Review on Crock-Pot Lunch Crock Food Warmer, Blue – Compact Size for Quick Heat and Easy Meals by Jan Keller

. I've used them less this summer since we had roasts. I use it about once a week and am very happy with it. UPDATE (12/16/13): Heating pad still works! I have two insoles and change them almost every day. I still love using it at work. :) UPDATE (7/25/12): One of the commenters posted a link where you can buy additional food containers for $5 on the Slow Cooker website. Cute! ORIGINAL REVIEW: Pros: * Looks cool. It put "ooh" and "ahhh" out of a few of my co-workers.* It's compact, lightweight and easy to carry.* It's great for reheating food if you're thinking of plugging it in! On average, it heated my food to a comfortable temperature within 1.5 hours. This includes all types of foods, from simple soup purees to liver and onions. (I love liver.)* Food doesn't smell until you remove the lid to eat.* Inner bowl cools quickly. I unplug the heating pad, leaving the inner pot in the heating pad while I eat so I don't have to fumble to get the hot metal bowl out. When I'm done with lunch, the inner bowl is cool enough on top to take it out.* I love the fact that I don't have to use a working microwave. This saves me time because I used to take a Lysol cloth to the kitchen table in the office and a soapy paper towel to the microwave before using it. There are a lot of people in my office who bring in lunch (about 70 people), which is good for the budget but not great when you've been hung up on the residual dirt that was all over the microwave for a week. . With this little warmer, I put food in a container, plug it into an outlet, and you're done. I wash the container at work and at home it goes in the dishwasher. I save 5-10 minutes on pre-cleaning the office kitchen and don't have to wait for the "lunchtime rush" to pass. Cons: * It would be great if you could buy additional containers for it. I could imagine packing containers for a whole week on a Sunday evening. There are days when I work after dinner and it would be nice to be able to bring food in a second container. I bought a second reheater, but it's better to pay half price and get extra inner containers.* Don't reheat spinach in it. It becomes bitter Additional information: * The lid of the inner container usually lifts slightly after heating for 10 minutes. The instructions said this could happen and don't try to close the lid again. Based on several other reviews that raised concerns about bacteria and food safety, I decided to do a little experiment. I poured tap water into the inner tank and checked the water temperature every hour for three hours. I also decided to test the temperature of real food, again checking the temperature every hour for 3 hours. I used the Thermapen Instant Read digital thermometer to take the temperature. The results are shown in the table below. According to the NSF (National Sanitation Foundation) website, pre-cooked foods must be reheated to 165°F when using a microwave. The FDA website states that hot picnic food should be kept at 140°F. As you can see from the results I received, the water temperature exceeded 165°F within an hour. The food topped 140°F within 2 hours and was just under 165°F after about 3 hours. Time ----- Water Temp ----- Food Temp 9:45 am ----- 20.4°C -- -- 36°F 10:47 am ---- 168.5°F ------ ---- 126.2°F 11:45 am ---- 170°F -- ----- ---145.1°F12:50 P.M.----170.8°F----------164.9°F