APARTMENT LIVING<\/h2>\n
Slow cookers are great because they let you get something cooking before work and allow you to have a meal waiting when you get back to your Mountlake Terrace apartment<\/a><\/a>. That said, it’s important to remember to take simple safety precautions when using one. They can get hot enough to start fires under the wrong conditions, and precautions also need to be taken to prevent food-borne illnesses. Here are some simple safety rules you need to observe:<\/p>\n Never assume that a brand-new item will work as intended. Of course, they are supposed to, but manufacturing mistakes can happen. Cook the first few meals when you’re at home all day just to make sure that your unit has been calibrated properly and has no other defects.<\/p>\n This ensures that the cooker won’t tip over and that there is the proper ventilation all around the unit. Food in a slow cooker will often end up being heavier on one side, and if the unit isn’t placed on a hard surface, this can cause it to tip on its own – sometimes after several hours.<\/p>\n Many slow cooker recipes call for food to be cooked for between 4 and 6 hours, but most users run their machines while they’re at work. This leaves 2-4 hours during which the food shouldn’t be cooking, but still needs to be kept hot. Programmable machines that include the keep-warm feature will switch over to “warm” after their cooking cycles are done, ensuring that the food doesn’t drop to unsafe temperatures before you can eat it.<\/p>\n To be safe, a frozen food has to come from the frozen state all the way to 140 degrees within two hours. Newer slow cookers, with elements on the sides and bottom, can usually do this. If you have one with just a bottom element, it’s better to defrost the food first.<\/p>\n To see our available floor plans and visualize just where to put your slow cooker, stop by our office. We’ll be glad to show you around and highlight your kitchen choices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" APARTMENT LIVING Slow cookers are great because they let you get something cooking before work and allow you to have a meal waiting when you get back to your Mountlake Terrace apartment. That said, it’s important to remember to take simple safety precautions when using one. They can get hot enough to start fires under the… <\/p>\nALWAYS MONITOR A NEW SLOW COOKER FOR THE FIRST FEW USES<\/h2>\n
ALWAYS USE A HARD, FLAT SURFACE FOR YOUR COOKER<\/h2>\n
USE PROGRAMMABLE MODELS WITH A KEEP-WARM FEATURE<\/h2>\n
BE WARY OF FROZEN FOODS<\/h2>\n