Cooking large cuts of meat in a slow cooker

When cooking large cuts of meat in the slow cooker we need to take precautions to thoroughly cook the meat and destroy bacteria.

Bacteria can grow within the temperature range (40 -140º F or 5 – 60°C) which means we’re in the danger zone, and there’s a potential of food poisoning if you don’t take the following considerations into account.

Large cuts of meat like pot roasts or whole chickens heat up slowly in a slow cooker and can allow food poisoning bacteria to multiply to substantial numbers while the food is in the danger zone.

Bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and some strains of E. coli produce toxins which are heat stable at normal cooking temperatures, even though food bacteria are all destroyed at 165°F – 75°C.

These toxins can make the people very sick when they eat the food.

How to minimise risk when cooking meat in a slow cooker

The risk of food poisoning can be minimised by browning the roast or searing the meat in a hot skillet or pan. This kills most of the surface bacteria where the majority of the bacteria are.

Be careful not to cross contaminate!

That is, do not place the cooked meat onto a surface that contains the raw juices and the bacteria of the uncooked meat.

An additional benefit of searing the meat is it produces browning reactions in the cooking process which help develop the full intense flavor of cooked meat, so this is something you want to get into the habit of doing regardless.

Stainless steel prongs can also be placed into the seared meat cut. Metal is a good conductor of heat and this will heat up the inside of the meat cut much faster.

The meat can also be cut into smaller pieces to ensure thorough cooking. This also shortens the time the food will remain in the danger zone.