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Because it cooks at a very low temperature for long periods of time, cooking with a slow cooker requires a bit more vigilance about food safety than does cooking at higher temperatures. The slow cooker needs to strike a delicate balance between cooking slowly enough that it doesn’t require your attention and fast enough to ensure that food reaches temperatures that are appropriate to inhibit bacterial growth. Bacteria grow rapidly at temperatures higher than 40°F (4°C) and lower than 140°F (60°C). Once the temperature reaches 165°F (74°C), bacteria are killed. Slow cooker manufacturers have designed the appliance to ensure that bacterial growth is not a concern. As long as the lid is left on and the food is cooked for the appropriate length of time, that temperature will be reached quickly enough to ensure food safety.

Unless you have made part of the recipe ahead and refrigerated it, most of the ingredients in my recipes are warm when added to the slow cooker (the meat has been browned and the sauce has been thickened on the stovetop), which adds a cushion of comfort to any potential concerns about food safety.

Tip

Leaving the lid on when you’re slow cooking, particularly during the early stages, helps to ensure that bacteria-killing temperatures are reached in the appropriate amount of time.

The following tips will help to ensure that utmost food safety standards are met:

•Keep food refrigerated until you are ready to cook. Bacteria multiply quickly at room temperature. Do not allow ingredients to rise to room temperature before cooking.

•Do not partially cook meat or poultry and refrigerate for subsequent cooking. If you’re browning meat before adding it to the slow cooker, do so just before placing it in the slow cooker. When cooking meat, try to get it to a high temperature as quickly as possible.

•If cooking a large cut of meat, such as a pot roast, that has been added to the stoneware without being browned, set the temperature at High for at least 1 hour to accelerate the cooking process.

•If preparing ingredients in advance of cooking, refrigerate precooked meat, such as ground beef or sausage, in a separate container from vegetables. Assemble when ready to cook.

•Pay attention to the Make Ahead instructions for those recipes that can be partially prepared in advance of cooking — they have been developed to address food safety issues.

•Do not put frozen meat, fish or poultry into a slow cooker. Unless otherwise instructed, thaw frozen food before adding it to the slow cooker. Frozen fruits and vegetables should usually be thawed under cold running water to separate before being added to recipes.

•Don’t lift the lid while food is cooking. Each time the lid is removed, it takes about 20 minutes for the slow cooker to recover the lost heat. This increases the time it takes for the food to reach the “safe zone.”

•If you are away and the power goes out, discard the food if it has not finished cooking. If the food has cooked completely, it should be safe for up to 2 hours.

•Refrigerate leftovers as quickly as possible.

•Do not reheat food in the slow cooker.

Testing for Safe Temperatures

If you are concerned that your slow cooker isn’t cooking quickly enough to ensure food safety, try this simple test. Fill the stoneware insert with 8 cups (2 L) of cold water and set the temperature to Low for 8 hours. Using an accurate thermometer (and checking quickly, because the temperature drops when the lid is removed), ensure that the temperature of the water is 185°F (85°C). If the water has not reached that temperature, the slow cooker is not heating food fast enough to avoid food safety problems. If the temperature is significantly higher than that, the appliance is not cooking slowly enough to be used as a slow cooker.

Leftovers

Cooked food can be kept warm in the slow cooker for up to 2 hours. At that point, it should be transferred to small containers so that it cools as rapidly as possible, and then should be refrigerated or frozen. Because the appliance heats up so slowly, food should never be reheated in a slow cooker.