Slow cooker vs. oven preparation of meat loaves and chicken

Meat loaves and chickens prepared by recommended methods for a slow electric cooker were not in the hazardous temperature zone long enough to allow appreciable growth of bacteria that might cause food-borne illness. Total plate counts were reduced to a greater extent than they were when meat loaves and chickens were prepared by conventional methods in a gas oven. Presumptive coliforms, C. perfringens, and coagulase positive staphylococci were not detected after either method of cooking. Other parameters of quality indicated that conventional methods of baking meat loaves and roasting chickens were superior to preparation in a slow electric cooker. Drip losses were significantly greater, as were total cooking losses (except for total losses for chickens in Experiment 2), when a slow electric cooker was used. All mean palatability scores except for interior color in meat loaves and tenderness in chickens were significantly higher after preparation in an oven. Significantly more thiamin was retained in oven-cooked meat loaves and chickens.