Can I Wash A Crockpot In A Dishwasher?

When you lead a busy lifestyle, finding time to cook can be tricky.

It can be really difficult to get the perfect balance between eating healthy, and finding the time to prepare meals. That’s where a crockpot really comes in handy. 

A crockpot, or a slow cooker as it is sometimes called, is a total game changer when it comes to passively preparing meals.

Simply prepare the ingredients in advance, then your crock pot will do the job – slowly cooking your meal while you get on with all the other stuff that you need to do in the meantime. 

Cooking with your crockpot is a piece of cake, but cleaning it is a much harder task.

In this guide, we’ll be taking a look at if you can wash your crockpot in the dishwasher (spoiler alert: it’s a complicated answer), and if this is a good idea. Keep on reading to find out more. 

What Is A Crockpot?

First things first, let’s take a look at what a crockpot is. Well, as we have just mentioned a crockpot is a cooking appliance which is also sometimes referred to as a slow cooker.

Essentially, a crockpot is a device that is able to cook your food slowly, so that you can put your meal to cook and get on with other things in the meantime. 

For people who lead a very busy life, like many people do, a crockpot is a total game changer. Once you start using one, you won’t look back. 

These electrical appliances are designed to sit on top of your counter. The crock pot will be plugged into the mains electricity, and this will allow it to cook food at a constant low temperature.

This style of cooking is favorable for certain meals, including joints of meat and stews. The slow, lengthy cooking process can allow meat to become very tender which only enhances the flavor. 

When it comes to cooking, a crock pot is one of the easiest appliances that you can use. However, cleaning the crockpot is not easy at all.

This is a process that can be very tedious, so let’s take a look at if you can clean your crockpot in the dishwasher. 

Can You Clean A Crockpot In A Dishwasher?

Now that we have taken a look at what a crockpot is, let’s take a look at if you can clean your crockpot in a dishwasher.

Well, as we said earlier, the answer to this question is actually pretty complex. By that, we mean that the answer is yes, but the answer is also no. 

Your crock pot will be made up of 2 parts: the electrical component, and the pot.

For obvious reasons, the electrical component should not be submerged in water, so dishwashing is not appropriate for this part.

However, the pot of the crock pot is usually fine to be washed in the dishwasher.

Before you put the pot in your dishwasher, you should do your research to find out if your specific crockpot is dishwasher safe. 

In order for you to wash your crockpot in the dishwasher, you will need to have a crockpot where the ceramic pot can be removed from the electrical component of the crockpot.

For many older models, and a lot of cheaper models too, this is not possible.

If the pot of your slow cooker cannot be removed from the electrical part, then you shouldn’t think about putting your crockpot in the dishwasher. 

However, if the pot can be removed, then it will usually be fine to put it in the dishwasher. Before you do this, we would recommend checking the instructions manual or the warranty of your crockpot.

In this information, it will state if the pot is dishwasher friendly. If you place a crockpot that isn’t dishwasher friendly in the dishwasher, then you could damage the crockpot beyond repair. 

What Crockpots Shouldn’t You Put In A Dishwasher?

So, you can wash most crock pots in your dishwasher if the pot component can be removed from the electrical component.

If the pot component cannot be removed from the electrical component, then you will only be able to handwash your slow cooker. Unfortunately, with this style of crockpot, you cannot cut any corners. 

Even with crockpots where the pot can be removed, you have to be very careful when using the dishwasher.

This is because different materials can actually be damaged when you put them in the dishwasher. Even if they are listed as “dishwasher friendly”.

Most crock pots are either made of ceramic or stainless steel. Both of these materials will either be coated with a non-stick coating, or left in their regular state.

Whether, or not, the material is coated will play a big part in whether, or not, you should put it in the dishwasher.

If the pot is uncoated, then it is fine to pop it in the dishwasher. However, if it is coated, it is best to hand wash the pot to ensure that you do not damage the non-stick coating.  

Many pots that are covered with non-stick coating will be listed as dishwasher friendly. But we would recommend avoiding this if you want your crockpot to remain non-stick.

Should You Clean A Crockpot In A Dishwasher?

So we have established that you can clean your crockpot in a dishwasher, but let’s take a look at if you should clean your crockpot in a dishwasher.

In the same way that the crockpot makes cooking easier, the dishwasher makes cleaning easier.

So it makes sense that you might want to make cleaning your crockpot easier. Especially as crock pots are notoriously difficult to clean. 

Generally, most of the time we would advise against washing your crockpot in the dishwasher. There are a lot of reasons why we hold this opinion. 

First and foremost, we would advise against this as putting your crockpot in the dishwasher can damage it.

