Crockpot cooking... can you explain this? Undercooked potatoes

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dawnnys

Well-known member
Last night I made boneless pork ribs in my small crockpot but put some very thinly sliced potatoes on the bottom, close to the heat source, sliced Brussels sprouts, and sauerkraut, along with a few other ingredients. I set it on high (the only setting for this particular crockpot) and checked it after 5 hours.

The pork was done (170 degrees F) but when we ate it, the potatoes were almost raw, and the Brussels sprouts were very crispy too; onions were okay.

The pork is usually falling apart when I make it this way, but it was pretty tough and seemed "tight". I added more water, and re-cooked the leftover vegetables; after 3 more hours the potatoes were STILL not cooked through! How do you explain this? Shouldn't they have been almost dissolved by now?! I'm sure they weren't overcooked.

I ended up with great stock and potatoes that I am sure will taste good after I pressure cook what's left. Strange. Has anyone ever had this problem with potatoes in the crockpot?

Incidentally, if anyone is curious here is the recipe; braised in the oven it might be good:

1 lb boneless pork ribs

1/2 pound Brussels sprouts (about 1/4-inch slice)

2 large all-purpose potatoes, peeled and sliced (I sliced with a mandolin, sliced so thin, I wasn't even sure they would hold together!)

1/2 sliced sweet onion

1/2 cup sauerkraut with liquid

1 Tbs grainy mustard

black pepper to taste

1 tsp garlic powder

1 cup water

 
I don't understand this at all. It is always recommended to put the veggie on the bottom and if you

sliced them thin, they should have been done. Might your crockpot be failing?

 
I know. It's wierd... although I did google and found that some other people

have also had this problem (chowhound.com). Someone mentioned that starchy foods such as potatoes and rice take a high temperature (boiling, in fact) to cook, so maybe the pork got to an internal temperature of 175 before the 212-degree point at which the potatoes needed to reach before cooking through completely.

Strange.

I did take the temp of the liquid and noticed it was only about 190.

 
You may have acquired my potato curse, Dawn.

I very often have this problem with potatoes - they refuse to cook for me. My SIL didn't believe me, so she watched me cook, and saw that after everything else was overcooked, the potatoes were still hard. And this is NOT just in the crock pot! I don't dare cook potatoes in the crock pot unless I am doing Portuguese pork which goes in at midnight to be eaten at 2 pm the next day. Take THAT, potatoes!

 
I have had a crock-pot for a long time and I suggest:

You need a little water at the start on the bottom of the crock pot with the potatoes to help them cook. Using only the moisture from the meat is probably not enough to get them up to temp and tender by the time the meat is done. I would suggest using HOT water also.

I have never had the problem of underdone potatoes in a crock-pot, usually mine are plenty done, but I always have some liquid in the bottom.

My heating elements are around the sides of the crock pot. Where are yours?

 
Was the crockpot too small for the recipe?

If you had too much food in it, then it may not have had time to get all the food up to temp to cook. Also, was the meat completely thawed?

I like to brown meats and get the onion started before they go in. It adds depth to the flavor and I can't stand crunchy oven. It also helps get the cooking process started.

Mistral makes a good point on the liquid being hot, but be careful your crock isn't too cold as I've known a few folks who have cracked them by adding too hot of an ingredient.

 
Dawn, I'm sorry for your problems, but I'm SO happy not to be the only person on the planet

who can't use a crockpot with success.

It seems to mock me. Plus there is just something wrong about being ridiculed by an object controlled with an On/Off switch.

 
I wonder if it was the potatoes. Ever so often, I bake potatoes that stay very firm, no matter how

long I bake them. Most of the time they get very tender.

 
Describes some potatoes I've cooked. Sometimes they have a little split crosswise in the center

with discoloration around it.

 
D, I'd try mistral's advice first. You can't control the weather conditions

for the potatoes, but you can test the ones you have by adding liquid for a test batch. That way you can eliminate one of the variables. You still have the heat of the crockpot and the initial condition of the potatoes as potential sources of the problem.

 
I'd try mistral's advice bearing the ID potato board's info...

Like Dawn, I've been cooking awhile...and I seem to recall running across a few of these in my past. I've never had one be stringy tho... Probably just THAT particular variety of potato or that bag!

 
I find it really funny that there is a potato board w. FAQs...

Not surprising, but I do find it funny.... There must be something similiar w carrots and turnips. The internet is amazing!!!

 
Thanks - just a quick note for now... rushing. Yes, I add water all the time, and

the heating element is around the side, too. Thanks everyone... yes, maybe it was just those potatoes. Or else since the liquid didn't get up to 212 degrees (it didn't), that had something to do with it.

Will read all the comments later... thanks guys!

 
Thanks... this usually happen to me in the crockpot. I do have enough liquid, but

maybe the other stuff gets done way before the potatoes. Odd though, since I sliced them so thin they were almost paper-thin ribbons of potatoes (I used an apple peeler to slice them!).

Or maybe it was that batch, although I usually have that problem. They were all-purpose, not Russet.

Oh well, next time I'll try parboiling them first.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 
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