STUMP » Articles » Kicked the Slow Cooker » 5 March 2014, 18:50

The Ancient Crock has a temperature dial, not the simple Low/High switch more modern slow cookers have. ‘Low’ is 200F and ‘High’ 250F, when it was new. I tested it by putting 1 quart of room temperature water in the crock, cover on, set on ‘Low’ for 6 hours. An instant read thermometer gave a temp of 165F. I next checked ‘High’ and 2 hours later got a stable reading of 200F. Finally, I checked 300F, it’s really 250F. Well, there you go. Next, an old bean test in the Ancient Crock – Cowboy Beans.

A few facts:

• The average Low temp of most slow cookers is close to 200F.
• While both temps vary amongst brands, High is the most variable – 250F to 300F.
• The Ancient Crock can double as a deep fryer, hence the temp dial.
• You don’t always need to soak beans when using a slow cooker