Food hygiene question!

kitrat

crystaltipps wrote: »

If I am doing a slow cooker thing I tend to do it before bed and keep it in fridge too. I pop it onto the low setting and it is always fine - well we haven't become ill yet, anyway! I do sometimes turn it onto high when I come in if it needs thickening. Or I pop it in the oven for 20 mins if we are having dumplings popped on the top.

One invaluable tool in my kitchen - one no one should be without - is a probe. I probe pretty much anything with meat just to be on the safe side.

What sort of temperature should I expect? I do have one but it needs a battery changing.

crystaltipps

kitrat wrote: »

What sort of temperature should I expect? I do have one but it needs a battery changing.

The legal requirement in catering is over 75c to be cooked and and over 65c holding temp. That is enough to kill bacteria/prevent them multiplying. I am happy if it tips over 70c at home.

We can be a bit fussy about food hygiene to be fair - you are more likely to get food poisoning from contaminated surfaces/utensils/poor handwashing/insufficient cleaning etc than dodgy cooking temps BUT I have studied lots of pathogen related stuff over time and worked in catering pretty much all my adult life so am probably a bit more paranoid than most!:o

kitrat

crystaltipps wrote: »

The legal requirement in catering is over 75c to be cooked and and over 65c holding temp. That is enough to kill bacteria/prevent them multiplying. I am happy if it tips over 70c at home.

We can be a bit fussy about food hygiene to be fair - you are more likely to get food poisoning from contaminated surfaces/utensils/poor handwashing/insufficient cleaning etc than dodgy cooking temps BUT I have studied lots of pathogen related stuff over time and worked in catering pretty much all my adult life so am probably a bit more paranoid than most!:o

Haha well this stuff is always handy to know. Thanks!

Sally_A

I prefer to cook overnight, and switch off in the morning - then reheat in the microwave at tea time.

kittycat204

Last night I put all my beef stew ingredients in the slow cooker bowl. Put the straight in the fridge. Took it out this morning and set it up with a timer plug to come on at 12, by then it was at room temp. I'm still alive and kicking.

kitrat

Sally_A wrote: »

I prefer to cook overnight, and switch off in the morning - then reheat in the microwave at tea time.

I hadn't thought of doing it that way, that's a good idea

kittycat204

Sally_A wrote: »

I prefer to cook overnight, and switch off in the morning - then reheat in the microwave at tea time.

Least if i did that i wouldn't keep opening it and fiddling with it. I'm terrible for that.

Phoolgrrrl

I agree use a timer. If you put it straight on from fridge you can risk cracking if you have a ceramic crackpot.