Crock pot experts (or failures, lol)

[Carrie12345]

Once a week, we're going to be out of the house from 7:30am to 5/5:30pm.  I'm still trying to decide how to handle dinner those nights.  I'd love to do crock pot meals, but I think mine cooks pretty quickly, even on low.  And I'm a little nervous about leaving it unattended for 10 full hours, but if I keep it on the flat top stove, nothing THAT bad could happen, right?

 

Are there any recipes that hold up especially well to 10 hours at (what I find to be) a higher temperature?

 

Or any alternative suggestions for fast and easy meals after a long day?

[zoobie]

Giant hunks of meat and soups/stews hold up well. I do pasta sauce in mine too, which can cook forever.

[Kim in Appalachia]

You're not supposed to do it, but I do.  If I'm going to need it in there for that long, I put my meat in frozen with some sort of sauce for it to simmer in.  It's worked for us.  :tongue_smilie:

 

But yes, the best thing for 10 hours is some sort of stew.

[Carrie12345]

Hm. I wonder if I can convince the kids to eat stew. Lol.  (*I* happen to love stew!)

[Ottakee]

That is a problem with the newer crock pots in that they cook faster than the older ones.

 

Chicken soup

Roast

cube steak and gravy

[Lady Marmalade]

Can you get a timer and plug the crock pot into that?  Then you could set it to start 2 hours later and you'd only have it going for 8 hours.  

[HollyDay]

http://www.familycircle.com/recipes/slow-cooker/10-hour-slow-cooker-recipes/

http://busycooks.about.com/cs/crockpotrecipes/a/longcooking.htm

http://www.recipelion.com/Crock-Pot-Recipes/12-Awesome-All-Day-Slow-Cooker-Recipes

 

Pot roasts are pretty forgiving too

[Annie G]

Is there room in the budget to get one of the new ones that will cook for a set time and then switch to warm? Mine does that and it really comes in handy. 

Since you're planning to use it at least once a week, maybe it'll be worth the cost. 

[VeritasMama]

I make soup quite a bit in my crockpot. You just throw everything in at once, and the longer it sits the better it tastes. I add extra stock if I'm going to be gone longer than usual.

 

Chicken tortilla soup

Italian chicken stew

Ham and lentil soup

Split pea

chicken noodle

Creamy Potato soup

Baked Potato soup

Chili

hamburger soup

clam chowder

minestrone

Corn chowder

Vegetable stew

 

I have frozen corn bread, bread sticks, and garlic bread I can throw in the oven for a few minutes to finish the meal. I know not everyone likes soup, but my kids love it and they hold up well in the crock pot.

 

For the chicken soups, I just cube boneless chicken breasts, or if the breasts are still frozen I throw them in and shred them up right before I serve it. Some people worry about noodles getting too mushy in the crockpot, but mine always turn out just fine.

 

 

 

 

[Slartibartfast]

My crockpot also cooks too hot, I can't cook anything for that long. :(

[gingersmom]

I would crockpot when you are home and freeze.

[Tanaqui]

This is only slightly on topic, and I apologize, but what about a Wonderbag or a non-fabric thermal cooker?I fully intend to get one for myself for Christmas. (Of course, that costs money. What am I thinking? NOT useful. Sorry, I clearly have not gotten enough sleep today.)

 

[Desert Strawberry]

Does yours have a Serve setting? Mine is hot, too. I Use Low for High and Serve for Low. 

I don't leave mine in this house because our wiring is iffy, but that's the house's fault, not the crockpot's. 

I'm vegetarian, so the only thing I could leave that long would be beans or soup.

[Susan in TN]

We have a day once a week like that, too. It is always soup night for us. I make huge pots of soup and freeze in 8c containers. In the morning I take it out of the freezer and put in a covered casserole dish with a foil-wrapped loaf of crusty bread (also from the freezer). I set the oven timer to start heating the soup and bread in time to be done when we get home.

 

P.S. My kids are much happier about soup when I have things for them to add to it, like shredded cheese or sour cream.

[KungFuPanda]

I wouldn't even think about chicken. Corned beef or pork roast is more forgiving. Most crockpot meals are best with only 6 hours of cooking. Honestly, I'd find another plan. If you have precooked taco meat, you can get dinner on the table in 5-10 minutes. Hearty salads with cold protein on top can be made ahead of time. Precooked sausages that reheat on a gas grill are easy. Hearty meat,cheese, rolls, fruit platters are fun. Precooked soups can be reheated on the stove while you set the table and toss a salad. Quesadillas or grilled cheese sandwiches cook up FAST in the oven. It might be worth juggling the budget to make this a take-out night. Can you afford to eat out once a week? Can you grab a rotisserie chicken hot from the store? Would your kids like a freezer appetizer night? Sandwiches? Eggs?

