The New Year can be a busy time. With chilly days outside, a warm crock pot meal can be the perfect, easy end to the shorter days. Crock pots or “slow cookers” are a convenient way to have a meal ready to go when you get home, without a full day’s work in the kitchen. But remember, slow cookers need to be used correctly to avoid the chance of foodborne illness. Here are a few quick tips and tricks to make sure you’re getting the best quality and safest meals out of your crockpot cooking:
1. Never put frozen meat into a crockpot. Meat needs to be fully thawed before using a crockpot because otherwise it will never reach the internal temperature of 140°F which is necessary to kill all harmful foodborne illness-causing bacteria.
2. Preheat the cooker and, if possible, add hot liquids. Preheating the crockpot before adding ingredients will ensure a rapid heat start and will shorten the time foods are in the “temperature danger zone”, in which bacteria grow most rapidly.
3. Vegetables cook the slowest, so place them closest to the heat source, either at the bottom or near the sides of the cooker.
4. During the cooking process, do not lift the lid unnecessarily. Each time the lid is lifted, it decreases the internal temperature by about 10-15°. This slows the cooking process by about 30 minutes.
Wonderful, healthy slow cooker recipes can easily be found on the internet. There are 50 at this link http://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/g1903/slow-cooker-recipes/?slide=1 This is just a start. Use your home ingredients and don’t be afraid to get creative!
