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susan8020I'm being cautious, and there are warnings about not letting the contents spend a lot of time warming or cooling, which would put it in temperatures where bacteria could grow.
On the ranch in the 1950s, we kept a pot on the back burner and heated it up once a day to just boiling, which killed any bacteria. At night sometimes we put it in the fridge, but it wasn't a crock, which takes longer to heat and cool.
So to emulate those fast heatings and coolings, maybe I'll try heating the stew in the microwave to bring it up to slow cook temperature before putting it in the slow cooker heating device. To fast cool it before putting it in the fridge, I've frozen about a cupful of water in a dishwasher-safe jar, to insert in the stew (jar and all) as a removable 'ice cube'. (After unplugging the cooker of course!) So as not to get the jar messy, I might put it in a disposable plastic bag before each use.
BTW, my slow cooker lives on the porch, and weather lately has been mostly around freezing or mid-30's. (We're west of Seattle, so temperatures are pretty mild overall.)
ETA: This worked okay, though it took longer to cool down the pot and contents than I'd expected. I froze a 1-pint container of water and put it in a small crockpot (after taking the crock out onto counter). Forgot to time it, but I think it was about half an hour to an hour: didn't have to stay up late for it to get to lukewarm. Then I took out the ice and put the pot in the fridge.
Dunno if I could later put the pot in the freezer, as I could find only one crockpot advertised as freezer-safe.
On the ranch in the 1950s, we kept a pot on the back burner and heated it up once a day to just boiling, which killed any bacteria. At night sometimes we put it in the fridge, but it wasn't a crock, which takes longer to heat and cool.
So to emulate those fast heatings and coolings, maybe I'll try heating the stew in the microwave to bring it up to slow cook temperature before putting it in the slow cooker heating device. To fast cool it before putting it in the fridge, I've frozen about a cupful of water in a dishwasher-safe jar, to insert in the stew (jar and all) as a removable 'ice cube'. (After unplugging the cooker of course!) So as not to get the jar messy, I might put it in a disposable plastic bag before each use.
BTW, my slow cooker lives on the porch, and weather lately has been mostly around freezing or mid-30's. (We're west of Seattle, so temperatures are pretty mild overall.)
ETA: This worked okay, though it took longer to cool down the pot and contents than I'd expected. I froze a 1-pint container of water and put it in a small crockpot (after taking the crock out onto counter). Forgot to time it, but I think it was about half an hour to an hour: didn't have to stay up late for it to get to lukewarm. Then I took out the ice and put the pot in the fridge.
Dunno if I could later put the pot in the freezer, as I could find only one crockpot advertised as freezer-safe.
