Can we revisit the lead in Crockpots for a minute?

[HappyGrace]

I missed most of that discussion, but now I'm wanting to use mine more. So please fill me in-HOW bad is it, really? And any known alternatives?

[ConnieB]

Here's an informative article: http://insightfulnana.com/home-garden/housekeeping-home-garden/lead-poisoning-and-crock-pots

[BeckyFL]

Looks like it's currently unavailable though...

http://www.amazon.com/Elite-Gourmet-Quart-Transparent-Cooker/dp/B0006A2ZRA

Edited November 2, 2010 by BeckyFL

[ProudGrandma]

I must of missed this too...I use ours a fair amount....but now I amnot so sure...that article was dated 2008...could things have changed if you bought your crockpot since then??? Is there a more recent article...or another one to back that one up??

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I missed most of that discussion, but now I'm wanting to use mine more. So please fill me in-HOW bad is it, really? And any known alternatives?

 

 

I recall from a previous discussion that Hamilton Beach slow cookers do not have added lead in the glaze or the crock. (there might be naturally occurring lead in the clay, but none has been added, and there is none in the glaze).

[Spy Car]

I believe that Hamilton Beach backed of their no lead claims and that like Rival they have fallen back to saying their slow cookers are within FDA limits for "safe".

 

Bill

[happygrrl]

Just a little aside in the "healthy appliance" discussion...

Hamilton Beach now makes a food processor that is BPA free!

[FaithManor]

I completely missed this thread and I use my crock pot all the time! Will someone bring me up to speed please????

 

Also, what about Le Creuset? I have a pot that I adore (ceramic glaze) and I do a lot of roasts and casseroles in it. Is there are problem with this brand?

 

 

Faith - flipping out now

[DarlaS]

Since the purpose of lead in paints and glazes was to get a richer deeper color, would it be unlikely that a white crock had lead?

 

Or has lead poisoning affected my memory as to why paints and glazes contain lead? (I didn't google it--this info is stuck in my brain from who knows where.)

[Gwenhwyfar]

Faith - flipping out now

 

relax. you're not gonna die. ;)

 

i'm not finding anything online about this aside from chatter on forums (mostly parenting/etc) and personal blogs....

[texasmama]

Trying to wade through the jumble of stuff out there on the 'net myself. I don't use my Rival 6 qt crock pot too often so I think I will keep it. After trying to research this issue, I couldn't come up with anything definitive.

[ConnieB]

I didn't post that link to alarm anyone....OP asked where to find information on the discussion, and that is probably the most thorough link that I've seen.

 

All that said....I still have my Rival crockpot and use it probably 3 to 5 times a week during the summer (when it's 110+ degree outside even the crockpot can seem like too much heat, we don't even remember we have an oven, lol). In the fall/winter/spring I use it usually once or twice a week, just because we have lots of favorite recipes and it's so convenient when we're going to be out all day enjoying the nice weather! We've done this for decades, literally. I had crockpots before I was even married because after a 12-14 hour day I would come home starving and didn't want to cook.

 

So...all those years of eating allegedly lead laden foods you'd think that I would be glowing or something.....but nope. I've been tested for lead for other medical concerns and it's never come back positive. Never. My eldest daughter was also tested for lead about 3 years ago, again for other medical concerns....and she too came up negative. DH and the other kids have never been tested, but I doubt they'd be positive if daughter and I are not.

 

Now...obviously, your mileage may vary, but if you've been using your slow cooker/crockpot for a few years and not had any adverse affects, I don't think I'd toss it in the trash just yet. You can ask your doctor to run a test for lead if you want to be sure.

 

Do I think they contain lead and might be dangerous....yeah, maybe, but as with so many other things in life you simply have to weigh the concerns. If two tests came back negative, then IF, big IF, any lead is being ingested it's at an incredibly low rate to be undetectable after all these years.

 

Of course, I should add the caveat that I still drink out of the plastic cups that we've had for years that probably contain the dreaded BPA....though I have stopped microwaving any plastic, lol. We microwave on glass plates....but heaven knows what they have lurking in them that could do something mutant to you.

 

Best bet...don't eat, drink, breathe or touch anything. Guaranteed that you won't die from anything you consume....of course not breathing is hazardous to your health too. You choose.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

Since the purpose of lead in paints and glazes was to get a richer deeper color, would it be unlikely that a white crock had lead?

 

Or has lead poisoning affected my memory as to why paints and glazes contain lead? (I didn't google it--this info is stuck in my brain from who knows where.)

 

 

Actually, lead doesn't give richer color, but better coverage. White wouldn't be any better, I don't think.

[HappyGrace]

I just hate putting our ($$$) organic meat in the Crockpot to be basted in lead-lol!

