From Versaware to iphone apps, the Rival Crock Pot is one place where tradition meets innovation in the kitchen.
Considering the traditional aspect of cooking using a Rival Crock Pot to slow cook a meal, it is not really a surprise that one might think of Rival as being a more conservative and traditional kind of company that relies on marketing and selling the more proven consumer cooking appliances such as the traditional Crock-Pot slow cooker. However, over the last few years, more and more this has become a mistaken assumption. I used to be guilty of this manner of thinking until I started to become aware of the range of diverse cooking aplliances that the Rival corporation has actually been (successfully) marketing to consumers. In addition to the basic programmable Crock pot slow cookers that it offers, slow cookers which to be fair are also offered by a number of other kitchen appliance manufacturers, Rival has also introduced a number of more innovative slow cooker appliances. The Rival Versaware crock pot series of slow cookers has introduced versatility to the concept of slow cooking. The Rival Crock Pot elume has married the concepts of slow cooking appliances and touch screen technology. The Rival Crock Pot Trio (and now also the Crock Pot Duo) have offered a multi-crock pot cooking experience in one space for those preparing meals for larger groupings. And maybe even more out there is the introduction of the Rival Crock Pot BBQ Pit Cooker which has offered an indoor alternative to the traditional outdoor barbecuing experience - something that can be quite convenient when regular barbequing is not such a practical alternative at this time of year!
So we have seen all of this innovation in the last little while and any of these on their own might be enough to earn Rival some 'cred' when it comes to embracing modern technologies in the kitchen. Now however, in time for the holidays, it seems that Rival has decided to really embrace the modern technological world with it's decision to offer its own iPhone application, named simply enough, the Crock-Pot iPhone Application. I was recently visiting the Rival Crock Pot I could try and describe this new offering in my own words, but I think that Rival's own description of it would be just as effective:
The Crock-Pot Slow Cooker Recipe Finder helps you decide what's for dinner with hundreds of savory, time saving slow cooker recipes right at your finger tips! Browse a wide variety of recipes, shake to generate random recipes or enjoy the recipe of the day. You can also create your shopping list and calculate the ingredients based on any recipe selection. Search a wide variety of Crock-Pot slow cooker recipes and select by Course, Ingredient, Cuisine or slow cooker Quart Size. Create a shopping list for one or multiple recipes. You select the recipes and the Crock-Pot Slow Cooker Recipe Finder quickly generates a complete shopping list. The Crock-Pot Slow Cooker Recipe Finder makes it easy to share your favorite recipes via email, Facebook or Twitter. Simply select your recipe, press the (+) button and share your recipe with friends and family.
So there you have it, apparently Rival has decided to run with the current future tech and has made an effort to be iphone friendly. I don't own an iPhone, but i can see how this shows a marked effort by Rival to keep in touch with modern technology and to be seen as still being a relevant brand name despite its more traditional reputation. But really though, when you think about it, Rival is actually a company that has some serious innovation in its history. Think about it: at it's core the Rival Corporation, through its subsiduary Crock Pot company arm, was being an ionnovator when they decided to remanufacture and remarket a slow cooking appliance called the Beanery and released it to the public as its first Crock Pot brand slow cooker! So maybe I shouldn't be all that surprised by anything that they should come up with today or at any time in the future...
