eli5: Why you can safely cook meat in a slow cooker (approx 8 hours on low), if after 2 hours on the counter it needs to be tossed?

Question

Surely it’s in the “danger zone” for a long time before being fully cooked, right? Could you leave out meat for 4 hours THEN toss it in a slow cooker?

In: 0

Answer 1

Slow cooking is different from leaving it on the counter because leaving it on the counter won’t cook the meat.

At room temperature, bacteria grows much faster, and leaving it on the counter will increase the chances of spoiling your meat or give you food poisoning at the worst, hence why you either thaw in the fridge or run it under cold water in a sealed plastic bag (since water conducts heat better than air) before cooking the meat immediately.

Cooking temperature, however, doesn’t let bacteria grow as it is killed by heat, which is why as long as the temperature is hot enough, meat in the slow cooker can be left there for 8 hours.