The crockpot was on Warm

[happybird]

Not High, or even Low.
Warm.

The chuck roast I pulled out of the freezer for tomorrow (which is now today…) defrosted much quicker than expected. So I said, “Eh, why not,” and got it seared off and into the crockpot at about 11 pm.

At 3 am, I went to the kitchen to put the carrots in and start making potatoes. No marvelous scents were wafting from the direction of the kitchen, an inauspicious sign.

It’s been on Warm for 4 hours.

The potatoes are now done and the crockpot is on Low. Just going to let it go until whenever I get up tomorrow. Eff it. At least the meat will be extra tender and there will be lots of liquid for gravy to lube it up. And I won’t have to fool around with the potatoes so yay for that. Heck, I’ll even let it go another hour while I drink coffee and fully wake up because the carrots will still need to go in.

Regardless: Tomorrow is pot roast day, the best damn day of the month.
(it has officially overtaken Cheeseburger Macaroni day, lol)

[femmedem]

1. I don't know much about crockpots but that sounds dangerous to me.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but: https://www.eatthis.com/news-slow-cooker-danger-health-experts/

"If you're cooking poultry, you want the cooker to be set to 165 degrees. For ground meats, 160 degrees, and cooking steaks and roasts, 145 degrees. Ham, meanwhile, can be cooked at an even lower temperature: 140 degrees. But, the lower you go with your temperature, the more you're flirting with the biggest risk of using a slow cooker. According to FSIS, there is a temperature "danger zone" in which you could be exposing yourself to harmful pathogens: 40 degrees to 140 degrees.

"Pathogens are bacteria or viruses that cause illness," explains Eileen Haraminac, a Food Safety Educator at Michigan State University. "Although they usually exist in harmless quantities, they can multiply to dangerous levels if food is stored or cook at inadequate temperatures. A safe slow cooker cooks slowly for unattended cooking, yet fast enough to keep food out of the bacterial danger zone in which pathogens grow quickly."

So, if you're cooking too slowly at too low of a temperature, you could be unwittingly exposing yourself to illness. Undercooked pork and beef, for instance, may contain bacteria that include salmonella, E. coli, listeria, and clostridium perfringens—all of which may result in food poisoning..."

The same article lists five ways to avoid food poisoning when cooking with a crockpot, and #4 is Don't cook on warm.

[Irish_Dem]

2. Yes. This could be a dangerous situation.

Years ago I had a similar situation with a faulty crockpot and got sick after eating.
Food poisoning. It was not fun.

Can the OP move the food to the stove and bring it to a boiling temp for a period of time
to kill any bacteria?

Or is it a loss?

[jaxexpat]

3. Couldn't you simply inject antibacterial household cleansers into the roast? Try that and thank me later.

[happybird]

4. The max hold time is 4 hours

and I made it within that window. It's on High (I can't sleep ugh) so the 3-4 hours of cooking time on High will be more than enough to kill any bacteria that may have developed.

I have a ServSafe food handling and safety certification, the big manager one, because I was a line cook until a few months ago.

[Lochloosa]

5. I was just going to post that. High for an hour or two and your all good.

[femmedem]

7. Phew!

Glad to hear you caught it in time. Enjoy your dinner!

[twodogsbarking]

6. We got sick from a crock pot many years ago. Threw it away.

[elleng]

8. Excellent!