LenS wrote:
> I recently acquired a West Bend 3-1/2 qt. Crockery Cooker to replace
> my ancient cooker, the brand of which I don't recall.
>
> I've had some problem with overcooking even though I prefer to cook
> for long periods (8-10 hours) on LOW.
>
> A chicken stew I cooked for 9 hours, following West Bend's own recipe,
> tasted fine, but the chicken was mushy, although the potatoes and
> carrots were fine.
>
> A small pork roast cooked on LOW had an internal temperature of 170
> after 5 hours. According to my thermometer instructions, that's
> cooked! I should have taken the roast out then, but I left it in
> another 4 hours. It was very tasty and tender, but was dry and clearly
> overcooked.
>
> Some "country ribs" were tasty and tender, but really overcooked after
> 8 hours.
>
> So, I found some tests for slow cookers online and tried one, but I'm
> not positive what the results mean because I don't know what the
> temperatures for LOW and HIGH _should_ be except that temperatures
> below 140 aren't safe.
>
> Anyway, following the test instructions, I put 2 quarts of 70F water
> into the slow cooker and turned it on LOW. I have two meat
> thermometers, a digital and a dial type.
>
> Times and temperatures for LOW:
> 3-1/2 hours 185
> 7-1/2 hours 190
> 8-1/2 hours 190
>
> For HIGH:
> 2 hours 192
> 4 hours 199
> 7-1/2 hours 203
>
> It seems to me that the maximum temperatures for LOW and for HIGH are
> awfully close to each other.

It seems to me that the small incongruities over so many hours is
indicative more of line voltage fluctuation.

And methinks your obsessive-compulsive concern about nothing is highly
indicative of a psychosis... R U NUTZ!