FWIW, both of my slowcookers are Rival models branded as Crockpots. Neither of
mine have any spider webbing. One is a vintage 1980 model with a pinkish
ceramic liner that says "made in Sedalia, Missouri." The other, a ten
year old model made in China, came with a black ceramic liner with white speckles. Since I first started hearing or reading about lead in ceramics a
couple of decades ago, I've periodically checked my
ceramics a with lead "test kit" swabs from the hardware store. No lead
indications on anything I have. Other folks have reported detectable of lead with swabs on some other crockpot liners --- as well as on some coffee mugs, some tableware, etc.

That said, my crockpots may not get the use yours do. I
acquired mine for use as buffet servers. They get used that way
about eight to ten times per year. Nothing against slowcookers, I
just
prefer pressure cookers, instead.

It seems to me that "Crockpot lead leaching" has been one of those internet low-level buzz topics for years. The buzz also includes other ceramics such as baking dishes, coffee mugs and tableware, too, as I mentioned at the start.

While there has been a sort of constant speculative and sometimes paranoid buzz for a couple of decades, it never achieved the breakthough celebrity bugaboo status that aluminum and teflon did. The result, it seems to me, is that there has not been any rigorous large scale testing and inquiry. At least none that I have been able to find.

The buzz about crockpot liners strikes me as the same kind of chatter you can find about steel cookware (supposedly leaches cadmium, chromium, and/or nickel), trace levels of lead (and other heavy metals) being found in the the clay used for ceramic liners on the various expensive French-made ceramic lined cast iron cookware, and the etc., etc.

One problem with sorting through what you can find is that we are not talking about something egregious like the lead water pipes in Flint or those instances of lead paint on children's toys.

The levels of lead (or cadmium, or whatever) are far lower. A compounding problem with sifting through the data is the the sparsity of what you could call "in service" or product lifecycle testing. That's the idea that something might test out just fine when newly manufactured but yield different results after years of actual use in kitchens.

In short, so much of what we find raises the red flags of suspected posturing, of industry flackery and blather, and of fear-mongering paranoid advocacy.

The "plastic" liners you mentioned come in several varieties but may not ease your mind. These add-in liners come in several types, some being variations on plastic roasting bags ranging on up to flexible molded silicon. Read up on them and you will find equal amounts of criticism about chemical components leaching into food.

very insightful thank you.

I also read that cooking with acidty (tomato) exacerbates the issue (real or not). Mine is a Rival Crockpot too. Going on their website, looks like Sunbeam bought Rival and kept the "Crock-Pot" branding.

I saw that they have replacement liners for sale. I think I will just get a new liner or maybe even a new pot. They are so inexpensive and the to-go handles and a timer do seem like worthwhile features to justify an upgrade. I really don't like the looks of my liner at all. safe or not. It's gross looking. I looked closely and I did find one tiny pit (which in theory exposes more lead if there is any).

If you are considering a replacement unit (instead of a replacement liner), you might want to check out one of the "Instant Pot" models. They have stainless steel liners. You can use an Instant Pot as a slow cooker or a fire-&-forget pressure cooker or an automatic rice maker or a steamer depending on what the task at hand is. Stainless steel liners. Apparently, the low temperature control is good enough that some people use them as yogurt makers, too. A potential limitation is that the max capacity is 6.3 quarts, which may not be enough for some slow cooker afficionados with big families or plans for freezing dinners.

WendyB

Just because a pot has glazing that has crazed does not necessarily present an unsafe situation. First of all, you don't know if the glaze was formulated with lead. Crazing is a glaze fault caused by a poor glaze to body fit. In theory a perfect glaze should be just tight enough to "hug" the clay body thereby strengthening the form without crazing. On the other side, if the glaze fits poorly it can cause shivering which is much more serious as you have tiny shards of glass falling off into your food. Even with a perfectly formulated glaze fired properly, crazing can occur when taken out of a kiln or after many years during use.

You are correct, acidic foods will leach lead more. I have no statistics on how much lead is used in pottery these days. I suspect not as much as we all think. Lead was used primarily in low fire ware. It dissipates and "fires off" if you will if high fired. Consequently it would be worthless to use it in high fire wares. Generally, bright colors such as Christmas red are suspect in low fire ware as being lead based. I have a lovely platter purchased in spain many years ago. I suspect it might have lead glazes. I use it primarily as a fruit bowl.

I personally think working with lead in a poweder form is quite dangerous for the worker especially if they are careless with their studio hygene; eating and drinking in the glaze area, not wearing an appropriate respirator and sweeping floors stirring up dust. Myself, I have never worked with lead and fire to high temperatures (2400F) and all of my glazes are guaranteed to craze :)) I don't know how economical the lead tests are or how accurate for that matter.

One other way to tell if something is low fired versus high fired is to look at the bottom of the form. Low fired ware has to have glaze all over or it will weep and not hold water. Generally it's recommended to hand wash rather than using the dishwasher. Low fire pots are generally glazed on the bottom and "stilted" on three prongs, You can usually see the three little spots where the stilts were. In high fire wares, there is no glaze on the bottom as the clay is vitrified and water tight. The pot would stick to the kiln shelf as the stilts would melt.

Not sure if this helps in your decision process.

Inga

I was not one to cook that much but did use a crock pot once in a while. About a year and a half ago I got the InstantPot 6 quart 7-1 as jwvideo and I love it. I actually now find myself cooking once or twice a week which is a lot for me! Makes enough for 2, for 2 nights of dinner. I haven't used the slow cooker on it yet. I was going to try it the other day when I was making a beef stew but last minute I just cooked it under pressure. 20 minutes cook time after sautéing beef (also done in pressure cooker). It was delicious! Tasted just as good if not better than keeping the slow cooker on all day. This is the best purchase I have made. I also make yogurt weekly in it and is simple and comes out delicious!