Slow cooker chicken not turning out

I put a whole chicken in the crock pot at noon yesterday on low. At 8pm it still was not 145 degrees, turned it up on high for an hour. My husband shut off the crock pot at 9pm and left it on the counter until I found it at midnight. I refrigerated it immediately. Is it safe to resume cooking or should i throw it out?


Jennifer L. Werner
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Lori T. November 21, 2019
I'd be rather nervous about trying to salvage your chicken, given that it did not reach an internal temperature of 140F after that long in the crockpot. That's a long time in the perfect range for growing bacteria. So I think it would be best to consign the bird to the bin to be safest. It doesn't sound like your crockpot is reaching the appropriate cooking temperature, which at low should be at least 200F. Before you cook in the crockpot again, it is worth it to run a temperature check to make sure it is getting to the correct temperature in the time it should. 2 quarts of water heated in a pot with the cover on, at low, should reach about 185F after two hours. If yours doesn't do that, it's time for a new pot.
 
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