Hello Everyone,
I have some questions about the crockpot. I'm away from my home 11-12 hours a day and don't know if it is possible to use the crockpot for that length of time. I can't seem to find any recipes with that "cooking" time. They all seem to be for 4-8 hours. My crockpot has the "keep warm" feature on it but I know that after a while things will burn in this mode. Does anyone have any advice?
TIA
I guess I"ll have to experiment with it on the weekend while I"m at home. Thanks for the suggestions =D
You can buy a crock pot with a 10 hr setting-I have one. Then it goes to warm on its own. This way, it cooks at the perfect temp all day and does not dry out the food.
I start mine at 6 am and don't turn it off until 5 or 6 pm on a regular basis and I have never had any problems with food burning. I do make sure that no plastic or flamable items are near the crock pot (just in case) and I have quartz countertops so I don't worry about the base unit getting too hot. I always put it on the low - 8 hour setting and then after that time frame it automatically switches to "warm". Just be sure that you have enough liquid in it or it will boil dry and crack the crock part (trust me- I've done it). If you are still worried, what about doing a trial run on a weekend day when you can be home to make sure that everything is ok.
lots of liquid & put it on low. Or prepare the meal on the wkend & reheat that night.
Do you still have the user manual? Or I'd try online and google your brand.
My guess is each brand might have a different length of time they rec it being plugged in/on.
Things shouldn't burn if you use a lot of liquid. Also, start with frozen meat. That takes longer to cook through. I've done chicken and pork for 10-11 hours before and it was fine. Again, having enough liquid in there is key so it doesn't dry out or burn.
I do it all of the time with mine. It has a 10 hour setting and then switches to warm after that. One thing I do to help is to mix everything in the crock the night before and stick it in the fridge. When you want to start it in the morning all you have to do is pull it out and stick it in the crock pot and hit go. I do it right before I walk out the door in the morning and because everything is very cold it takes it a little longer to start cooking. We are vegetarian, however, and I don't think it's safe to put everything together the night before with meat in it. So maybe mix everything except the meat and add that in the morning.
You have a lot of good answers - I will only add, be careful with the timer suggestion. You don't want to eat food that has sat out for longer than 2 hours or you run the risk of food poisoning. You will get a little longer than that while the food cools but still...if it only takes 8 hours to cook and you are gone for 12, that's too long. BTW, I have cooked things for 10+ hours - generally large pieces of meat that I cook on low to get it tender and w/plenty of liquid to make sure it doesn't burn.
You already have some good answers.
You could go get a timer like some people use when they go on vacation to turn the lights on and off and set it so that your crock pot is only on for the proper amount of time. Just be sure the time can handle the amount of electricity you crock pot will use.
Good luck to you and yours.
I like you was afraid of leaving the crockpot running all day while I was at work, so I have actually done a 'test runs' of my meal (mind you, I have not gotten beyond cooking 2 different meals). I put in my 'test meal' and allowed it to cook a meal overnight (or on my day off). Conveniently, my husband gets home at 2am, so I had asked him to check in on the cooking when he got home. Otherwise, I would have set an alarm to check in on it. I was able to get 'lunch' from the overnight cooking for me any my kids!
My crockpot does also switch to 'keep warm' after the cook time is complete, so that is something to take into consideration.
My sister and I both make things in the crockpot for 10-12 hours on the low setting. I cook roast, chicken, soups, and beans for that long and I've never had a problem.
As others have said, just make sure you have enough liquid in there or it will burn.
this is a tough one.....
I use my crock pot for long periods of time - but I'm home during the day to check on it and turn the meat over....
I have the crock pot/slow cooker that has the probe with keep warm, low, med, high....
If you are going to leave it for that long - ensure there is enough liquid to fully cover your meat and such....
lamp timers fix many issues....
This is the type I own and I love it.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00002N5FI/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=...
