Using Your Crock Pot Safely for Crock Pot Meals
For food safety reasons, set the temperature on high for approximately an hour when you first put your crock pot meals into the slow cooker. If you’re a working person, do this first thing in the morning before getting ready for work. Then get ready for work, eat your breakfast or do other chores while the crock pot is heating up to temperature. Then turn the temperature down to the desired temperature.
If your crock pot is functioning properly, it will maintain the food at a temperature above 140 degrees, which is the minimum safety level. For your peace of mind, you can check the safety of your crock pot occasionally by inserting a food thermometer into the center of the food at various times during the cooking process. Raise the temperature of the crock pot until it does maintain that temperature and then use that as your guide to where it needs to be set to do the job safely. If you can’t find a safe level then toss the pot and get a new one.
The LOW setting should maintain the food at about 200 degrees, and the
HIGH setting is about 300 degrees, which are well above the minimum safe temperature of 140 degrees.
It’s best to defrost food before putting into the crock pot. And to put the food into a different container before refrigerating so that the food can cool down quickly.
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