To think you put raw chicken in the slow cooker?

[NoNamesLeft234678]

Can someone please confirm that I have done this right? I've made a chicken stew type thing. It's the first thing I've made in the slow cooker and I put the chicken in raw (I used 2 chicken breasts) and it's been in for 6 hours and 40 minutes. I've just shredded the chicken up and mixed it all together and put it back until we're ready for it (probably about half an hour as my boyfriend has just got back from work) and my boyfriend has said that I should have cooked the chicken first as low temperatures don't kill salmonella... surely he's wrong? The recipe says nothing about cooking the chicken first and it's called a slow 'cooker'... help fix this debate please 🙈😅

No that's not right - low is fine as long as it reaches the correct temperature. I cook chicken on low all the time.

That was to @EmpressCixi

If it reaches temperature and is cooked through, why does it matter? Just wondering

I think that reasoning is because it’s not likely to reach temperature in the timeframe most people cook it for.

Haven’t tried it myself, must admit…

I've put it raw for years ( and today!) not died yet... just make sure it's on for long enough.

@EmpressCixi

Right, Raw chicken is ok in a slow cooker if you have put it on HIGH and it’s properly simmering. If you’ve put it in the slow cooker and put it on LOW, then your boyfriend is correct.

No that isnt right.

@Christienne I have been putting frozen chicken breasts in my slow cooker submerged in a sauce for at least 10 years. Always cooked through and for some recipes like Jambalaya I shred it.

Slow cooker turned on to high so that pot gets hot. I put in all the veg frozen, onion, peppers, green beans depending on the recipe, add tinned tomatoes, herbs and spices, mix, submerge pre-frozen chicken breast as in I buy it frozen, leave it on high for about 1 hour then turn down to low. Always cooked, yes I check with a thermometer as I always do for any food I cook just in case the oven malfunctions etc.

I was completely dubious to begin with, I saw an American woman on YouTube make a chicken salsa with black beans, sweetcorn and tinned tomatoes etc and she used a slow cooker liner which I had never seen before and she used frozen chicken breast from Costco where I buy mine. I followed her recipe and double checked the chicken was cooked with the thermometer and honestly I was surprised.

@loobylou10

No that's not right - low is fine as long as it reaches the correct temperature. I cook chicken on low all the time.

The low setting doesn’t reach the correct temperature for hours and hours, and in the interim any bacteria present will multiply. Yes after 6hrs on low, the bacteria are all killed but food poisoning from salmonella isn’t just from live bacteria but from the toxins left behind that they secrete and also leave behind when they die. To properly cook raw chicken, you want to cook it quickly. You may have been doing what you do for years and years but that doesn’t make it safe. After all, my parents would defrost meat on the counter top overnight and all day and they never got sick from it. They also rode around with no seatbelts on and never died or were injured in a car accident. Don’t confuse blind luck with safe procedures.

I put raw meat in my slow cooker on ‘auto’ setting & just cover the uncoooked food with liquid. As you know, there is little evaporation with slow cookers so the art is to put enough liquid in to cover the food & no more.

The manual says that ‘auto’ cooks on high for the first two hours then goes down to medium setting to keep the food cooking.

By the time as pop out to check the liquid levels sometime after two hours the food is simmering away & the meat is thoroughly cooked through.

If you had the food set to cook at medium for 6-8 hours it will be throughly cooked, & you saw this when you shredded the meat.

YANBU.

@OnTheBenchOfDoom has correct procedure

“Slow cooker turned on to high so that pot gets hot.... leave it on high for about 1 hour then turn down to low.”

You want the cooker to get hot fast and raw meat to get to correct temperature fast. Then you turn to low for the tenderising part of slow cooking.

[quote OnTheBenchOfDoom]@Christienne I have been putting frozen chicken breasts in my slow cooker submerged in a sauce for at least 10 years. Always cooked through and for some recipes like Jambalaya I shred it.

