slow cooker and the fridge!!

brummiebird443

Hi Guys
Just a quick question, there is no way i can get things ready for the slow cooker in the morning before i go to work, can i brown off my meat, stick it in the SC Dish, throw in the onions and tomatoes and put it in the fridge the night before and put into the Sc just before i leave for work in the morning?
Its just that after reading a couple of the threads i'm worried that the food wont get to the right temperature and give us all food poisoning!!!

I'm sorry if this questions been asked before but i did do a search on the threads and couldnt find it!!

tawnyowls

Yes, that should be fine - as long as you cool it quickly, leave in the fridge overnight, and put the SC on high to begin with, you shouldn't have a problem. In fact, you don't even need to brown the meat - a lot of us don't bother.

lil_me

I do the veg but not the meat, I leave that for the morning, usually whilst the kids are having breakfast before school, then add the stock and switch it on. Veg into an airtight dish with some water (save the smell of onions etc in fridge)

Investing in a meat thermometer might stop you being concerned about the temp side of things, I got one from a little DIY shop for £1.50.

squeaky

I'd be inclined not to put the SC crock pot in the fridge. Just keep your ready prepared food in other containers. That way your pot is at room temperature rather than starting off from cold.

brummiebird443

thanks for that, its made me feel a whole load better as i had started to have horrible visions of me poisoning the family!
its just that mornings are complete chaos in our house (4 yr old and 20mnth old to get ready for school and nursery and then spend 5 minutes on myself getting ready for work) and i just couldnt bear the the thought of browning meat that early in the morning!

thanks again for your advice, its really appreciated :T

JillD_2

I do this but not with meat (we are veggie). So my crockpot is starting from cold and it seems to work fine.

As for the meat, if you brown it first then cool it and then recook it the next day this should be ok providing you don't then reheat it again. So you couldn't freeze leftovers for example, or have any for lunch the next day

Good luck!
Jill

Nicki

I think you also need to look at the instructions for your slow cooker. Mine says not to put the actual pot in the fridge, as it may then crack when exposed to heat. You could do all the prep in advance though and put in your fridge in a covered bowl, then tip into your sc in the morning and switch on.

I also wouldn't be too worried about freezing left overs and reheating so long as you cool the browned meat quickly and then stick in fridge, cool left overs quickly and freeze asap and only reheat once, though strictly speaking Jill is right about reheating, I would have thought in those circs your risks of food poisoning were very slim.