Rival 4071-WN 32-Ounce Hot Pot Express, White

Updated: I added a star. I think this product is pretty good and I like it. I use it at work to get up my tea water. If you use filtered water it cuts down on any white mineral deposits left over. So, get a little pitcher to filter your water.So, it doesn't do exact temperatures. But, it's also cheap, too. I have a much more expensive kettle at home. It's better but it cost about six times as much. If you want to boil water and do it fast without flame, then this hot pot is for you. And, if you want to vary the temperature as well, then you should click "buy now" already. Even if you hate it, it's so cheap that it's not some big losss. But, you wont hate it because it's a good little water heater.original review...I bought this to make tea water. I like green tea which uses water at 180 degrees so that it doesn't become bitter. I am not sure how accurate the thermostat is. To test, I used a meat thermometer and tried to let it heat up slowly. All of my readings are in degrees Fahrenheit, by the way.The first setting, according to the website, should be 140 degrees. My tests showed it to be more like 110. The third circle got it to about 150. At just before the fourth marking, it showed about 175. Close. I bumped up a tad. The pointer looks to be just next to the fourth mark. (this is all very scientific, right?) it went to 195. Sigh. But, in about a minute, or so, the time it took to type the last sentence, it was falling back to 183 already.So, I waited. I wanted to see when it would cycle back on. It clicked back on at 177.7. It heated the water back to 197, then turned off again. All of this was with it about half full, so about 16 ounces of water. After I typed that last sentence it was down to 190.Waiting. I wait as I type this, to see if it will cycle on again at 177. While we wait, I want to say that I realize this thing only cost me about $15. Okay, it just cycled back on at 180. I bumped the dial back down. And waited. 190. 191. Cycles off at 195. Okay.So, it makes a quiet roaring sound as it heats at this temperature. I'm waiting again to see when it clicks back on. You can hear a tiny little "ting" or click when the heating element turns on and off, if it's quiet. It's quiet in the house right now.Amazon shipped this thing to me fast. I expected it Monday but got it Sunday. Love Amazon Prime.It cycled back on at 180. At this point I'm thinking that if I wanted it to be this exact, I should have paid much more for one the kettles that heats water to specific temperatures. For the next part of my experiment, I poured it out and refilled it, again halfway. I waited long enough to type this sentence and the last... Love this real time review, right?Okay, going to plug it in again. The starting water temperature is around 79. Bubbles are already forming and coming up from the heating element. The dial is set at just about midway between the third and fourth mark. I just heard it cycle off at 126. Hmmm. I gave it a little nudge so it is slightly higher than the midway point between the third and fourth mark. It clicked back on at 124. Bubbles rising again. No noise before, but now there is a light hissing. Bigger bubbles. Off at 156.5. So weird. I gave it a tiny nudge again, almost imperceptibly. It clicked on at 152 and then off at 176. Okay, I am going to give it a very very small nudge. Okay, waiting again.By the way, if you find this review helpful, it would be cool if you clicked the little button below that says so.Back on at 168. Here we go. It should hit 180 this time. 182, 183, 185, 188, 189.Okay, it is nearly impossible to get this exact. Dump the water and try again. I am not touching the knob yet.The water is at 79 degrees. I waited about five minutes. Plugging in again. Tiny bubbles start to rise almost immediately. After a minute or two I hear hissing and it's at 140. Off at 162. Grrrr. But, wait, it cycled on again and hit 180 this time!Okay, I'm leaving it there. For the price, it's hard to complain. It's white plastic and the lid is removable. There is a non-stick round heating element at the bottom.

The Hot Pot i have now, is my third in 10 years. Iam very happy with the product, but not completely.The original onew i bought, had a metal pot, and acircular metal gasket inside the base of the pot,that held the heating coil, and the Pot was tallerand not as wide..more like a coffee pot, than a saucepot. It worked well for a long time, but the sides werehot, and it was difficult to clean around the raisedheating ring coil in the bottom. And the paint on theedges began to peel near the end of it's usefull life.,The new ones, removed the problem with the raised ring,by putting the coil under a plate, and i liked that alot, but the "non stick surface on the plate is hardto avoid scratching, and really isn't all that"non stick"..it would be better to leave the tefloncoating off, and allow that it could be scraped, witha metal spoon.Now, i've had no problem with any plastic tasteafter the first few uses, but think the unit asa whole, would be better with a metallining, and some insulation between it's outsideplastic shell. I'd pay more for a model like that.Now i've cooked a lot of things in my Hot Pots, buti've just heard of a new one...cooking a box ofMac & Cheese in it..i would have thought it wouldneed to be bigger than the 32 oz unit i have to beable to do that, maybe they mean in the 40 oz one...But i tell ya...i'm gonna try it out..hope i don'tmake a mess out of it..but i *do* get the Mac&Cheese"Blues" every once in a while..:o)And the Hot Pot would appear to work great forstraining the water out, without needing a collander...

I've used this item twice a day for the past three weeks. I am satisfied that this was a very good value, especially considering this is a low-priced gadget appliance.My initial impression is that this hot pot has a few design problems, but I didn't spend a week's pay at Sonoma-Williams to bring it home.Other reviewers have stated that their unit leaked. Well that's too bad! Mine hasn't sprung a leak yet, BUT.... when boiling something for a period of time, the steam gathers on the lid and will run down on the pot handle when you raise it and wind up on the counter-top which might could lead you to believe it was leaking.And, while we're on the lid, it's sorta hard to open without scalding yourself, the unit is so light weight that you have to hold it down to open the lid, and since the spout is opposite the lid hinge, it's the best place to hold the pot down while you open the lid.... BUT, I'll ASSURE YOU DON'T DO IT! [even if you have aloe handy]Clean-up is a breeze. I use a sponge with terry cloth on one side and nylon net on the other, works great. I do use cooking spray on the burner to keep from making too big of a clean-up chore.The temperature adjustment is really just a thermostat to cut the burner off, when the burner is on, it is wide open, the lower you adjust the dial, the shorter period of time it is wide open before it turns off. AND... the lowest setting is NOT "OFF"! Do Not plug in before you have the payload in the pot!Also, as grits get thick, they will splatter, so be careful.AS far as the claim that it heats water faster than a microwave? ABSOLUTELY!My only regrets is that I didn't order two!