Prepping food for slow cooker the night before...

Mics_chick

I want to get in the habit of using my slow cooker more but some mornings I don't have enough time to chop all the veg for a stew/casserole so is it ok to do it the evening before and keep it in the fridge overnight? And what is the best way to store it?

mumoftwo

You can keep stew in fridge overnight but not in the slowcooker crockpot because the sudden change in temperature from cold to hot would cause it to crack. So you would have to keep it in another dish and transfer to slowcooker in the morning. I would keep everything dry though, don't add stock until you are ready to put everything in the SC, but that is me, maybe someone else will say something different

janeawej

i agree with mumoftwo I would chop everything the might before and store it in the fridge but seperately and without the liquid, bacteria need 2 things to grow/multiply, warmth and moisture so by keeping it cool and dry you are realy cutting chances of this happening, also only use realy fresh meat in a SC, then just pop it into the slowcooker and pour over the stock, i sometimes put it in the microwave till it is realy hot as i dont like the idea of chicken taking as couple of hours to come to simmering point in the SC but not with any other meat, that is just me being fussy tho and most people dont do this

Mics_chick

Thanks for this - it makes perfect sense but sometimes you can't see the obvious

We did have a lovely stew for dinner today that we did in the slow cooker