 

I think the amount of lead is probably negligible-just wanted to make sure that it wasn't some big amount or something. Still, I'd love to get that glass one.....

[justasque]

We've gotten lead test swabs at Home Depot, to test our rental home for lead (which we found, in spades). IIRC, they could be used on dishes or other items. I believe the kit was inexpensive and easy to use. Might be an option before tossing the crock-pot.

[i.love.lucy]

Maybe we can fuse the two threads "lead in crockpots" and "most courageous thing you've ever done"... Eat out of the crockpot!!!:lol:

[abbeyej]

I use my enameled cast iron pots with lids in the oven much as others use crock pots. Really, I'm sure there's a conversion table out there somewhere. I don't own a crockpot, but I can do pretty much any crock-pot type thing using my heavy pots with lids in the oven and sometimes the delayed cook / cooktime feature on my range. One fewer appliance in my house, no worries about lead, and I can always remove the lid to finish cooking something (browning cheese on top, for instance) or move my pot to the stove top, etc, etc. So, more flexibility.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I use my enameled cast iron pots with lids in the oven much as others use crock pots. Really, I'm sure there's a conversion table out there somewhere. I don't own a crockpot, but I can do pretty much any crock-pot type thing using my heavy pots with lids in the oven and sometimes the delayed cook / cooktime feature on my range. One fewer appliance in my house, no worries about lead, and I can always remove the lid to finish cooking something (browning cheese on top, for instance) or move my pot to the stove top, etc, etc. So, more flexibility.

 

 

Great. Just Great! Thanks Abbey. I now have a very sensible reason to spend $300 on a pan!

 

I did not need this!

;)

[Tohru]

From my understanding, it is if the crock is chipped that lead becomes an issue. The lead is naturally occupying in the clay used to make the crocks and also added for the colors in older models. The glaze is baked on at extremely high temperatures to prevent any lead from leaching into the food, unlike the lead paint dishware which is really where one should be concerned about.

 

The older crocks were the ones that had the problems and if there are any chips or cracks in the crock itself, the lead does get into the food.

 

However, now the new slow cookers are relatively safe and the fired glaze would prevent any of the clay touching the food.

 

I went around and around it for a very long time. I threw out all my slowcooker, bought a glass slow cooker and dutch oven and used those. Finally quite by accident, I found information to calm my fears about lead in crock-pots. I can't remember where the information was from though or I'd link it. We have a newer model Hamilton beach.

[HappyGrace]

Good info, thanks!

 

Older, as in how old is bad? Ten years, 20?

[Dana]

We've gotten lead test swabs at Home Depot, to test our rental home for lead (which we found, in spades). IIRC, they could be used on dishes or other items. I believe the kit was inexpensive and easy to use. Might be an option before tossing the crock-pot.

 

We did this with both our crock pot and our dishes. Both were fine and I feel great about using them! (We have tossed our plastic though and are back to glass instead of Tupperware.)

[texasmama]

Good info, thanks!

 

Older, as in how old is bad? Ten years, 20?

 

I wondered this, as well. My current crock pot was a Christmas gift 6-8 years ago...don't recall exactly when...

[ConnieB]

I use my enameled cast iron pots with lids in the oven much as others use crock pots. Really, I'm sure there's a conversion table out there somewhere. I don't own a crockpot, but I can do pretty much any crock-pot type thing using my heavy pots with lids in the oven and sometimes the delayed cook / cooktime feature on my range. One fewer appliance in my house, no worries about lead, and I can always remove the lid to finish cooking something (browning cheese on top, for instance) or move my pot to the stove top, etc, etc. So, more flexibility.

 

Yes, most foods can be cooked slowly in the oven....in my case, however, the purpose for using a crockpot is that I don't want to heat up the oven. Living in Arizona where summer temps routinely hover at 110 degrees for months and go even higher for days at a time, even heating the oven to 250 degrees is too much, lol. The crockpot cooks at about the same temp but does not heat the surrounding area, whereas my oven will heat up the entire kitchen....not something I want to do at all let alone all day long.

 

The other advantage is that with the slow cooker/crockpot you can leave it running all day without needing to be home. There was a recent thread about whether you'd leave your oven on while you were gone....while the poll makes it look like there was a slight lead in the "yes" category....in reading through the responses, many of the yes seemed to caveat with "while I picked up the kids" or "while I ran a few errands". Very few seemed to indicate that they'd leave the oven going all day without someone being home....so the advantage of the slow cooker is not only not generating heat but the ability to safely leave it running all day long. And many of my days are 6 to 8 hours away from home for various field trips or co-ops. I didn't respond to that thread, but no way would I leave my oven going for 8 hours when I'm not home, even with the timer to shut it off at a specific time.

 

If you're really worried about the lead content of your crockpot, have it tested.

