Probably a very daft slow cooker question - but help appreciated!

[mochalady]

I have finally bought a slow cooker and am very excited to use it! However, I do have a few questions which are probably going to sound a bit daft but I'd rather ask than risk burning down my house/salmonella etc!

I am thinking of making chilli for tomorrow's dinner - do I have to brown the mince and onions etc, or can I stick it all in raw in the morning? If so, can I do it tonight, bung it all in the fridge and whack it on in the morning? Or is the change in temperature (then the inevitable freezing of leftovers to be reheated) just asking for hideous food poisoning? I'd rather not do it in the morning as a) I'll go to work smelling rather interesting and b) I'd rather have the extra time in bed!

Now the next daft question - the recipe I have says to cook on low for 8-10hours, but I'm likely to be at work for more like 10-12..am I going to burn the house down/burn dinner/or is it all going to be okay if I don't brown the mince?!

Any help/slow cooker tips much appreciated (clearly I have no clue!) I'm up for experimenting but I have my limits!

you CAN brown the mince if you like, I tend not to bother and just whack it all in.

Dont worry about leaving it to cook, as long as theres enough moisture in the cooker you'll be fine

If mince not previoulsy frozen and defrosted its OK to freeze it

I always quickly brown the mince before making chilli in my slow cooker but I just bung the raw onions in. It may be okay not to brown the meat but I daren't try it.

If the cooker is on low I wouldn't worry about it being on for longer than the recipe says.

Enjoy - I totally love chilli done in a slow cooker. MMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

You can skip browning, but you'd need to not put it together till the morning, crumble the mince well, and it will be fattier and a little less flavourful.

Personally, I'd brown the mince and onions now, assemble it and bung in fridge. You won't get food poisoning.

You will not burn your house down, just make sure there's nothing leaning against the cooker when you leave. You might burn the dinner a little bit round the edge over 12 hours depending on how hot the cooker runs, but it shouldn't be much. Just don't mix any burnt bits in when serving. You might want to add a little extra liquid for that length of time, no more than half a cup.

thank you all! i will give it a whirl and get back to you with the results!

cybil you can defrost raw mince, cook it and freeze it again. What you are not supposed to do is defrost cooked food and then refreeze.

Sorry to hijack op but I am also confused.
So do you have to assemble in the morning or evening?

I'm always super careful about mince and wouldn't take it out the night before, mix with other ingredients, then re-refrigerate raw. I'd brown it first, or just mix it together the morning I start cooking. I'm lazier with any other kind of meat.

What I most often do with my slow cooker is to buy reduced meats, preferably skinless chicken thighs or beef or lamb I can chunk up. I freeze meal size portions in an appropriate marinade. Then when I want a meal I run the container under hot water to loosen the sides, dump the block into the cooker, surround with appropriate root veg and cook for one hour on high, 8-10 hours on low.

It's technically a bit dodgy cooking food right from frozen, but I've never had a problem. If it worries you, you could always move the container to the fridge the night before to thaw a bit, but I can never be arsed remember.

I'd probably stick everything except the mince in the slow cooker and stick it in the fridge then add the mince in the morning and stick it on.

I tend to find some of it does stick/burn around the top edge a little.

If you're always out 10-12 hours it might be worth picking up one of those timer plugs so you can set it to come on a couple of hours after you leave the house. We have a couple of them and they're v useful for the slow cooker.

Yes smac you are right its refreezing raw mince you cant do isnt it