I have a crock pot that will generate a low boil on the "Low" setting and dries out anything that is cooked for a long period. I'm wondering if the temperature regulator is too high, but I can't know that unless I know what the temperature is supposed to be.
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1Temperature of what? The liquid inside won't go past the boiling point. What really matters is the power, which determines how much water it's able to boil away in a given amount of time.– Cascabel ♦Commented Nov 10, 2011 at 2:46
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@Jefromi, good point! I suppose I could fill it with oil to take a temperature, but that doesn't seem productive. Do you have any alternate measuring techniques?– Mark RansomCommented Nov 10, 2011 at 3:06
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@Jefromi Should a slow cooker boil at all? Would it negate the "slow" aspect if it did?– event_jrCommented Feb 2, 2013 at 14:23
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@event_jr Yes, slow cookers boil, just not too vigorously.– Cascabel ♦Commented Feb 2, 2013 at 16:23
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1 Answer
I, like you, assumed that a slow cooker would have a temperature regulator. I took mine apart, in a bid to find the thermostat and adjust it -- and discovered that it does not have one.
Cheap slow cookers contain an heating element which delivers a constant low heat, and all you can do is choose between two or three levels of power. It does not stop supplying that heat when the contents reach a particular temperature. It just keeps pumping that heat into your food.
This means that -- as long as less heat is lost out of the cooker walls/lid than the element is putting in, the contents will keep getting hotter until they reach boiling point, whereupon the energy will instead go into turning liquid into steam.
I don't know whether more expensive slow cookers have a proper thermostat. It would be good to know.
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1This is pretty much the answer. As far as I know, no slow cookers have "proper" thermostats; they don't need them. In this context, with respect to the OP's question, well, if it's boiling dry with a reasonable quantity of liquid and the lid on, it's too hot or the lid doesn't fit well enough. Perhaps you could edit your answer to include something along those lines; otherwise I might do it for you. (No reason to split the good stuff into two answers.)– Cascabel ♦Commented Feb 2, 2013 at 16:52