I am a teacher and on the last day of school before winter break, my students watch a movie and have snacks and hot chocolate. It's really the only way for them to drink hot chocolate at school.

I made hot chocolate for a cookie exchange party. It worked out well. The milk never scalded and it was always hot. I had set up a hot chocolate bar. It was great for the adults and the kids!

If it's made with milk, the crock pot is safer because you'll never scald the milk on a crock pot, but a burner generates more heat and if left at the wrong temperature, it can scald the milk on the bottom. Especially if you leave it unattended for too long. Milk is better warmed low and long which is what the crock pot is good at.

I don't know that I'd want to leave it all day but crock pot is great for warm winter drinks at parties -- they don't get cold, guests can help themselves over the course of a few hours, etc. Mulled wine or cider is also great in a crock pot.

So you can make it in advance and leave it on all day for people to help themselves. This is helpful if you are cooking a meal and using the burners already. But I'm sure you can make it on the stove if you have a very low light or one of those things that diffuses the hear a bit.

I came across a recipe for crock-pot hot chocolate, and I can't figure out why you'd need to do it in the crock pot instead of just in a saucepan. ?