[solascriptura]

I think making something the night before and heating it up would work.  I need to "watch" my crockpot or it burns things.  Kind of defeats the purpose, right?  So, basically I just use it to keep stuff warm during Thanksgiving dinner.  :P

[Joyofsixreboot]

Maybe I'm glad I have my ancient crockpot from 1986. A large roast covered with sauce and topped with potatoes and carrots works here. I tend to make two casseroles when we have one. I freeze one for busy nights. I often get it out the night before I will need it, then nuke it, open a bag of salad and warm up some bread. This also works if we are eating in shifts. The kid/dh can warm up a single serving on a plate.

[justasque]

Once a week, we're going to be out of the house from 7:30am to 5/5:30pm.  I'm still trying to decide how to handle dinner those nights.  I'd love to do crock pot meals, but I think mine cooks pretty quickly, even on low.  And I'm a little nervous about leaving it unattended for 10 full hours, but if I keep it on the flat top stove, nothing THAT bad could happen, right?

 

Are there any recipes that hold up especially well to 10 hours at (what I find to be) a higher temperature?

 

Or any alternative suggestions for fast and easy meals after a long day?

 

I would go with non-crock-pot meals.  

 

Skillet meals cook up super-fast if you have the veg already chopped.  Think hamburger helper but from scratch, or veg-and-meat in a sauce (think curry).  Sautee some veg, add some already-cooked meat and a sauce, and serve over rice or pasta.  A rice cooker could be filled and turned on as soon as you walk in the door, and ready when the meal is if you use white rice (and not all that much later if you use brown).  A bread machine could have pizza dough ready to roll out - have the toppings and cheese already prepped.  A quiche makes a nice meal and can be served cold.  A breakfast-style fry-up is quick; again prep the veg ahead of time.  Soup can be made ahead of time and heated on the stove when you get home.  You could do a roast beef or chicken the night before and have planned leftovers eaten cold (much like you'd do at Thanksgiving).  

 

I have a very large non-stick skillet, with high sides, which makes skillet meals super-easy.  If you start your rice or water for your pasta first, then chop your veg in the order they will cook and throw them in the skillet as you go, you can easily have a hearty dinner on the table in 30 minutes or even less.  You can vary the sauce depending on your ingredients to make anything from curry to a beefy gravy to something creamy or even a cheese sauce.  Variations include chicken curry, chicken pot pie innards (maybe even with biscuits on top), various hamburger-helper style meals, Italian dishes, seafood, and Asian stir-fries.  Sauces from scratch are super-easy, and there are a variety of jarred sauces that make it even easier - Trader Joe's red Thai curry sauce is a favorite here.

 

The key, I think, is knowing exactly what you'll be cooking before you walk in the door, having the kitchen clean and ready to go, and pushing past the desire to put your feet up for a few minutes and just getting on with it.

[mom31257]

I had to buy a new crockpot a couple of years ago, and it cooks too hot and too quickly. It is a 7 quart, and I just can't fill that size for our family.  

 

I bought this crockpot, and it's been perfect for us (a family of 4). It doesn't cook too hot or quickly at all. If you were only doing the meat, it might would work. For that price, you might could buy 2 and split the dish between them. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Carrie12345]

Can't reply to everything right now, but loving the suggestions!

[Tohru]

It doesn't seem any one has mentioned this:

 

A larger slow cooker that is FULL will cook a lot slower than if it was only partially full.  Smaller slow cookers generally cook quicker than larger.

 

I know it sounds obvious, but I needed some one to point it out to me :)

 

[umsami]

I would do a beef stew.  It can cook forever (usually) and still be good.

 

The old can of tomato soup kind is still our family favorite.

 

Basic recipe… 2-3 pounds of beef stew meat (if your butcher doesn't have it, but your own and cut it bigger than normal), 2-3 potatoes, handful of baby carrots (I don't cut them at all), 2 onions cut in big pieces, one bay leaf, 1 can of tomato soup, 1 soup can of water, course kosher salt and pepper sprinkled on the meat before adding to pot… and about 1 tsp oregano (if you have it).

[naturemom]

I buy the largest pot roast I can find. I have a 3 pounder in the fridge, but sometimes I get the giant 2 pack one from Sam's and cook them both at the same time. It sometimes takes close to 10 hours which doesn't work out well for dinner when I start it at 1pm.

I also have my crock pot outside on our covered front porch, so I don't have to take up the stove and have the vent running all day.

[TrixieB]

I cooked black beans in my crock pot yesterday -- put them in at 7 AM before I left for work, and they were fine when I came home at 7 PM.  If you have a rice cooker with a timer, you can set it up for rice to be ready when you want it, for a beans & rice dinner.  That is what I do.

[DianeW88]

I've found that the more expensive, programmable, crock pots are much better at temperature regulation.  Also, the crock pot itself should be 2/3 full.  Anything less than that will cook much more quickly.

[mathnerd]

My DH bought me a timer (like the ones that are used for christmas trees). I use it with my crockpot. If I am going to be at work for 10 hours, I set the crockpot to turn OFF after the number of hours I need it to cook for. Will that work for you? If not, then, if you cook something very liquidy (like soup) it should be good after 10  hours.

[brehon]

Echoing everyone else who recommended getting a crock with a timer. This has saved our dinners on busy days. It has more than paid for itself.