Home
Log in / Sign Up
    Private Messages   Advanced Search   Rules   New User Guide   FAQ   Advertise   Contact Us  
Forum -> Household Management -> Kosher Kitchen
Plastic Crockpot Liners: Yay or Nay?



Post new topic   Reply to topic View latest: 24h 48h 72h

Volunteer




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 09 2014, 10:31 pm
Scrubbing out the crockpot after shabbat is such a chore. I've used oven bags in there before a few times, and they definitely make cleanup easier.
BUT, is it really okay to cook food in a plastic bag for so many hours? The bag has never melted, but I'm concerned about chemicals from the plastic leaching into the food.

What do you think?
Do you use crockpot liners or oven bags to make cleanup easier?
Back to top

bookworm10




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 09 2014, 10:38 pm
I use them and they've never melted or seemed to get into the food.
Back to top

momtra




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 09 2014, 10:50 pm
We also use them - every week, We specifically use the Reynold's brand, as I think they may be safe than some of the other brands.
Back to top

ima_dina084




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Feb 10 2014, 12:57 am
According to the John Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, chemicals in plastics can leach into food that contacts the material, especially if the plastic is heated to high temperatures. The same is true for nylon resin Crock-Pot liners. At high temperatures, chemicals can migrate from the plastic and are absorbed by the food that is in contact with the plastic. Heat agitates the molecules in the material, causing them to break down into their component chemicals. When food comes in contact with the material, the chemical components can migrate from the plastic into the food. Fatty foods tend to absorb more chemicals than other foods. The longer food is in contact with plastic that has begun to release chemicals, the great the concentration of chemical contamination. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, recent studies show that under high temperatures the chemicals that compose nylon, like that used in many Crock-Pot liners, can migrate to food. When the nylon cooking bags are exposed to temperatures up to 200 degrees Celsius (400 degrees Fahrenheit), they can release a number of substances including cyclopentanone, octadecane, heptadecane and 2-cyclopentyl cyclopentanone.
Back to top

Dolly Welsh




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Feb 10 2014, 1:00 am
Check crock pot temperatures? They can't be above boiling point of water, no? That's 212 F or 100 C.
Back to top

etky




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Feb 10 2014, 3:49 am
Newer crockpots run hotter than old ones. This is due to manufacturers' concerns about the safety of prolonged slow cooking at lower temperatures. My crockpot is extremely hot, so much so that I set the crock on a wire trivet that I place at the bottom of the cooker. This moderates the heat a bit so that my cholent does not burn overnight but it still bubbles away the whole time it is cooking. Cholent is a very dense food that gets very hot and really retains the heat. I don't use liners and truthfully don't find it so much of a hassle to clean the crock after Shabbat. It actually cleans quite easily, especially after a bit of soaking.
Back to top

coconutbutter




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Feb 10 2014, 4:40 am
I was given the best tip ever- just line with parchment paper....that's all!
Back to top

groovy1224




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Feb 10 2014, 8:15 am
ima_dina084 wrote:
According to the John Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, chemicals in plastics can leach into food that contacts the material, especially if the plastic is heated to high temperatures. The same is true for nylon resin Crock-Pot liners. At high temperatures, chemicals can migrate from the plastic and are absorbed by the food that is in contact with the plastic. Heat agitates the molecules in the material, causing them to break down into their component chemicals. When food comes in contact with the material, the chemical components can migrate from the plastic into the food. Fatty foods tend to absorb more chemicals than other foods. The longer food is in contact with plastic that has begun to release chemicals, the great the concentration of chemical contamination. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, recent studies show that under high temperatures the chemicals that compose nylon, like that used in many Crock-Pot liners, can migrate to food. When the nylon cooking bags are exposed to temperatures up to 200 degrees Celsius (400 degrees Fahrenheit), they can release a number of substances including cyclopentanone, octadecane, heptadecane and 2-cyclopentyl cyclopentanone.


If your crockpot is acheiving temperatures of 400 degrees, you've got other issues.

But other than that I really enjoyed your post- copied and pasted directly from ehow.com. Luckily, the article you poached contained words like "heptadecane" and " cyclopentanone," so it was doubtful anyone would try and challenge it.

Yes, there is a chance that plastics leach harmful chemicals into food (I hate when people just say "chemicals. Oxygen is a chemical, too- a chemical element; but we all willingly breath it on a daily basis. Some even hourly. It's the harmful chemicals you want to avoid. Think plutonium.) There are many who choose to forgo using plastics and canned food to avoid potential health risks. But ultimately, the research right now is inconclusive.

But to actually answer the OP, yes I use crock pot liners. I used to not use them, but it turns out to be a real shalom bayis saver because now neither of us have to spend motzei shabbos or sunday morning scrubbing out gross burnt cholent bits.
Back to top

ROFL




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Feb 10 2014, 8:25 am
I use them also. I make sure to put over two cups of water on the outside of the bag ( between bag and the crockpot) I ran out of bags once so I sprayed whole pot with Pam and it also did wonders for post Shabbat clean up. I will try parchment paper that sounds good.
Back to top

Milky




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Feb 10 2014, 10:07 am
Bribe your husband to do this chore.
Back to top

questioner




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Feb 10 2014, 10:23 am
I just tried the following and it works marvelously:

    * fill insert with water after seuda on Shabbos and leave to soak (assuming your LOR doesn't consider that hachana)
    * mtz"sh rinse out the crockpot and scrape off any hard bits
    * fill with water again and a dishwasher detergent tablet (that I got as a product sample)
    * Sunday morning, rinse out, and it comes out clean in a minute!

What I really loved about this method, was that the bottom of the crockpot came out clean and shiny and new. Even after scrubbing and using the bags, there was always some residue/bumps in the past. Maybe that's just me embarrassed
Back to top

Volunteer




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Feb 10 2014, 11:53 pm
questioner wrote:
I just tried the following and it works marvelously:

    * fill insert with water after seuda on Shabbos and leave to soak (assuming your LOR doesn't consider that hachana)
    * mtz"sh rinse out the crockpot and scrape off any hard bits
    * fill with water again and a dishwasher detergent tablet (that I got as a product sample)
    * Sunday morning, rinse out, and it comes out clean in a minute!

What I really loved about this method, was that the bottom of the crockpot came out clean and shiny and new. Even after scrubbing and using the bags, there was always some residue/bumps in the past. Maybe that's just me embarrassed


OP Here! Thanks for the tip. I'll try a method like this before I resort to the liners.
Back to top
Page 1 of 1 Recent Topics




Post new topic   Reply to topic    Forum -> Household Management -> Kosher Kitchen

Related Topics Replies Last Post
Plastic Surgeon Recommendations
by amother
16 Wed, Mar 27 2024, 11:16 pm View last post
Urgent - mistakenly baked chicken with the white plastic 2 Tue, Mar 26 2024, 4:06 pm View last post
Cupcake liners
by amother
3 Sun, Mar 17 2024, 10:42 am View last post
Help me slay my crockpot cholent
by amother
37 Fri, Mar 15 2024, 1:45 pm View last post
Butter ay or nay?
by amother
22 Wed, Mar 06 2024, 4:37 pm View last post