Slow cooker turned on to high so that pot gets hot. I put in all the veg frozen, onion, peppers, green beans depending on the recipe, add tinned tomatoes, herbs and spices, mix, submerge pre-frozen chicken breast as in I buy it frozen, leave it on high for about 1 hour then turn down to low. Always cooked, yes I check with a thermometer as I always do for any food I cook just in case the oven malfunctions etc.

I was completely dubious to begin with, I saw an American woman on YouTube make a chicken salsa with black beans, sweetcorn and tinned tomatoes etc and she used a slow cooker liner which I had never seen before and she used frozen chicken breast from Costco where I buy mine. I followed her recipe and double checked the chicken was cooked with the thermometer and honestly I was surprised.[/quote]
Who knew? (Well, you did obviously 🤣)

That’s more time saved, thanks!

I always cook chicken from raw in the slow cooker. Usually it's in on low for 8 hours until I come home for a dinner break. If I'm at home cooking it I'll do it on high for 3-4 hours and then just turn it down to low to simmer until I'm ready to eat it.

My slow cooker gets super hot so I'm sure it kills whatever bacteria/germs there is. Plus i've been cooking raw chicken in the slow cooker for decades and i'm still alive so I'm sure it's fine. :)

I do whole chickens in the slow cooker.

The best way to cook them. Always amazing and bubbling hot. Meat falls off the bone so 100% cooked through and no dryness like oven roasting.

@Christienne I know, I was so dubious about the frozen chicken but followed her instructions. I realise this means you have to be around to do the high bit first, but I think she also said you could cook it on high too. I also loved the chuck all your frozen veg in, no prep whatsoever.

I used to do a lot of slow cooker food when the children were younger so dinner was made before lunch. I now have an Instant Pot so a lot of stuff gets made in that. You can cook frozen chicken breast in that too, I use it for packed lunches.

@loobylou10

That was to *@EmpressCixi*

So much terrible info on here, especially from *@EmpressCixi*.

Chicken does not need to be cooked quickly, or even up to 75degrees.

Safe cooking is a mixture of reaching a certain internal temperature for a particular length of time:

60°C for 45 minutes
65°C for 10 minutes
70°C for 2 minutes
75°C for 30 seconds
80°C for 6 seconds

Any of the above combinations will safely cook the chicken. These figures are from the governments website.

www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/cooking-your-food

Thanks @TheRealityCheque! - fed up of know it all's on here spouting tosh and basically telling everyone else they are wrong.

I'm sure it's perfectly safe but my anxiety wouldn't let me do it. I basically cook it twice🙈 - once in the pan on the stove then in the slow cooker on low with whatever flavourings it's going with. OH says it's dry, which I'm sure it is, but I'd rather eat dry chicken than have food poisoning. (My approach is probably way over cautious so I wouldn't listen to any of this 😂)

it doesnt say pre cook on the slow cooker instructions, and no one does, so of course its safe.

I remember there was a big thing with Jamie Oliver a few years ago when he said that he doesn't brown meat before cooking something like a stew. I do always brown my meat, but it's not necessary. I think it's like washing chicken. Even if we are told it's unnecessary, some people just feel weird about cooking unwashed chicken.

I don't personally wash chicken by the way, but I know people who do.

I don't brown chicken or gammon etc. I will brown mince though, mince seems to leak a lot of fat otherwise.

Raw chicken in a slow cooker for 6 hours should be perfect. I've used mine a lot and used a thermometer on it. Low is usually aroun 91c medium is about 100c and the high got up to 145c

@Sofiegiraffe

I'm sure it's perfectly safe but my anxiety wouldn't let me do it. I basically cook it twice🙈 - once in the pan on the stove then in the slow cooker on low with whatever flavourings it's going with. OH says it's dry, which I'm sure it is, but I'd rather eat dry chicken than have food poisoning. (My approach is probably way over cautious so I wouldn't listen to any of this 😂)

Quel horror!!