I don’t know, chicken is one of those meats where it was hammered into my head to cook immediately, and then to sterilize everything that so much as was in the same room with it.
Now I have chicken breast sitting in my new slow cooker set to low, and the thought of it makes me a bit nervous. I mean, it’s just sitting there in that slowly heating ceramic pot.
Sure, it will eventually get to a temp that will be safe, but until then…
Until then…don’t eat it.:dubious:
I wouldn’t consider chicken breasts to be slow-cooking material, as they are so lean. I would have went to dark meat for slow cooking. Then again, I don’t believe in slow-cookers per se, preferring to use a tightly covered pot in the oven.
I agree with all this, but if you take them out right when they finish, you should be fine. That said, it doesn’t usually take that long before chicken breasts are cooked through. No idea on slow cooker timings, but I’d expect them to be done within 2 hours. When I poach chicken breasts, it’s usually “bring to boil, cover, set to low for 10 minutes, turn off and wait about 15-20 minutes.”
That said, some people are fine with the texture of long slow cooked chicken breast, as long as it has plenty of sauce/liquid. I personally think it turns mealy and stringy, but not everyone has an aversion to this.
I do bone-in chicken thighs in the slow cooker a lot. They come out really well. I’ve not tried breasts.
Chicken breasts slowcooked in Aldi’s garlic artichoke salsa. Not stringy at all, mmmmmmm in fact.
You don’t need to set the pot to low. You can set it to high for an hour, then turn it back down. As far as I’ve experienced, it shouldn’t really change anything, providing there’s enough liquid in there with it.
This was one of our go-to lazy cooking dishes… thighs & drumsticks in the slow cooker, cover with barbecue sauce, then go think about whatever else you’re going to make. 2 hours on high, 4 hours on low.
And, if you’re really worried about whether or not it’s cooked, get a cooking thermometer and make sure the liquid’s at or above 175 degrees.
I once cooked a turkey breast in a slow cooker. It kind of stood on end and came out looking as though it had been cooked in the oven. Very good, too.
We have cooked large chicken breasts (smothered with garlic and onions) in a slow cooker on low and it came out fine. I believe the meat will start to cook before it reaches the “danger zone”, and in any case the cooking will kill most of the bacteria. We have never gotten sick from anything we put in the slow cooker. Meat does go straight from the fridge to the slow cooker though, no sitting on the counter unrefrigerated.
You need better porn.
I use slow cookers all the time. Never had a health problem with chicken, bone-in or boneless, regardless of what part of the bird. Chicken doesn’t absolutely need long cooking time, but it won’t hurt. A slow cooker gets hot enough, soon enough, to be safe even at low, or at least my two units do.
Many slo cooker recipes are for boneless chicken. I always set my cooker on hi for the first hour, then back off to low for 4 to 5 hours.
That was recommended in my owners manual. That first hour on high gets the meat up to safe cooking temps quicker. You should do that for any meat, but especially chicken.
