Crockpot Cooking Question from lynettejs

[Julesong]

In another Zaar forum, lynettejs asked:

Next week I will have several days where I will need to leave for work very early and will be returning late. I still want to have a meal ready when I get home, so naturally, I thought of the crockpot. My problem is, if I leave the food to cook all day it turns out like mush by the time I get home (13 hours cooking time!). I could put a timer on it, but the food would sit out for several hours before cooking. Could I freeze it in the crock, let it thaw and then cook with the timer? Any other suggestions? Sorry this post is so long...any help would be appreciated!

So, I know folks here will love helping out with her question!

[chef 138622]

Julesong wrote:
In another Zaar forum, lynettejs asked:

Next week I will have several days where I will need to leave for work very early and will be returning late. I still want to have a meal ready when I get home, so naturally, I thought of the crockpot. My problem is, if I leave the food to cook all day it turns out like mush by the time I get home (13 hours cooking time!). I could put a timer on it, but the food would sit out for several hours before cooking. Could I freeze it in the crock, let it thaw and then cook with the timer? Any other suggestions? Sorry this post is so long...any help would be appreciated!

So, I know folks here will love helping out with her question!

From reading my Slow Cookers manual if you set it to the "Keep Warm " setting it has little impact on the finished product and ( in my slow cookers case ) lasts 6 hours. So you would have lets say 6-10 hours of cook time it would auto shift to keep warm with 6 hours of keep warm time which is 12-16 hours , that just about meets your need . It really depends on your slow cooker, its temperatures, its features and its limitations.

Some Slow cookers can be used to freeze in others you cant. Some are digital some aren't , some cook really really hot others are slooooooooow.

What kind size etc slow cooker does she have?

[Julesong]

Mrs_Magickal_Gourmet wrote:
From reading my Slow Cookers manual if you set it to the "Keep Warm " setting it has little impact on the finished product and ( in my slow cookers case ) lasts 6 hours. So you would have lets say 6-10 hours of cook time it would auto shift to keep warm with 6 hours of keep warm time which is 12-16 hours , that just about meets your need . It really depends on your slow cooker, its temperatures, its features and its limitations.

Some Slow cookers can be used to freeze in others you cant. Some are digital some aren't , some cook really really hot others are slooooooooow.

What kind size etc slow cooker does she have?

I don't know - I posted a message over there to let her know to come over here to find answers. Hopefully she'll be able to answer, herself.

You must have a digital slow cooker, then?

[chef 138622]

Julesong wrote:

Mrs_Magickal_Gourmet wrote:
From reading my Slow Cookers manual if you set it to the "Keep Warm " setting it has little impact on the finished product and ( in my slow cookers case ) lasts 6 hours. So you would have lets say 6-10 hours of cook time it would auto shift to keep warm with 6 hours of keep warm time which is 12-16 hours , that just about meets your need . It really depends on your slow cooker, its temperatures, its features and its limitations.

Some Slow cookers can be used to freeze in others you cant. Some are digital some aren't , some cook really really hot others are slooooooooow.

What kind size etc slow cooker does she have?

I don't know - I posted a message over there to let her know to come over here to find answers. Hopefully she'll be able to answer, herself.

You must have a digital slow cooker, then?

I have a Kenmore Digital Slowcooker I call it Robo Crock

[Kting]

I found this a realllllly good question as I just got a crockpot and I return to work soon. If I put my food in the crockpot on low (mine has keep-warm, low and high) at 8 am and don't return until 6pm I'm likely to get mush. I'm not sure I understood the instructions above. Can you be more specific? Thanks!

[Kting]

I guess I should have purchased a crockpot with a timer, but I didn't and I don't use it enough to justify getting another.

[sweetpea burgess]

You can buy a separate attachment for your crockpot which will make it a "smart -pot" (automatically goes to keep warm after a certain amount of cook time, even if the crockpot has no keep warm setting). I just saw this in a gourmet food store.