Time To Clean your Slow Cooker

The days are getting shorter. The temperatures are dropping. Leaves are beginning to change color and fall from the trees. ‘Tis the season for slow cooked comfort meals!  But before you pull out your slow cooker and scour the Internet searching for delicious recipes, you might want to bone up on the best ways to clean up those slow-cooked messes. Don’t worry! Cleaning up your slow cooker is about as easy as cooking in it.

  

• Always read the use and manufactures suggestions for the best way to clean depending on the surfaces of the cookers.
• According to the experts, you should always turn off the slow cooker, unplug it and allow it to cool before cleaning it.
• Stoneware (Crockery) and lid cannot handle sudden changes in temperature. Don’t wash either in cold water if they are hot, and vice versa
• Glass or plastic lids and removable stoneware pot can go in the dishwasher, or you can wash with hot water and soap.
• Do not use abrasives.
• For really tough cooked-on messes, fill the cooker with water and a few drops of dish soap. Cover, and turn the heat on low for an hour. When the time is up, it should clean up very easily.
• If this does not work, try a little baking soda in a paste and scrub the spot.  Baking soda is a gentle abrasive.
• Wipe down the outside of the crockpot with warm soapy water after every use to prevent food film build up, if this does not work try a multipurpose cleaner or glass cleaner. 
•  If food has become baked on the heating element itself, you can use oven cleaner. But do this outside. Simply spray an even coat of foam around the inside of the cooker. Let sit for at least an hour, and then wipe foam off with a sponge.

 Adapted from: http://www.cleaninginstitute.org/clean_living/how_to_clean_your_slow_cooker.aspx