I’ve always been one to doublecheck if I have turned off the heat on the stove when I leave home or go to sleep at night. If I can’t reassure myself that I actually turned it off, I won’t be able to think about anything else and I’m sure others have the same problem.
Naturally, when I received my first slow cooker I had to make sure that everything I had heard about it was true. However, when it came to leaving the slow cooker unattended for 8 hours straight, I didn’t like it one bit.
But the slow cooker is designed to operate at low temperatures and cook for a long period of time – which would be incredibly unproductive if it required my full attention throughout the entire cooking cycle.
To calm my nerves I decided to do some research on the topic. This is what I came up with.
How long can you leave a slow cooker on? Slow cookers are designed to run long cooking cycles (up to 8-12 hours on low) and can be left on for the entire duration. Some cookers come with a keep warm feature which keeps the food heated until you’ve come back. A slow cooker shouldn’t be left unattended when running on high, and even on low, certain precautions need to be taken.
It is considered very safe to leave a slow cooker running for several hours on low while you’re away. However, it is an additional fire hazard. No matter how well designed slow cookers are, leaving an appliance on when you’re away is a risk – it doesn’t matter if it’s a cooking appliance or an A/C unit.
Keep reading to find out what safety precautions you should take if you plan on leaving your slow cooker on for a long period of time.
Is It Safe To Leave a Slow Cooker On All Day?
However small the risk of a fire may be, it’s still a risk. We’re never going to be perfectly safe in our homes, anything can happen. The thing is, I wouldn’t want to add another risk to the list. Thousands of users have left their cookers running overnight and/or while they are at work without the slightest problem. Yet, I wouldn’t recommend anyone to just leave a slow cooker unattended.
I have done it successfully for years now, but I know that I’m taking a very small risk every time I do it.
Because you won’t be able to monitor the appliance while it cooks, it is very important that you do research on the topic before you get going. Here’s what I think you should focus on before you start cooking in your slow cooker while you’re away.
- The surface you place it on: It’s important that you place your slow cooker on a flat, hard, and heatproof surface. This prevents the slow cooker from falling over and ensure that the material that you place the cooker on is able to withstand the heat.
- Placing the cooker near other items can be a fire hazard: Make sure to place your slow cooker in a spot that provides sufficient space for the appliance to ventilate. The cooker should be nowhere near flammable objects (think towels, paper, plastic bags, etc) when starting a cooking cycle. Slow cookers can also damage your kitchen cabinets if placed directly beneath them.
- The slow cooker could pose a risk if you have pets: Leaving your pets and the slow cooker at home can be a hazard if the cooker is within their reach. Cats are agile and can jump anywhere they want while dogs are drawn to the smell of food and do their best to get to it. Keep this in mind.
- Keep the cords away from liquids: If the wires are hot and come in contact with water there’s a risk of starting a fire.
Should You Leave a Slow Cooker Unattended?
You can leave your slow cooker unattended, yes. It is possible and a lot of people do it on a daily basis while others strongly dislike the idea of leaving a heated electronic device running in their home when they aren’t present. Which I can understand.
Before I answer this question, I would like you to read this paragraph written by the Sonoita-Elgin Fire Department.
“Fire Safety Tip: Can you even imagine how many causes of fire there are? Many we know and many we don’t. We recently had a structure fire started by a crock pot. Check yours out! Set it on your counter and turn it on HIGH for about ½ hour. BE CAREFUL and watch it to make sure everything is OK. Now turn it OFF. Feel your counter. Is it VERY hot? You bet it is! If the counter is hot, find another non-flammable place to put the crock pot (like on a tile or pizza stone). Or safer yet, don’t leave the crock pot unattended.”
Sonoita-Elgin Fire Department News.
Statistically, the chances of this happening are extremely small, but I’ll feel much better knowing I’ve warned my readers and acknowledged the possible risks, no matter how small.
According to the NFPA, more than 1/3 of house fires are caused by cooking equipment. However, small portable devices only accounted for 4% of those.
Now, within the category “small portable devices” there are probably a hundred different appliances that are responsible for the 4% of the fires that this category stands accountable for.
I can’t tell you how much the slow cooker has contributed towards that 4% but I can assume that it’s a quite small portion considering the fact that the slow cooker is sharing responsibility for the fires with a bunch of other appliances within the category.
Slow cookers are designed to cook for very long periods of time safely. That’s what they do. Manufacturers keep developing safety features to minimize the risks associated with slow cooking, or cooking in general.
Can You Stop And Restart a Slow Cooker While Cooking?
Some people would feel much safer pausing their slow cooker while they aren’t home then resume cooking once they get back. However, by doing this you risk leaving the partially-cooked food in the “danger zone” for bacteria for a long period of time.
Said zone is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria and should be avoided. The slow cooker takes a long time to reach high temperatures – reheating in the cooker is therefore not the best option.
Of course, the best option is to cook the dish to completion and then either store it or serve it. If you plan to reheat the meal, do so using a microwave or any other quick method. Not only can reheating food in the slow cooker give you food poisoning but it can also overcook the meat.
One thing to take into consideration is the airtight seal that is produced when the steam gets trapped inside the cooker. This airtight seal will keep the meal somewhat sterilized as long as it isn’t opened. Now, this shouldn’t be counted on entirely and it won’t do much for a meal that hasn’t cooked thoroughly.
Can Slow Cookers Catch Fire?
Yes. The risk of a slow cooker catching on fire is very slim but not non-existent. Even though slow cookers are designed to safely cook meals for a long period of time without any supervision – there’s always a risk.
Can You Overcook Food In a Slow Cooker?
Slow cookers are praised for their ability to prepare a beautifully tender piece of meat with little-to-no manual adjustments needed from the user. The slow cooker is great at doing this, but the thing is, if not done correctly, the slow cooker can turn any piece of meat into rubber – dry and tough.
Not all meats react the same when overcooked (but the texture changes), there’s a difference between lean and fatty meats.
Fatty meats will become very tender when they’re cooked to the right degree of doneness in the slow cooker, however, when cooking past that point, the meat will slowly start to dry out and eventually become unchewable.
Leaner meats, on the other hand, will fall apart at a touch if they are overcooked. You should be able to slice a piece of lean meat if it’s cooked properly.
Some slow cooker models come with a “keep warm” setting, which prevents the user from overcooking meat. Once the roast or chicken breast has finished cooking the slow cooker will go into a “keep warm” mode which reduces the temperature to a level that’s just about enough to keep the meal warm.
Other cookers can be programmed to switch from “high” to “low” after a set amount of time.
Here’s what I recommend you do to avoid overcooking in the slow cooker:
- Make sure to thaw the meat completely before cooking
- Use a thermometer
- Fill the cooker according to recipe
- Follow recommended cooking times for specific ingredients – can be found online.
- Check instruction manuals for recommendations.
Final Verdict
When I was doing research on the topic I came across the following, I can’t remember where I read it but I think it pretty much sums it up.
“To sum it up, the slow cooker can theoretically or technically catch on fire, but practically it doesn’t.” And yes, this is true for all electronic devices in your home. They can malfunction and start a fire but a lot of people don’t turn off their TV or A/C when they leave their house.