, and is easy to empty--no leaking by the spout at all.
I chose the Rival over the Bodum Isis after looking at both in the store. I had read that the automatic shut off feature on the Bodum pot breaks after some time. I also did not like the heating element in the Bodum--it looked as though it would be hard to clean if the element got build up on it. The Rival is very neat and smooth, easy to clean.
The price is also right. There are larger, fancier electric kettles out there; if you have a larger household of hot-drink consumers, those would be a better buy, but I am happy with this one; it tucks right into my cupboard when I'm done with it and I have one less thing hanging out on my stove! And my engineering husband tells me that an electric kettle, such as this one, uses less energy to boil water than the microwave or the stove, so it's a good, economical choice.
Customer Review: An OK inexpensive little pot - but you get what you pay for
Summary: 3 Stars
I enjoyed this little hot water pot as long as it lasted. It heated up water every morning for me for ten months, and did the job quickly and well. There is a temperature control, which I never used. (...All I wanted was caffeine - quick and hot!) The unit appears to have an auto-shutoff that kicks in when it has been left unattended for a few minutes or (I think) when the pot starts to go dry.
The three negatives I found are:
1. The entire pot is plastic, though I never had problems with melting of components or a "plastic" smell or taste to the water. Even so, many will have concerns about chemicals, such as BPA, leaching into the water.
2. The cord attached to the pot is fairly long and can't be removed - which is annoying and possibly hazardous: almost causing a couple of unplanned trips for potfuls of very hot water from the countertop to the floor!
3. The unit lasted 10 months before it started to leak. I never discovered the exact spot, but it must have been somewhere in the seal between the plastic and the black heater element in the bottom of the pot.
For 15 dollars, I probably couldn't expect a perfect solution in a hot pot like this, nor should one expect an inexpensive unit to last forever. With this in mind, I'll rate it three stars.