Crockpots

[Heather Weis]

With Thanksgiving coming up, and it being the first year having a bird, I want to make sure I am using a safe crockpot. I see that you can buy Stainless Steel crockpots, but haven't found one that has Stainless Steel inside. I come across a lot of what I already have, like the ceramic type. Does anyone know of any crockpots that are Stainless Steel inside and out? Which leads me to another related question. I use my Corningware in the oven all of the time, obviously nothing wrong there. Would a ceramic type of crockpot be like the same as Corningware?
Any insight or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Heather

 

[Bobby34231]

I'm not an expert on the subject but I can't see ceramic cookware being a problem, even the heating element shouldn't be harmful, as crockpots cook at a much lower temperature than say an electric stovetop element which are very similar, the major killer of pet birds from cooking appliances is the PTFE fumes given off by many types of non stick cookware(Teflon ect) and treated heat lamps, as well as the use self cleaning ovens in the cleaning mode.

 

[Heather Weis]

Thanks, that does make sense. Thanks for the help! Have a great Thanksgiving!!

Heather

 

[Vickiesbirds]

We use a lot of ceramic in the oven and have encountered no issues. I've never heard of a parrot casualty from ceramic. If you do have to use nonstick, which I sometimes do... just make sure your bird is as far away as possible, and that the window in your kitchen is open. When I use any nonstick, my birds go downstairs as far away from the upstairs kitchen as they can get, and I make sure everything is vented. If your stovetop has a vent, that can help a great deal as well. I actually just talked with my avian vet about the same issue. He said it was ok to vent, and move the birds out of the area. He told me the main way bird casualties occur from nonstick is from the food being burned in the pan... that's what causes the fumes to disperse. As for a turkey being cooked for hours in the oven, possibly in a nonstick pan... I'm not as sure about that. When I have used nonstick it's for very short periods of time... using it for hours in an oven may have a different affect due to the hotter oven temps.

 

[Bobby34231]

Your welcome Heather, if you still have the paperwork that came with the crockpot you can look through it and see if it says somewhere in it that its PTFE free, or maybe it will have a toll free customer service number that you can call and ask, like I said I'm sure the crockpot itself is safe, just not 100% sure about the heating element, you have a happy thanksgiving as well

 

[BlueToast]

Just avoid the teflon coating. If your not sure sure keep the bird in the furthest room away from where your cooking, towell at the bottom of the door and keep the temp below 400 degrees F. Non stick coatings fume around 425-465 f and those fumes are what your looking to avoid. I don't think a crock pot going to get that hot but you'll never know it till it's too late. I hate teflon PTFE and it's colorless odorless fumes and im sure the folks at the department store think i should be locked away as i'm explaning to them the ruckus thats coming down if I get home and find out that the $85 frying pan i'm about to purchase kills my little buddy.

 

[Heather Weis]

Thanks for the input everyone! I use stainless steel for everything else. I just bought a new stainless steel roaster for the turkey, but it's nice to use the crockpot for other things on such a busy day.

Thanks again!

 

[BlueToast]

I use Emeril Lagasse's line of stainless steel cookware. Real nice stuff.

 

[HRH Di]

I agree that a crockpot should be perfectly safe...I hope so, since I use mine weekly during the winter.

When we got our birds, it was a great excuse for me to go to all stainless cookware. I'm a bit of a foodie so kitchen stuff is one of my favorite things. I've been looking for a stainless steel electric griddle and I've come to the conclusion that they just aren't made. Dang non-stick coatings!