That is the question…..is there lead in glass slow cooker inserts?  We’re here to give you the low down on lead free slow cookers.

To make a long story short, the answer is No. If you are looking for a lead free slow cooker, then glass inserts are the way to go.  There is no lead in glass slow cooker inserts, but only if you are using ordinary glass, then you will be fine.  Any other type of glass could contain lead. But read on for a slightly more in depth look…..

So in my quest to find the perfect  slow cooker, I read that there may be a possibility that some glass slow cooker inserts could potentially contain traces of poisonous lead. This has come as a bit of a surprise to me. One of the slow cooker insert options I was looking into was glass. This article is going to be a brain dump on the pros and cons of using glass in cooking.

After sifting through numerous articles on ‘harmful cook wear’, there seems to be an apparent lack of information on the amount of lead found in glass cook wear. Either there is no threat of glass/lead poisoning or that there just has not been any experiments that have looked into this topic. The over riding feeling from all these articles is that glass pots and slow cooker inserts are safe and even some websites claim that the inserts and pots are inert. However these claims cannot be made for novelty drinking glass cups, and tumblers that have pictures on them. After independent tests, ToyTestingLab of Rhode Island, found that the enamel used to color a selection of Disney, Tin Man, novelty kids drinking glasses, had lead levels that were over 1,000 times the American federal limit for children’s products. That just seems crazy to me. These drinking glasses in question were recalled, however it just makes me wonder how many other toxic drinking glasses are in circulation.

For more back ground info on poisonous enamel drinking glasses, checkout this article.

Normal glass is safe. Novelty painted glass is not.

So far as I can tell from a very brief review of web articles and a few select scientific papers, is that non painted glass cook wear can be considered generally safe. Pyrex brand is one that is mentioned as good, however there does seem to be some isolated cases of the Pyrex pots exploding when over heated. This in its self is also alarming, although it does not seem to be very common at all. The inert nature and hardness of glass is a definite plus in my book. Also combined with the fact that most glass is quite resistant to acids and bases. As long as the glass is not painted with some mystery paint and that it is not tinted with some other mystery chemical, it seems to be considered safe. The hardness, robustness and inertness of glass makes it a worthy consideration for slow cooker inserts.

As long as you stay away form ‘enamel painted’ novelty glasses or pots, and lead crystal, glass does seem to be a safe option for cooking on. It is not the best conductor of heat, and burning does seem to occur more regularly than metal inserts and pots.

The vast majority of articles online claim that every type of cooking utensil has the capacity to poison. Either through leaching harmful chemicals or by off gassing (smoke, gas). But reading between the lines and all the alarmist scaremongering there appears to be a common thread. That being, the amount of harmful chemicals released into food is dependent on the cooking temperature. The higher the temperature the more harmful chemicals and heavy metals are released.  The fact of the matter is that if you are looking for a lead free slow cooker then glass inserts are the way to go.

This website has a little more facts and figures on lead and some of the products that contain lead. Check it out if you want some more info.

So to wrap up, it seems that glass is an acceptable alternative and a lot safer than the traditional lead ceramic slow cooker inserts.   Just make sure you are using normal glass.  If you watch the cooking temperature so that the bottom does not spot burn too much, then glass is a great alternative.