Advice on first time using slow cooker!

heavenleigh

Ok i bit the bullet after seeing all of you praising the slow cooker!

Netto have them on offer at the moment for £19.99 and had sold out yesterday but a friend noticed one left today so got it for me.

Enough waffling, my question is;

Having never used one before is it ok for me to put it on tonight and leave it til morning?
I have a huge yellow stickered piece of stewing steak with a bb4 of yesterdays date. Im usually not that bothered about the dates for a good 2-3 days but being pregnant i tend to try and stick as closely as possible to them at the moment.
Will overnight be too long for it to be on? Hubby is up at 4.30am so could switch it off then (if he remembers, if not it will be 7ish when i get up)

I really want to play with my new toy :0) and i really dont want to throw the steak away.

Thanks in advance,
Leigh xx

lil_me

I would say it should be ok, switch it on as late as possible, use a cold stock will take it longer to heat up, make sure there is enough stock in so doesn't go dry. I have cooked things for 10 hours once before, might have been a bit longer we went out and were late home, was a steak stew actually, the only 'downside' was the meat was at 'fall off the fork' stage.

You would need to either allow to cool then portion up and freeze or reheat at tea time, I wouldn't leave it on all night and day. Alternatively you could freeze the steak.

Penelope_Penguin

When I got my SC I read this thread all the way through -SC - techniques and tips.

I'd happily put the SC on overnight, but you'll then need to cool it quickly (unless it's beef for breakfast ) then make sure it's piping hot before serving.

Penny. x

heavenleigh

Thank you :0)
Lil-me i would freeze it but as it is already one day out of date i dont feel as if i can do that at the moment, as soon as little girly bump arrives i will be going back to risking a dodgy belly at least once a week lol.
Pen thanks for the link, im off to read it now :0)
Leigh xx

johnroberts07

Asda are selling one for £7

heavenleigh

Hi John, what size is that one? i wanted the 6.5l one as my brood eat like horses and hubby likes to take stews etc to work every day.
I was really proud of my find now you are going to depress me and tell me asdas one is big too aren't you? lol

johnroberts07

Not sure it on the shop website, not electical. The make is Durabrand

johnroberts07

This is it 1.8l

Kadeeae

heavenleigh wrote: »

Enough waffling, my question is;

Having never used one before is it ok for me to put it on tonight and leave it til morning?

I do things overnight all of the time in my slow cooker! We eat our main mean at lunchtime, so for many things I wouldn't have time to put it in in the morning - unless I got up at 5, which I don't.

I've done all sorts of meats/cuts and just last week did a chicken overnight. Of course it would have been ready about 3 hours earlier than we needed it, but it really didn't hurt. I tend to put things in around 11pm, sometimes a bit earlier - as cold as possible and set it to low. It's never failed to produce excellent results. Dependent on what meat/cut it is, I sometimes turn off the slow cooker a little bit early, but if you leave the lid alone everything stays piping hot for quite some time.

And it really is soooo tasty!

I would just say for a very first use to make sure you have something under it until you see how hot it actually gets. The one I had prior to my current one got WAY to warm for my liking!

Best of luck and let us know how it goes!