Testing a Crockpot

The food safety concern surrounding any crockpot is its ability to reach a temperature above 140 degrees within four hours. Since bacteria grow rapidly between the temperatures of 40 and 140 degrees, it is of great importance that food not to be in that range for more than four hours in order to limit this growth.
To determine if your crockpot is reaching this temperature, you will have to experiment on a day when you are home. Prepare a recipe and check to see if the temperature rises above 140 degrees within four hours on the LOW setting. It would be better to prepare a thick food, such as chili, gumbo or stew, because this would take longer to reach the temperature as compared to a thin food, such as chicken noodle soup. Quickly take the temperature, because it will drop rapidly when the lid is opened. If the temperature does not reach 140 degrees within four hours, there is a problem with the crockpot, and it should be thrown away.