Remember when you could put a roast in the slow cooker in the morning and come home to supper, ready and waiting? Or when you could cook a pot of beans overnight in the slow cooker and when you got up next morning, they were done? Try leaving a nice pork roast in one of the newer Crock Pots now and it'll be dry and overcooked after a full day, rather than falling-apart tender. These days, whether you use the "high" or "low" setting doesn't matter: The contents will be bubbling and boiling like crazy. Whatever happened to "simmer"?
Yesterday I researched this problem, and found out that "somebody" decided the older slow cookers didn't keep temperatures hot enough to destroy bacteria, so now they all boil like a witch's brew, no matter what setting you use. Just google "crock pot cooks too hot on low" or anything similar, and you'll find the same answer. HERE is what I learned. HERE is a link to a forum discussion about the problem.
Unless: you spend a larger wad of money on a programable slow cooker, but reading reviews on Amazon, I'm not sure I want to invest more money just to end up with the same, or a worse, problem. Even their highest-rated slow cookers, with 4 1/2 stars out of five, have dissenters who are unhappy with either the temperature or something else, like the glass lid breaking while something is cooking and raining glass pieces into the food.
*sigh*
I've found several articles explaining the new "hotter" crock pots and recommending programable ones, but when I go to Amazon to check out what people are saying after they purchased some of those, it scares me. One model with high ratings has a lot of people saying it only worked four or five times, then stopped working. How does it get such high ratings if that happens all the time?
Why do people always have to fix something that isn't broken? We used crock pots for years before the changes, and I personally don't know anyone who got food poisoning from the things they ate at church dinners or family holiday meals.
GIVE ME A DECENT SLOW COOKER!
I still have my ancient slow cooker and don't intend to get rid of it. I don't use it very frequently, but it has come in very handy for potlucks. :)
ReplyDeleteI have a tall crock pot I got 32 years ago as a wedding present. And we have two oblong slow cookers that we got when others got rid of them for something newer. And you are right, no one ever got sick that I know of. Also, we often cook things on the stove and let them simmer on low for several hours. I brown my ribs under the broiler and then cut them down to 200 and let them cook for an hour or so. I have a nifty old oblong pan that has a rack/lid that is full of small holes. I lay the ribs on it, put a cup or two of water in the bottom and melt in you mouth tender.
ReplyDeleteI have a crockpot I never use except in the winter to make soups. Never had a slow cooker.
ReplyDeleteI'm an almost not cooker, so I don't have any slow cooker info to add. I never remember anyone getting sick from raw eggs or going into shock over nuts or peanuts as one of the (often unlisted then) ingredients, but it seems to happen now. Maybe we are less hearty than we used to be as a species.
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