Electric Crock Pot Temps, how to tell?

[Caslon]

I recently purchased a Proctor Silex 1/5 qt. slow cooker. I read one negative review on Amazon where the owner put in potatoes and carrots and stuff and checking the progress after 5 hours cooking on High, the potatoes were still kind of hard. So I wanted to test if mine will have high enough temps. I filled the crock 3/4 full with water, set on HIGH, kept the lid on for a full hour, took the lid off and tested with instant read thermometer. 150 F degrees. Not good I thought.

I email the company and they reply:

"We do not recommend testing the temperature using water as you will not get an accurate reading. We would recommend cooking something in the slow cooker. Please see the below temperatures."

Warm 160 degrees
Low - 180-190 degrees
High - 200-225 degrees

I don't see the logic behind this. If I'm gonna slow cook a soup, then it's going to be mostly water anyways.

Also, I'm not going to slow cook for 12 hours to get satisfactory results, that's kinda rediculous. 6-8 hours...OK.

I figure I got one that underheats...or I'm wrong about how to check temps...or that mine is fine and every owner will have 150F water after an hour on HIGH?

Would someone (who has cooked lots successfully with their electric slow cooker) mind filling theirs 3/4 with water on high with lid on and then check the temp and report?

 

[GB]

I would not think that an hour would be long enough to get it up to temp. Check after 3 or 4 hours and see if there is a difference. I bet there will be. They are called slow cookers for a reason.

 

[bethzaring]

LOL, GB said the exact same thing I was going to say....one hour is way too early to get a meaningful reading. I would wait at least 3 hours to test a temperature reading.

Recently I bought a thermopen thermometer

ThermoWorks - The New Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen

and have been shocked to see the different readings I can get in the same pot of foods. I have been using it in cheesemaking, where temps are critical. I generally am working with one gallon of milk in a cheap 2 gallon ss stock pot that I put in a Vollrath 3 gallon ss pot for a double boiler set up. The readings have a 20 degree F plus difference in range, depending on were I place the thermopen in the pot of milk.

 

[Phaedra]

The average Slow Cooker runs at 95°C on Low [that's 203°F], which means some run slightly lower, some slightly higher.

Even the High setting Proctor Silex have stated, of between 200-225°F appears to be rather low, but it is still perfectly adequate. However there is no way that water will reach that temperature after only one hour.

You say that you are not going to slow cook for 12 hours to get satisfactory results, but I don't think that is necessary. 6-8 hours should be long enough for just about anything, but on the Low and not on the High setting, which should really not be used for any longer than 5 hours.

If possible you should have your slow cooker set on High for about an hour and then turn it down to Low for the remainder of the cooking time, which can be anything up to 12 or even more hours.

 

[Joshatdot]

for S&Gs I got newer Crock Pot about 3/4 full of water & measured the temp on Low & High. On Low I got a temp of just over 140*f .. and on High I was getting at least or just slightly below 212*f.

Rival Crockpot: Stoneware Slow Cooker, model 3150, 135watt (low) & 210watt (high)

Our older (circa 1984) Rival 3150 had wattages of 120 & 210 .. so I figure about 125*f & 212*f .. we do not have it anymore for me to test it.

 

[giginpeppep]

OK, I too read the reviews. I too have a proctor silex crockpot. Not a fancy one by any stretch; rather, the cheapest one I could find for ten dollars (yes, about five years old). I use it alot; never check the temperature. The contents bubble - that's hot enough if it bubbles a couple hours. Usually, I leave it on all day anyway. Maybe the reviewer didn't use enough liquid, did not cut up the veggies or kept removing the lid every half hour.