Posted by arkansas_girl "Wouldn't a piece of meat cooked for two days at such low temps(129F) be spoiled? I don't get those super low temps? The meat certainly looks like it would taste good but doesn't seem hot enough to even kill the bacteria etc." That is a very important question. Very important. Fortunately today with internet, you can check out all kinds of information, and you do need to go to multiple sources to confirm your information. I am not going to be very specific, just some general ideas here. The general guideline given by the authorities are safe to the extreme, they need to account for all those young, old and the immunological challenged. Furthermore, to make things simple, the guidelines do not take into account the time factor. In other words, when they say (again, I am not giving any specific information here, just talking about concepts) 160F is safe for chickens, they are not telling you that is also safe for 150F if you cook at that temperature for 30 minutes, and 140F for 60 minutes. For beef, (for me, may not be for you) it is generally very safe that you can eat raw beef, if the beef is handled properly. Since you can not be sure of if the outside of the beef is handled properly, you can sear/torch using quick high heat to sanitize the outside before you cook the meat in very low temperature. It is entirely not recommended to eat raw ground beef because you cannot sanitize ground beef. There are charts available showing safe temperatures for all kinds of meat based on time and temperature. dcarch

Oh goody. Thank you all very much. I just love pot roast. Furthermore it is around 4lbs so I'll have some leftover for a small kettle of soup. I love this forum. Thanks again. Now I feel like less of a goof for not knowing what Cross Rib was also. Kate

I've been thinking long and hard about the many good critiques that have been shared in this thread and I've made a first pass at a modification. First the image and then the explanation: The oven and the microwave have been relocated. The oven is now under the cooktop. I feel like an idiot for basically replicating a range, paying double the money for the same functionality, but that cursed wok on the cooktop is going to cost me a pretty penny - cooktop + wok + oven instead of just range + wok. I also lose the flexibility of having a kitchen that's workable for someone is a wheelchair but if that fate ever befalls me I can simply move the oven back to the original location in the wall cabinet, lower the cooktop and sink and then I've got a working kitchen that's good for a disabled person. The design can be modified without too much trouble if the need ever arises. So, now that the oven is underneath the cooktop all of the pots that I wanted handy for cooking had to find a new home. They're now in the island where the recycling drawers were. That was easy. They're still handy, behind me instead of below the cooktop. The microwave is now immediately below the countertop in the peninsula with enough space to have a cabinet drawer underneath the microwave. This is a pretty handy place for the MW because it's right across the aisle from the fridge and just a step more removed from the cooktop/oven. Now as I enter the kitchen I can grab something from the fridge, pop it into the MW, and then I can proceed to the banquette or take the food out of the kitchen. All of the bulk grains and baking supplies are now relocated between the microwave and the wall cabinet which used to house the MW/Oven combo. The side of the island facing the peninsula now has a top drawer and 4 vertical drawers underneath which will hold all manner of baking sheets/pans. The sheets are close to the bake prep area and they don't need to be close to the oven - I will transport what needs to be baked either to the oven or to the wood fired pizza oven. The wall cabinet now stores two recycling bins, canned food, less frequently used baking equipment, and other odds and ends. My fear was having a useless section of counter/cabinets attached to the peninsula, but as I thought about how the space would be used, it can still function as a secondary prep zone but with the secondary sink on the island, it functions well as the bake zone and all the equipment is close at hand. The suboptimal aspect that arises from this new layout has to do with recycling and garbage disposal - it's now a walk to get rid of stuff. Similarly, if I want canned good or boxed goods, it's a walk from the cooking area to this storage area. However, these inconveniences are not as mission critical as the impracticalities of the original plan - the use of the oven and microwave in the old layout were more of a burden than the need to get canned goods or to dispose of recyclables. Here's the exit question for everyone (besides anything new that you can find to comment upon): What are the inconveniences of having a microwave underneath a counter? I'm used to using microwaves either at counter level or in the upper cabinets.

Elery agrees with Ricky, and says that the pork must be 195F to 200F before it actually "pulls" easily and is tender. We usually do ours in the Nesco, starting at 325F and going lower if time allows. Long slow cooking melts fat and collagen and gives it that pull-apart tender texture without drying it out. A bit of liquid is used in the bottom of the roaster, usually water but sometimes apple or pineapple juice if I'm going to add a sweeter BBQ sauce, or chicken stock if I'm going strictly savory, Elery used to use beer, it depends on the flavor you're going for. Sometimes we just shred the meat into the liquid if we're trying to keep the meat moist for serving as-is. A 9 pounder would take me most of the day, 6-8 hours, but it can easily be kept warm if it cooks more quickly than you expect. Annie