Food hygiene question!

kitrat

Ok I know this isn't really strictly a moneysaving question (but I'm using a slow cooker which is money-saving!) and I don't know if this would be the right board but I need an answer quickish.

I am a very inexperienced cook, as you will see.

I am preparing a meal to go in my brand new slow cooker, I want to put the ingredients together ready to quickly put in the cooker before I go to work tomorrow.

Is it safe to store the raw chicken sitting in a chopped tomato mixture overnight? (in the fridge of course)

I can't see why not however something about raw meat sitting in liquid makes little alarm bells go in my head. I don't want to poison anyone!

kittycat204

It'll be fine.

mummyroysof3

I have a question...does it affecthow quick it cooks if it's straight from fridge?

sweetilemon

Aslong as everything will be cooked chicken & tomato sauce. Make sure its covered in the fridge and the liquid doesn't drip on anything e.g salad.

Raksha

mummyroysof3 wrote: »

I have a question...does it affecthow quick it cooks if it's straight from fridge?

Yes,it will take longer to cook, it may be best to bring everything to boiling point in a saucepan first

meritaten

I would say its fine! its ok to leave chicken in a liquid overnight in the fridge - its called 'marinading'! You could leave all the ingredients mixed together overnight in fridge and they wouldnt cause any problems as long as all of the ingredients were fresh.

kitrat

Thank you all.

Yes I know this seems so obvious, I just needed confirmation!


Um, yes I imagine it will take a little longer, I'll get it out of the fridge about an hour before I turn it on to warm through a little. Unfortunately no time for heating through on the hob but I guess I'll just have to deal with it if it's not cooked when I come in - I'm prepared for a fair bit of trial and error trying to adapt the usual recipes to slow cooker version! This first attempt is a bit of a cheat though using a recipe sachet from the supermarket which is already adapted for slow cookers.

joedenise

As long as you are cooking it for at least 8 hours on Low it won't matter if you put in in the slow cooker from the fridge, it'll still be cooked.

I've cooked veg from frozen in mine and it's still cooked by the evening.

Denise

meritaten

It isnt obvious kitrat! you learn these things as you progress, it isnt wired into our DNA!

crystaltipps

If I am doing a slow cooker thing I tend to do it before bed and keep it in fridge too. I pop it onto the low setting and it is always fine - well we haven't become ill yet, anyway! I do sometimes turn it onto high when I come in if it needs thickening. Or I pop it in the oven for 20 mins if we are having dumplings popped on the top.

One invaluable tool in my kitchen - one no one should be without - is a probe. I probe pretty much anything with meat just to be on the safe side.

kitrat

joedenise wrote: »

As long as you are cooking it for at least 8 hours on Low it won't matter if you put in in the slow cooker from the fridge, it'll still be cooked.

I've cooked veg from frozen in mine and it's still cooked by the evening.

Denise

Ah good, well it's going to be more like 10 hours so that's ok