Recipes that used to work no longer cooking in the time specified--what's up?

[Julianne]

The last two times I've cooked in the crock pot, using tried and true recipes, the food hasn't cooked in the time that used to work. Any thoughts of what could cause this? And ideas for solutions other than buying a new crock pot?

Today, I cooked my root vegetable tagine for 8 hours on low, stirred, then an hour on high. Tasted it and the parsnips were crunchy. :doh

My only thought so far is maybe the lid isn't creating enough of a seal--would that cause this? And would sort of reinforcing the seal with aluminum foil be a good idea then?

[Wonder Woman]

I would buy a new one :shifty If it's not cooking in the time it should, I'd be worried that it's at just the temp to let bacteria grow :/

[Rabbit]

I would buy a new one :shifty If it's not cooking in the time it should, I'd be worried that it's at just the temp to let bacteria grow :/


I agree.

But just in case, are you using it in a different location now? (ie under air conditioning, against a cold wall?) that you weren't before?

I always put a folded tea towel over the lid of mine, and the food cooks faster.

[Julianne]

Ick, that's a good point about the bacteria. It has four settings: keep warm, low, medium, and high. The lower settings seem to be too low now, but the food does bubble on high, so maybe I can just use medium as low for now. I think I'll experiment as I can't afford a good new one at the moment. I don't want to sink my money into another low end one that'll just die in two years like this one.

I'll try putting a towel over the lid too. I'm using it in a new apartment, but it's just on the kitchen counter, not near a window or cold wall or anything, so I don't think that's it.

Thanks for your thoughts!