Slow Cooker quick advice please

chloebelle

Hi everyone

Sorry for starting a new thread, I know there are slow cooker threads but I have a little question which will get lost on page 10,000 if I post it on an existing thread!

I have just bought a slow cooker but the instruction book only tells me how to set it up, not actually cook anything. I am therefore using the net for info.

My question is, is it safe to put the slow cooker on in the morning and leave all day unattended? The only similar equipment I have used is a pressure cooker which requires constant supervision. Are they safe to cook away alone or do they need supervising?

I am quite paranoid about safety & secuity at home - it takes me about 15 mins to lock up every morning as I keep checking everything twice! Therefore, is it also ok to put the cooker on overnight, turn off during the day and put on again in the evening to warm up? Or will this ruin the food?

Thankyou

Slinky

It's fine to leave all day on low, that's how they are designed to work.

Cooking it, letting it cool then reheating it using a slow cooker could be dangerous though. You would be better cooking overnight, letting the contents cool, refridgerate while you're out, then heat quickly on the hob when you're ready to eat it, to stop any 'nasties' developing, particularly in summer.

There's a book called 'Slow Cooking Properly Explained' which I'm sure will come up on Google which has lots of great recipes to get you started.

littleredhen

i tried mine out at a weekend when i was going to be around to keep an eye on it - things i learned - put mine on a rack to stop the work surface getting too hot - make sure you have plenty of fluid as one of my dishes nearly dried out - i leave mine on from 8.45 - 3 but this was really the maximum time according to the instructions - mine also says cook on high so i think it depends what model you have and as OP says be careful what you are doing -i would also cook then cool then re-heat in either a microwave or oven making sure it is piping hot - not sure if this helps

littleredhen

sorry should have said once cool put in fridge then re-heat not using slow cooker but proper oven/hob or microwave

Patchwork_Quilt

My slow cooker has been brilliant. There will be a recipe book in the library. I just bung everything in before I go to work, switch it on to Auto and we have a nice meal at tea time.

By the way, don't take any notice of all that browning in a pan before you put the ingredients into your slow cooker. Its a waste of time. Just put the raw meat and veg in the pot with the sauce/water and switch it on.

Its not much of a recipe, but I used to put some chicken pieces in the pot with a chopped up onion etc and pour a can of soup over the top. Another one is spag bol - just stir a jar of Dolmio into the mince, switch on and walk away ...

If you are really worried about safety, use the slow cooker once or twice on a Saturday or when you are at home to convince yourself that nothing will go wrong.

chloebelle

Thanks everyone, very helpful advice.

Thanks Patchwork Quilt for the advice about raw food - a lot of recipes I have looked at did describe browning meat and frying onions. I was a bit disappointed, might as well cook it fresh if I have to do that!

2 more questions if anyone is still around. I read somewhere that carrots will only cook on high and not the low setting - is this true?

And how long is if safe to use the 'stay warm' function? For example, if I get in at 4 and dinner isn't until 6, is it ok to leave on 'warm' or safer to turn off?

bizzylizzy

Carrots cook fine on LOW, I use them in casseroles cooked on Low all day and they are cooked through.

blueberrypie

chloebelle wrote: »

My question is, is it safe to put the slow cooker on in the morning and leave all day unattended? The only similar equipment I have used is a pressure cooker which requires constant supervision. Are they safe to cook away alone or do they need supervising?

A slow cooker is *completely* different to a pressure cooker. Your pressure cooker is designed to cook quickly, using built-up pressure to increase the effect of the heat, and does, as you mention, require constant supervision. A slow cooker, however, is intended to run for hours and hours, and if they required supervision for all that time, at least 95% of the people who use them would never do so.

Yes, it is perfectly safe to put it on all day while you're out. I would second the suggestion of others to use it for the first time on a day when you're there - not because something might go terribly wrong, but because it will reassure you that's it's okay to do it!

Slow cookers use much lower heat than pots/pans/ovens etc, and much less power - I suspect the oft-quoted "same as running a lightbulb" is an exaggeration, but it's not *very* far off the truth, and you wouldn't worry about leaving a lightbulb on all day, would you? At least, not from a safety point of view (committed money-savers might gnaw their nails at the electricity usage LOL)

One more suggestion: if you have a slow-cooker which will work with a plug-in timer (which I think is most/all of the non-digital ones), you can do that rather than leaving it all day, if it reassures you. So instead of having it on from, say, 8.30am when you leave the house, you could set the timer to come on at 2pm, and put it on medium rather than low.

sandiep

use a handful of red lentils or a sweet potato in the pot if you want to get a good stody constitution to your food.

ditto the point re not bothering to brown off, i think that's just cosmetic, i've never done it.

Clear out all the odd veggies in your fridge, add a can of tomatos and a chopped up piece of meat/chicken - dada - winter stew!! Total prep time around 7minutes!!

holiday_lover

I use frozen casserole veg in with the raw meat/ sauce. I also use frozen mushrooms, or tinned veg. This is so easy when rushing off to work in the morning!!!
And yes carrots are fine, they do say put the veg at the bottom tho'.
My children don't like leeks or swede of turnip so if i use these in a spag bol, i just mash it before serving!! Very sneaky:j
We've just had rice pudding done in the sc- yummy
2oz long grained pudding rice
1oz sugar
1 1/2pints of milk
pinch of nutmeg
Cook on low for 6 hrs

I forgot to put it on so whacked it on high for 2 hrs and was fine!!
Hope this helps.:D Plus look back on this Forum, there is a thread about sc i was reading yeasterday.

onetomany

i use mine all the time leave it on all day then you get a yummmmmmmmmmmmy diner when you get home