crockpot help

jnk062602

So many recipes call to be cooked for 6-8 hours on low.  I work 10 hour days, so I needed it to cook 10 1/2 hours roughly.  Today, since DH was home, I put it on low at 8am and told him to turn it down to buffet at 4pm.  The meat was pretty dried out by 6:30pm.

1. Can I prepare everything and put it in the crock in the fridge and have him place from the fridge to the base at a certain time?  My last crock cracked, and I don't know if this was the reason....going from fridge to base.

2. Can I have it in the crock at room temp and then just have him turn it on at a certain time?  I guess I just don't know if meat can sit out like that for several hours or if it is not a big deal since it will be cooked afterwards.

MelissaSue81

I am not sure.. I think my crockpot says to only use the "keep warm" setting for 2 hours though.. so it might have just been a tad too long..

As for the fridge to the crockpot I would think that would be fine since it heats so slowly..  I wouldn't leave meat at room temp for very long though..Its probably OK for longer than I think though.. Mrs White knows all the food rules.

olivia_eve

Well, first it depends on what kind of meat you're cooking.  If you're making something like pork chops or chicken breasts, they don't have a lot of fat, so that's why they would be dry after cooking for so long.  Even cooking in liquids makes it worse, since the juices from the meat go into the liquid, not the other way around.  I have a programmable crockpot that lets me set the cook time and then it will switch to warm after that.  That might be an option too.

Going from fridge to crockpot could be risky, that's also how my crock cracked.  If the meat is cold when you take it out, and then it rises to room temp before you cook it, that's fine.  You're actually supposed to do that with meat, we always take out steaks or pork an hour or two ahead of time to warm up a bit.  The only exception might be chicken, it might not be as good of an idea with that.

NikCole

I would keep it in the fridge, then have your H take the crock out to sit for 30-45 minutes before turning on the crockpot. As long as the dish and it's contents aren't super cold, it shouldn't crack.

I would NOT leave everything at room temp for several hours and then have your H just turn on the crockpot.

JenJar

NikCole:

I would keep it in the fridge, then have your H take the crock out to sit for 30-45 minutes before turning on the crockpot. As long as the dish and it's contents aren't super cold, it shouldn't crack.

I would NOT leave everything at room temp for several hours and then have your H just turn on the crockpot.

This is what I would do, too.