Kylara - food poisoning crock pot

DaiLyght

HA! I think I found it! It's not really the crock pot's fault, per say:

"Raw kidney beans, and some other beans, contain a toxin, phytohaemagglutinin, which is destroyed by boiling for at least ten minutes, but not by the operating temperature of a slow cooker. Raw beans must be boiled prior to slow cooking to avoid food poisoning; canned beans do not require this, already having been so treated. Even a few beans can be toxic, and beans can be as much as five times more toxic if cooked at 80?C (175?F) than if eaten raw, so adequate pre-boiling is vital." 

In my searching though I did discover in regards to meat: if the crock pot was old (or broken, cheap, etc.) and didn't heat to a safe temperature fast enough (up to 140 in 1.5 hours). That can be compounded by using frozen meat. Depending on the thickness of the meat, a frozen slab of meat may not be able to heat in the middle to 140 in 1.5 hours. Also, like happ said too in the other post, if it cooked fine, and then switched to warm (and that warm setting is too low less than 158) for too long, the bacteria can grow.

So there you go, arm yourself with that and go tell DH you deserve a crock pot!  

kylara111

You know, I'm so paranoid about undercooked food and meat in particular.  So paranoid that I should just be a vegetarian.  Seriously.  That's really surprising about the beans though.  Since it seems like meat and stews are what most people make in slow cookers, I think I'll stick with my charred-beyond-recognition food and avoid the slow cooker.  I've had food poisoning one too many times. 

Maybe one of these days if I see a recipe I just HAVE to try, I'll get one.