Sheldon wrote:
> Andy wrote:
> > zxcvbob wrote:
> >
> > > That being said, I don't know if a crockpot provides enough energy to
> > > heat the exterior of a roast out of the danger zone while the interior
> > > is still frozen -- or to thaw the whole thing quickly enough that it
> > > thaws and then moves out of the danger zone before the surface can
> > > spoil. The worst case is that the surface bacteria grow explosively
> > and
> > > are then killed by the heat, but were active long enough to ruin the
> > > taste of the meat and *perhaps* produce heat-stable toxins. For
> > > example, staphylococcus toxin is heat-stable.

How much heat and how stable? I've never heard that before. Do you have
some more info? Now with Mad Cow disease, those prions are
indestructible but that's another issue. That's scary. Even
sterilization in an autoclave won't get rid of Mad Cow's prions.

And about the notion that one must achieve a certain temperature for
safety. That I often read. But I also read that one can cook those
vacuum packs, sous vide cuisine, for, oh, how many 30 minutes at only
140 F? Yes, I'm not kidding, 140 Fahrenheit for turkey with 7% fat!
Fascinating. But these are professional chefs whose careers depend on
not killing the customers

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/...try_Tables.pdf

The USDA is a good resource and has worked out lethality tables for
bacteria and certain cooking conditions. The fat level is critical for
determining cooking time. Now how does one determine the fat level of a
turkey? Vegetables don't have this problem.