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Slow cookers are the life savers of a busy week. With a convenient appliance, you can prepare the pot and advance the day. result? Delicious home cooking without spending hours in the kitchen. The only problem is: some foods are not suitable for delaying the preparation of cookware.
According to Allie Echeverria, Fresh Start Registry Expert and Nutritionist in Atlanta, Georgia, certain foods aren’t really safe to cook in a slow cooker. The last thing we all want is to feel sick with a homemade meal. So she asked her to explain the foods that should never be cooked in a slow cooker.
Which foods are not safe to cook in a slow cooker?
Frozen chicken
According to Echeveria, cooking frozen chicken in a slow cooker may not be safe. “The official USDA stance is that cooking frozen chicken in a slow cooker is not safe,” she reports. “The food temperature hazard zone is between 40 ° F and 140 ° F. Bacteria grow rapidly in that temperature range, so it is not expected to keep food in that temperature range for more than two hours.”
This means that frozen chicken can spend a lot of time in its danger zone, as slow cookers take longer to heat and cook slowly (hence the name). Don’t miss your chance, as chicken needs to reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit to be safe to eat. Be sure to thaw frozen chicken before putting it in a slow cooker.
Dry the common beans
If you’re planning on making your favorite slow cooker chili recipe this weekend, be careful not to start with dried beans.
“Phytohaemagglutin contains phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), a protein called lectins. PHA is toxic at high doses. Fortunately for bean lovers, boil at 212 ° F for 30 minutes. Then the toxins are destroyed, “explained Ekeberia.
This means that preparing dried green beans on the stove may be completely safe, but the slow cooker does not reach the required temperature fast enough.
leftovers
If you have a lot of leftovers, you might want to put them in a slow cooker, but Echeveria says this is not a good idea.
“Even if you cook in the slow cooker first, don’t use the slow cooker to reheat the leftovers,” she warned. “Low temperatures can allow cooked foods to spend a lot of time in dangerous food temperature zones.”
Instead, she suggests reheating the leftovers in the stove or microwave. After that, she says it’s perfectly fine to keep warm for the serve with a slow cooker.
What other foods are difficult to make with a slow cooker?
Echeveria states that food safety is not the only concern when cooking food in a slow cooker. Some foods need to be careful because they need to be cooked at the right time to get the best taste when cooking slowly.
Shellfish and mollusks
According to Echeveria, red shrimp, crabs, oysters, lajonkairia and mussels can all be safely cooked in a slow cooker. However, if you’ve cooked shellfish before, you know that you can cook it right away no matter which method you use.
If you overcook the shellfish, it will be tasteless and rubbery. For this reason, Echeveria recommends adding shellfish an hour before a complete meal is ready, or a few minutes before cooking is complete, depending on the recipe.
Raw meat
“Raw meat is a staple of slow cookers, but you may need to add it to the pan before adding other ingredients such as green vegetables,” she shared. “Baking meat in a frying pan before adding it to a slow cooker was my slow cooker meal game changer. It can add caramel flavor, reduce grease and cook meat and rest ingredients. Slow cooker at the same temperature for the same time. “
So go ahead and cook the raw meat in a slow cooker. Try to get a better start than the rest of the material.