Most of the time, we would recommend washing your crock pot by hand as it is much safer. When you wash a dish by hand, you will be much gentler, so you are much less likely to damage your crockpot. 

Secondly, we would recommend washing your crock pot by hand because it will likely take up a lot of room in your dishwasher.

If you have a large crockpot, then it is likely to take up around an entire shelf in your dishwasher, this will mean that the amount of dishes that you can wash at once will reduce.

So, unless you have a very small crockpot, we would advise against washing it in the dishwasher. 

How To Clean Your Crockpot

Most of the time, it will be fine to clean your crockpot in the dishwasher. But you will not be able to wash all of your crockpot in the dishwasher. So, let’s take a look at how to clean your crockpot. 

Dishwasher-Friendly Components

Firstly, let’s take a look at how to wash the dishwasher-friendly components of your crockpot.

The most important thing when it comes to cleaning your slow cooker is ensuring that the slow cooker has cooled.

Once it has cooled, you can begin disassembling the different components, and separating the parts that are dishwasher safe. 

Once you have removed these components, the rest is simple. All you have to do is rinse them underneath the faucet, and then go ahead and pop them in your dishwasher.

You can load these components into your dishwasher alongside your other dishes that need to be washed. 

Set it for your regular cycle, and let your dishwasher do its job. While the dishwasher is working, you can get on with washing the components that cannot be washed in the dishwasher. 

Non-Dishwasher Components

For the components of your crock pot that you cannot put in your dishwasher, you will need to get your hands dirty. First, make sure that these components are completely cool before you get started. 

Once you are confident that it is cool, you should fill a bowl with warm water and dish soap. Then dip a washcloth in the water and get to work.

Begin by wiping away any spilled food that might have gotten into the central heater. If the stains are tougher, consider using a little white vinegar to loosen them up.

Be very careful not to put too much water onto the heater because it can become damaged if submerged. 

In addition, you should avoid dripping too much water onto the cable of the dishwasher. This could be incredibly damaging.

So, ensure that you simply use a damp cloth to wipe down any stains on the cable of your crockpot. Then leave the heater to air dry. 

If there are internal components of your crockpot that aren’t dishwasher safe, you should follow the same method, and clean out the pot and accessories with a washcloth dipped in warm water and dish soap.

Tips For Cleaning Your Crockpot

As we mentioned earlier, cleaning your crockpot isn’t the easiest of tasks. So, it is likely that you are looking for some tips on how to clean your crockpot.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some tips and tricks that will make cleaning your crockpot a lot easier. 

Our first tip is to clean your crockpot as soon as possible. We all know how tempting it is to sit down and relax once you’ve eaten.

But if you want to make cleaning your crockpot as easy as possible, you need to do it quickly. If you clean your crockpot while the leftover food and grease is fresh, the stains are less likely to get stuck.

The mess will wipe away much easier, so we would recommend cleaning your crockpot as soon as you’ve finished eating.

If you use your crockpot regularly, then you might begin to notice it developing an unpleasant odor.

 This is normal if you cook a lot of different things in your crockpot, and even more normal if you let food stand in your crockpot regularly.

Thankfully, it is quite easy to remove these unpleasant odors by simply using vinegar or baking soda. 

Finally, to make cleaning your crockpot easier, we would recommend spraying the inside with some oil before you start cooking.

Cooking oil is great, and it will prevent any food from sticking to the inside of the crockpot while it is cooking. So, you can easily clean the crockpot once you have emptied it. 

Why You Should Keep Your Crockpot Clean

Let’s wrap this up by taking a look at why it is so important to keep your crockpot clean. For obvious reasons, it is no good to have a crockpot that is dirty and covered in leftover food.

Not only is it unhygienic, but in the long run, it will prevent your crockpot from operating properly. 

It is incredibly important to keep your crockpot clean because it is a cooking appliance.

If you do not clean your crockpot, then when you use it to cook future meals, you could end up giving yourself food poisoning.

Bacteria can easily grow in a crockpot that isn’t clean, so make sure you keep your crockpot clean to avoid making yourself ill. 

Additionally, it is important to clean your crockpot to avoid any pests being attracted to it. There are all sorts of pests that are attracted to leftover food, including maggots, ants, and flies.

So, if you want to avoid your kitchen being overrun by pests, you should regularly clean your crockpot. 

But all in all, it is generally just a good idea to keep your crockpot clean. If you don’t do this, then you will be unable to use your crockpot again. So make sure that you clean it after every use. 

Summary

In short, yes, you usually can wash a crockpot in a dishwasher. In order to do this, you will need to own a crock pot which allows the pot to be removed from the heater component.

If your crock pot does not allow this, then you will need to wash it by hand. 

Thank you for reading!