[Storm Bay]

This is a good point. How many people here drink from crystal? It contains quite a bit of lead; in fact, one of the chief differences between regular drinking glasses & crystal is the amount if lead it contains. If you store wine in crystal decanters, eventually the wine contains dangerous amounts of lead. But DON'T toss your crystal, just don't store your alcohol in it. Sure, you don't cook with crystal.

 

Where there is great danger of lead poisoning is in older houses where lead paint was used. If that paint is chipping, even if it's been covered with safe paint, it's dangerous. If your window sashes, etc, were painted ith it, then it is found in the find dust that comes from opening & closing windows. People who work in lead abatement have a high risk of lead toxicity and need to be tested regularly, even when they wear all of the safety gear. If you live in an older home, you need to damp dust often, etc. It gets on the floor, too.

 

There was a time when pewter was very dangerous, too, due to lead content. It might still be, but we don't drink or eat from pewter in our society.

 

As for a tiny bit of lead, it is possible to overdo concern. I think moderation is a big key. If you look hard enough, you'll find that people have published risks about many things, including using metal pots & pans (some claim it's a cancer risk.) I can't think of one cooking method that has no danger at all associated with it.

 

All this said, there are many things I avoid due to risks, and I don't even own a microwave so don't cook in plastic. I prefer to store my food in glass over plastic, etc. But I did finally replace my crockpot after a number of years without one (maybe 7-8 years since my last one broke) and am not going to worry about the lead since no one seems to have one proven lead free.

 

I didn't post that link to alarm anyone....OP asked where to find information on the discussion, and that is probably the most thorough link that I've seen.

 

All that said....I still have my Rival crockpot and use it probably 3 to 5 times a week during the summer (when it's 110+ degree outside even the crockpot can seem like too much heat, we don't even remember we have an oven, lol). In the fall/winter/spring I use it usually once or twice a week, just because we have lots of favorite recipes and it's so convenient when we're going to be out all day enjoying the nice weather! We've done this for decades, literally. I had crockpots before I was even married because after a 12-14 hour day I would come home starving and didn't want to cook.

 

So...all those years of eating allegedly lead laden foods you'd think that I would be glowing or something.....but nope. I've been tested for lead for other medical concerns and it's never come back positive. Never. My eldest daughter was also tested for lead about 3 years ago, again for other medical concerns....and she too came up negative. DH and the other kids have never been tested, but I doubt they'd be positive if daughter and I are not.

 

Now...obviously, your mileage may vary, but if you've been using your slow cooker/crockpot for a few years and not had any adverse affects, I don't think I'd toss it in the trash just yet. You can ask your doctor to run a test for lead if you want to be sure.

 

Do I think they contain lead and might be dangerous....yeah, maybe, but as with so many other things in life you simply have to weigh the concerns. If two tests came back negative, then IF, big IF, any lead is being ingested it's at an incredibly low rate to be undetectable after all these years.

 

Of course, I should add the caveat that I still drink out of the plastic cups that we've had for years that probably contain the dreaded BPA....though I have stopped microwaving any plastic, lol. We microwave on glass plates....but heaven knows what they have lurking in them that could do something mutant to you.

 

Best bet...don't eat, drink, breathe or touch anything. Guaranteed that you won't die from anything you consume....of course not breathing is hazardous to your health too. You choose.

[Tohru]

When I said older slow cookers, it was more like the ones from the 70's and 80's.

[amey311]

Great. Just Great! Thanks Abbey. I now have a very sensible reason to spend $300 on a pan!

 

I did not need this!

;)

 

I have a large enameled cast iron dutch oven that was WAY cheaper than $300 - IKEA has a bunch now. I'm not thrilled with the color I got (70s kitchen avocado), but I was thrilled with it being even cheaper because it was a clearance color.

 

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40131725 - this is the 6 quart one, and it's $50 :)

[Parrothead]

We did this with both our crock pot and our dishes. Both were fine and I feel great about using them! (We have tossed our plastic though and are back to glass instead of Tupperware.)

I'm much more concerned about plastic leeching than I am about my crock pot.

[Guest mrbill]

Hello, first post, found this thread after buying a crock pot (which has been returned). There have been several mentions of FDA testing in this thread so I sent them an email and it doesn't look like they do testing of crock pots. If Rival mentions FDA testing, they're lying. IMHO

Here is the reply that I received:

 

Dear __, we don't test products for manufacturers or consumers. You can get a general heavy metal test kit from a local hardware store to check. If the product has been imported they would be permitted to have 1ppm of lead by weight.

 

Ms. Jeannine Ertter-Prego

Consumer Affairs Specialist

Communication and Coordination Branch

Division of Education and Communication

Office of Food Defense, Communication and

Emergency Response

Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition

U.S. Food and Drug Administration