Safe to eat?

[u/Recent_Mountain_4056]

I put a 2 pound frozen chuck roast into my slow cooker this morning on low, and 2 hours later saw something online saying it wasnt safe to cook from frozen in the slow cooker as it could spend too much time in the danger zone. I switched it to high at the 2 hour mark. Will it be safe to eat? I thought people cooked from frozen all the time but now I’m not so sure.

[u/The_Flinx]

It's completely fine.

[u/Carnalvore86]

Food safety microbiologist here. Will bacteria grow if the food is in the danger zone for an extended period of time? Sure. Will it grow to amounts that can cause illness? Possible. Will continuing to cook it kill off whatever has grown? Also yes.

Whatever did grow will most likely die when it's cooked. Now, I can get into the nitty gritty and talk about heat stable toxins and thermophilic pathogens, but the chances of that are so low I wouldn't have issues eating it myself. Of course, it's also possible that if you slow cooker is REALLY slow, and you leave it on low, that enough time passes that the bacteria can break down whatever food you're cooking and develop off flavors that will persist, but again, the chances are pretty low.

TLDR; you'll be fine. Just make sure it's cooked hot enough during the rest of the time.

[u/Recent_Mountain_4056 → u/Carnalvore86]

Thank you for your service 🫶🏻 I’ve been freaking out

[u/malkins_restraint]

Generally not a good idea but you're most likely fine. Do you have any sort of additional liquid in there? That usually helps with transmitting heat to the meat to limit time in the danger zone.

That being said I would call it generally a bad idea from a taste and quality perspective to have some of the outside likely cooked while parts of the inside may still be frozen.

[u/AsparagusHelpful1094 → u/malkins_restraint]

people get way too wound up over the danger zone, your nose will tell you if it went bad

[u/BIO_Predictive_AI]

Whoever told you this is so absurdly wrong.

A whole piece of meat gets bacteria on the outside through the cutting process, the inside of the meat is usually free of bacteria (unless it is mechanically tenderized). The bacteria on the outside dies first and can't work its way inside. Besides the thawing process inside a slow cooker is much faster than thawing in a fridge and the 'danger zone' time is minimal.

Were your friend right, everyone who ate a roast that was rare on the inside would be dead from food poisoning now.

[u/crimedoc14]

It is totally fine. I've cooked from frozen in my slow cooker for decades with no problems

[u/venator1995]

We’ve been putting frozen meat into crockpots for generations. It’s fine

[u/MastodonFit]

I make at least 1 roast per month on low.

[u/Away-Plankton-8352]

Switching to high after two hours on low does not undo the time it spent warming up slowly from frozen. Slow cookers heat too gently for frozen meat, that is why the guidance says thaw first. I know it is painful, but I would not serve that roast, the risk is real.