Crockpot for raw food soups

[greggfiller]

Hi,

I have read in a raw foods cookbook that there is a crockpot or slow cooker available that can maintain a temperature under 118 F over several hours to avoid significantly destroying enzymes. Do you know what company makes such a product or something similar?

Thanks! Gregg

[rawpriestess]

Sorry, I haven't heard of such a thing, except a dehydrator.

You can warm your soups to finger warm, by placing them in a pan on the stove, and constantly stirring, or using a double boiler, and simply warming the food.

I place my soup in a bowl in the dehydrator, and I place a place on top of the bowl, so it doesn't dry out.

I also do the finger warm thing, and it works great, just don't leave it for a second, and you must stir to keep it moving, so it doesn't get too hot on the bottom.

it takes some practice, but it's fairly easy to judge when it's getting warm.

I wouldn't buy a crockpot, because I'd rather use a dehydrator, and also, if I did, I'd make sure to callibrate the temperature, because 118 is the highest it should ever be, I don't go that high, I usually go to about 110 or so.

[Sharon in Colorado]

I've seen some kind of electrical skillet with a thermostat on it. I can't exactly remember, but do recall a raw food cookbook mentioning it somewhere. You can heat up a soup to 115 degrees and keep it warm without it getting too hot.

Something like this: http://www.goodmans.net/get_item_pr-06617_presto-06620-11-electric-skillet.htm

[rawnappy]

How do you place a bowl in the dehydrator? I recently brought the one at Walmart. It has 4 round trays and I tried to figure out how to put the bowl and top to the dehydrator on it. Please forgive my ignorance in advance. :)

[SamuelWilson]

rawnappy, you can customize one of the trays to allow for taller stuff to fit in your dehydrator. Please go to the thread I started about Broccoli and Cheese and you will see picture of my dehydrator with the top rack center cut out. I used wire cutters, but if you only have kitchen sheers, that can work to. You can actually order special trays, but my modification works also.

[PixieGreen]

Rawnappy, you can put a large shallow bowl in the bottom of the dehydrator. I think I can fit a glass pyrex cake pan in mine, I can't remember if I needed to use an extention ring for that, but I don't think so.

Edited to add most crock pots would be fine on the "warm" setting, if you can put your finger in it and it just feels, well, warm, it will be fine. Try not to leave soups in too long at that temp though to discourage bacterial growth.

Christa

[greggfiller]

Thanks for the input.

We own a gas stove which, when unused, maintains a warm temperature. I am going to measure the temp to see if it will work.

Gregg

[tvillemom]

I was just wondering if my crockpot would work with soups...on the lowest setting. Think I'll try it with water first, and use a thermometer to see how warm it gets.
Wendi