Slow Cooker - The Recipe Collection

Sui_Generis

Well you could switch in on now and cook overnight though you'd have to reheat tomorrow when you return?

So_Sad_Angel

Hi,

I made a beef stew on Thursday & put the veg in stock & left in on `low` overnight & added the meat in the morning to the part cooked vegetable that were nicely warmed . The veg was so lovely & tender .

...mines a crockpot too.

I love it!!

Olliebeak

I often prep veg the night before (especially Christmas Eve) and never suffer any bad consequences. I usually leave it in cold water overnight and then drain the next day and use fresh to cook with - I'm sure your kitchen won't be THAT warm to cause a problem .

Sublime_2

You'll be fine. I always soak pulses overnight at room temperature, so veg should be fine, for cooking.

twiglet98

Thank you all, the prepared veg were fine, though leaving them in water would have been a good idea. Floured and browned the meat and slung it in with a a couple of stock cubes, thyme, a tin of tomatoes, worcester sauce and a slug of red wine, run out of tom puree... thought too late that mustard could have been nice. It cooked on low for 11 hours, longer than planned, but it was ok. DD17 refused but DD23, her bf and I had a bowl each with no accompaniments, and had seconds, and there's probably just enough for two lunches tomorrow... I'm really glad I didn't get a smaller one, if DS had been here there'd be nothing left.

I have tall dark jars at the back of the larder filled with red and green lentils, red kidney beans and yellow split peas. They have probably been there 15 years or more, never used. Tried pearl barley once in a lamb casserole and it was so awful I binned it. Time to replace the lentils, and learn how big a handful to add to a full crockpot, they would have made it more of a meal. Pork, lamb or chicken next? Must have a rummage in the freezer!

Sui_Generis

Sublime wrote: »

You'll be fine. I always soak pulses overnight at room temperature, so veg should be fine, for cooking.

Just added red kidney beans for the first time and found them rather crunchy - even after a couple of hours. Will they cook fully and roughly how long would they take? Finished it off on the hob as I was in a hurry.

twiglet98

Don't dried kidney beans have to be soaked for hours before going into any dish to start cooking? I've always been so dubious about this I've never used them, only ever added the tinned ones instead as they are ready to use.

Bongedone

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_cooker

Raw kidney beans, and some other beans, contain a toxin, phytohaemagglutinin, which is destroyed by boiling for at least ten minutes, but not by the operating temperature of a slow cooker. Raw beans must be boiled prior to slow cooking to avoid poisoning; canned beans do not require this, already having been so treated. Even a few beans can be toxic, and beans can be as much as five times more toxic if cooked at 175°F (80°C) than if eaten raw, so adequate pre-boiling is vital. Cases of poisoning by slow-cooked beans have been published in the UK; poisoning has occurred in the USA but has not been formally reported.[6]

Pauls

Bongedone wrote: »

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_cooker

Raw kidney beans, and some other beans, contain a toxin, phytohaemagglutinin, which is destroyed by boiling for at least ten minutes, but not by the operating temperature of a slow cooker. Raw beans must be boiled prior to slow cooking to avoid poisoning; canned beans do not require this, already having been so treated. Even a few beans can be toxic, and beans can be as much as five times more toxic if cooked at 175°F (80°C) than if eaten raw, so adequate pre-boiling is vital. Cases of poisoning by slow-cooked beans have been published in the UK; poisoning has occurred in the USA but has not been formally reported.[6]

ooops

Hope your ok

Sui_Generis

twiglet98 wrote: »

only ever added the tinned ones instead as they are ready to use.

Bongedone wrote: »

Hope your ok

LOL thanks both. It would never occur to me to buy let alone use raw beans! They were out of a tin and that's why I was somewhat surprised that the texture was so - well raw. Anyway I transferred them to the hob in case it was a matter of the SC didn't get up to a high enough temp. Just froze the food thereafter as I had to prepare something else to eat immediately.

So in summary, ordinarily tinned kidney beans should be OK in the SC with say an hour's cooking? Probably use a maximum of two tins a year