Broken Gifts
Dec. 10th, 2006 01:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
asterrocSo yesterday ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jethereal got me a popcorn popper (air popper this time, yay!) and a crock pot from Target. The person in line behind us told me that 1.5 qts was really small for a crock pot. She also told me what's so awesome about them is you can leave them on all day when you go to work. This morning I opened it and yea, she was right. It was only around the size of ... oh, a medium bowl of soup. So I took it back to Target and upgraded for only seven bucks to a 4 qt, which I think will do me well.
Then I came home and later went to make air popcorn. The thing rattled, the base part of it, this was before I did anything with it, and when I went to look at it I saw a bit of the plastic was cracked, but didn't think much of it. Before the popcorn did anything like popping though, the whole unit was smoking, and it had a plastic smell. :(
I decided to make beef stew overnight, and now I'm hoping that there's nothing wrong with it, and that it doesn't burn the whole house down. Chopping the ingredients takes just as long no matter what I'm cooking it in, but if I really don't have to stir it or anything that'll be nice. How hot does meat have to get internally to be safe to eat? As in killed all the bacteria in it. I'm thinking I've heard 180ºF for chicken, I'm cooking beef. I figure I'll stick a meat thermometer in the pot tomorrow morning when I stagger out of the bedroom and see how it's doing, and quite likely turn up the heat to high for an hour or two just to be sure.
In case you're curious, my special ingredients for beef stew are Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, basalmic vinegarette, and diced garlic. ^_^ This time I'm also tryingbacon facon bits. Mmmmmm.... Now I'm hungry. I'm sad I didn't get airpop. :(
jethereal got me a popcorn popper (air popper this time, yay!) and a crock pot from Target. The person in line behind us told me that 1.5 qts was really small for a crock pot. She also told me what's so awesome about them is you can leave them on all day when you go to work. This morning I opened it and yea, she was right. It was only around the size of ... oh, a medium bowl of soup. So I took it back to Target and upgraded for only seven bucks to a 4 qt, which I think will do me well. Then I came home and later went to make air popcorn. The thing rattled, the base part of it, this was before I did anything with it, and when I went to look at it I saw a bit of the plastic was cracked, but didn't think much of it. Before the popcorn did anything like popping though, the whole unit was smoking, and it had a plastic smell. :(
I decided to make beef stew overnight, and now I'm hoping that there's nothing wrong with it, and that it doesn't burn the whole house down. Chopping the ingredients takes just as long no matter what I'm cooking it in, but if I really don't have to stir it or anything that'll be nice. How hot does meat have to get internally to be safe to eat? As in killed all the bacteria in it. I'm thinking I've heard 180ºF for chicken, I'm cooking beef. I figure I'll stick a meat thermometer in the pot tomorrow morning when I stagger out of the bedroom and see how it's doing, and quite likely turn up the heat to high for an hour or two just to be sure.
In case you're curious, my special ingredients for beef stew are Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, basalmic vinegarette, and diced garlic. ^_^ This time I'm also trying
no subject
Date: 2006-12-10 12:31 pm (UTC)if your crockpot has been on all night, your beef will be cooked through, no worries about that. When i make mine i usually sear it in a pan first, then dump it in (extra step, yes, but worth it for the yummy!). Leave it on low all day (or all night, in your case) and the beef is basically falling apart, since you're basically braising it. If you were doing a pot roast, you might need to check the temp, depending on how long you'd been cooking it, but so long as the meat is in smallish pieces (like, 1-2" cubes) you should be fine!
-GS