is my slow cooker working properly?

[carolynd]

I bought a slow cooker a few years ago and used it a handful of times with variable success (some of the recipes I tried were horrible). I've decided to try and use it again as I like the idea of it. I've done a couple of dishes recently using chicken, on the low setting with a cook time of about 8 hours following a recipe (it's a Rival 6.5L one with only 2 heat settings). When I've checked on it at about 6 hours into it, it had been bubbling away vigorously and the outside has felt quite hot - much hotter that I would have imagined a low setting to be but because I haven't used it much and for so long I really can't remember if that seems right or not. I'm just wondering if my thermostat is malfunctioning and it is actually cooking on a high setting. The first time the chicken definitely seemed overcooked, the second time it was certainly very well cooked but tasted ok. Those with experience of slow cookers what do you think.... has it gone on the blink?

Not sure if it's on the blink or not, but you could try with some root veg like carrots or potatoes. Those take longer to cook than meat. Most of my recipes say a min cooking time of 7 hours for anything with root veg in when on 'Low' so if they cook much more quickly, then maybe there is a problem. Did you get any recipes with your slow cooker that you could try?

Thanks. I'll try some root veg and watch how they cook. Yeah had a couple of recipes that came with the cooker - think I binned the booklet as a couple of them were disgusting!