Crock-Pot SCCPLC200-BL 20-Ounce Lunch Crock Food Warmer, Blue

CUSTOMER REVIEW



UPDATE (8/23/14): Both warmers that I have still work really well. I used them less this summer since we have had a hot one. I do use one about once a week and am very pleased with it.



UPDATE (12/16/13): The warmer is still going strong! I have two inserts and alternate them almost daily. Still love having this to use at work. :)



UPDATE (7/25/12): One of the commenters posted a link where you can buy extra food containers for $5 off the crockpot website. Sweet!



ORIGINAL REVIEW:

Pros:

* It looks cool. It made a couple of my co-workers "ooh" and "aah".

* It is compact, light, and easy to carry.

* It warms food great as long as you remember to plug it in! On average, it warmed my food to comfortable eating temperature within 1 ½ hours. This has included all kinds of foods from basic pureed soup to liver and onions. (I like liver).

* There is no smell from the food until you take the lid off to eat.

* The inner bowl cools quickly. I unplug the warmer, leave the inner container in the warmer while I eat so I don't have to mess with how to remove a hot metal bowl. By the time I finish eating my lunch, the inner bowl is cool enough at the top for me to remove it.

* I like the fact that I don't have to use the work microwave. It saves me time because I used to take a Lysol wipe to the office kitchen counter and a soapy paper towel to the microwave before using it. My office has a high population of folks who bring their own lunch (maybe around 70), which is great for budgets, but not so great when you get skeeved out over the residual gunk that was all over the microwave over the course of the week. With this little warmer, I put my food in the container, and plug it in and it's done. I rinse out the container at work, but it goes in the dishwasher at home. I save 5 to 10 minutes of pre-cleaning the office kitchen space, and I don't have to wait until it's past the "lunch rush".



Cons:

* It would be great if you could buy extra containers for it. I could see myself packing a whole week's worth of containers on Sunday night. There are also some days when I work past dinner, and it would be nice to be able to bring food in a second container. I did buy a second warmer, but I'd rather pay half the price and get extra inner containers.

* Don't heat spinach in it. Turns out bitter.



Other information:

* The lid on the inner container usually pops up slightly after 10 minutes of warming. The instructions did note this might happen and to not try to put the lid back on.



Based on a couple of other reviews stating concerns about bacteria and food safety, I decided to do a little experiment. I put tap water in the inner container and tested the temperature of water every hour for three hours. I also decided to test the temperature of actual food, again testing the temperature every hour for 3 hours. I used a Thermapen Instant Read digital thermometer to measure the temperatures. The results are in the table below. According to the NSF (National Sanitation Foundation) website, precooked foods need to be reheated to 165 °F when using a microwave. The FDA website states that hot foods at picnics should be kept at 140 °F. As you can see from the results I got, the water temperature surpassed the 165°F within an hour. The food surpassed the 140°F within 2 hours, and was just under 165 °F at about the 3 hour mark.



Time ----- Temperature Water ----- Temperature Food

9:45 am ----- 67.4°F ----------- 36 °F

10:47 am ---- 168.5°F ---------- 126.2 °F

11:45 am ---- 170 °F ---------- 145.1 °F

12:50 pm ---- 170.8°F ---------- 164.9 °F