Temp when slow cooker is in on High

[larry_stewart]

Im making a soup in my slow cooker ( which I rarely use other than to caramelize onions).

The recipe says to add all ingredients ( veggies, lentils + 8 cups of broth) and either put it on High for 4 hours or Low for 8 hours.

I chose to do the 4 hour/ high option.

Im about 3 hours in and it just doesn't seem like its going to be done in 1 mor3 hour, so I was wondering if im just being impatient ( which is a very likely possibility). or if the slow cooker is not functioning properly.

The Soup is not and has not come to a boil or even low simmer ( not sure if its supposed to in. a slow cooker.

I decided to check the temp with my thermometer, and the temp is approximately 175 F.

What should I expect at this point in the cooking process ( soup on high for 3 hours) ? Should it be boiling or simmering? Is 175F in the right temp range ( which if it is, obviously it wouldn't be boiling) ? Am I just being impatient ?

***I only lifted the lid once when taking its temp. Its not like I keep opening the lid and letting the heat out***

 

[GotGarlic]

Give it more time. Cooking time is an estimate - sometimes it takes longer than the recipe says. I made split-pea soup a few weeks ago in the slow cooker and I thought the same thing. I stirred it and let it keep going and an hour or so later, it had released a lot of starch and thickened up nicely.

 

[pepperhead212]

Slow cookers are notoriously "different", as for the temperatures on low, or high. My old slow cooker on high was just under boiling - 210° - so it was almost like cooking at a fast simmer on the stovetop - definitely not 4 hours for most of those dishes, though heating up the heavy pot took a while. The IP high seems almost the same, and I use that mode for that - simmering. I remember a testing Consumer Reports did years ago on slow cookers, and some they did not recommend, as the slow didn't get the temp up high enough or fast enough, and the high setting on one was barely as high as the low was supposed to be! The regular setting was considered 190°, and several were much higher, and cooked too fast, and downrated, as a result.

 

[larry_stewart]

Guess Ill be having it for dinner instead of lunch

 

[skilletlicker]

I takes several hours on high to bring any kind of mostly liquid water to boil in my seldom used, inexpensive Proctor Silex Slow Cooker. Most of the time I prefer a simmer although 175° is at the lowest end of that range. I think of 180° + as being the minimum. Eventually, though it turns into a full raging boil that I never want in a "slow cooker".

 

[Kayelle]

This thread is a prime example of why I hate crockpots.

 

[larry_stewart]

This thread is a prime example of why I hate crockpots.

I couldnt agree more

But I came across the recipe, knew I had the crockpot downstairs , so figured what the heck.

Soup came out good, took a little longer than expected, but im just too impatient to use a slow cooker.

For me, its only purpose is when I caramelize onions. I still do it better ' hands on', but the slow cooker way is very easy, predictable and hard to screw up
( Each year for fathers day my son gets me 40lb bag of onions, so thats one way to make a dent in my bounty)