Question from Barb
Hi Debra, I am trying to find a slow cooker which is made of high quality stainless steel. – In the process of researching I came to your web-site, and I am very much impressed with all the work you did, it’s a wealth of information.
I noticed that you recommend the Vitaclay cooker. I like the fact that it is made of a natural material, but would prefer stainless steel because it is easier to clean since the cooker will be used almost daily.
Since stainless steel slow cookers are very hard to find, I am thinking of getting a slow cooker base and a stainless steel Dutch Oven.
I found a used slow cooker base whose surface is made of aluminum, but it is probably NOT anondized. Would you happen to know if the aluminum surface of such a slow cooker base would give off toxic fumes when hot.
I would greatly appreciate your comments. There is also a company called Lifetime Cookware, which sells slow cooker bases. I have e-mailed them to get information on the surface material they use. On their product web site it shows a shiny surface, perhaps anondized aluminum, would that be ok to use for a slow cooker base, or would it also give off toxic fumes when in use for hours?
Debra’s Answer
I was really interested in your question because I didn’t know you could buy slow cooker bases separately.
As for your question about heated aluminum creating toxic fumes, it doesn’t. The problem with cooking with aluminum is the contact between the aluminum pot and the food. When there is contact, aluminum can leach into the food, but heating aluminum does not release toxic fumes into the air at cooking temperatures. It would be interesting to research the various bases, though, and see what they are made of. If you’d like to do that, I would be happy to publish the results here. You’ll want to choose one that doesn’t have a non-stick finish. Other than that, any metal is OK.
Here are the ones I found.
I am wondering if Barb ever found a good solution. And I am curious if a Le Creuset dutch oven could be used on one of these bases to make a slow cooker. Any idea?
It seems that the main concerns with making our own slow cooker would be food safety (making sure food is kept at suitable temperature throughout the cooking cycle – “official” slow cookers work at temperatures that are appropriate) and avoiding damage to the cooking vessel used as the crock. It appears that most of the bases are intended to be used with stainless pots, which would not be damaged by sitting on the base for hours, but I would rather not leave food in a stainless pot for hours. If using Le Creuset or an unglazed pot, for instance, they would presumably conduct heat differently than stainless, and differently than each other. So wouldn’t this affect the temp of the food? I just don’t want to exchange lead concerns for food poisoning. But it would be great if they are safe to use in this way. I’m just not sure how to find out.
Well I would just call Le Creuset and ask them, but even if it is OK they might say no because the pot is not designed for that.
Just logically, I don’t see any difference between putting the pot on this base or simmering it all day on the back of the stove. Le Creuset would certainly say simmering on the back of the stove is OK.