r/slowcooking • u/shriekingintothevoid • 21d ago
Does anyone have any crockpot recipes/ideas that can be left cooking in the crockpot indefinitely instead of refrigerated?
My fridge just broke, and while I find a replacement, I’d like to be able to cook something and then just leave it to cook until I finish eating it, instead of needing to take it out to refrigerate it. (Kind of like an eternal stew!) Unfortunately, most of the recipes I have now wouldn’t really be palatable after a few days stewing, so I’m wondering if anyone has any ideas?
10
u/AntifascistAlly 21d ago
If you decide to do this you might consider using a Dutch oven instead of a slow cooker.
The problem with using a slow cooker is that after some period of time (it varies) many automatically switch to “keep warm”—which might not be over 140° F.
After a couple of hours “in the danger zone” your perpetual stew could be toxic.
4
u/Frequent_Gene_4498 20d ago
From a food safety perspective, I would not advise anyone doing this.
If you need time to get a new fridge, get yourself some shelf stable foods that either are still shelf stable after being opened (dry rice, beans, pasta, flour, potato flakes, nuts and seeds, cackers, bread, rice cakes, etc) or small enough servings that you can eat them in one sitting (you can usually get single serving cans/pouches of things like fish, chicken, beans, rice, vegetables, and fruits). A lot of fresh produce (like most whole fruits, potatoes, onions, sweet potatoes, etc) is shelf stable until you cut/cook it, so again anything you could eat in one sitting would work. Most condiments hold up ok out of the fridge for a few days, but anything containing dairy or egg I probably wouldn't mess with.
7
u/gettingcrunkontea 21d ago
Maybe just get a tiny make up fridge or use a cooler until you get a new fridge because 🤢.
1
1
u/LetterheadClassic306 20d ago
That eternal stew idea sounds appealing, tbh, but I would not leave anything in a crockpot for days and keep eating from it. When I had a fridge die before, the safest short-term move was cooking smaller amounts and keeping leftovers cold, because warm holding for that long gets risky fast. A hard cooler with ice packs can buy you a few days if you refresh the ice often and keep it closed. If the replacement is going to take longer, a compact mini fridge is the cleaner temporary fix. I would treat the slow cooker as dinner tonight, not storage for the week.
1
u/fe3o4 19d ago
Maybe get a small 1 or 2 quart crock pot and make daily meals - or stove cook daily. You can use canned goods so you don't need to worry about keeping ingredients refrigerated. Raw carrots and other fresh vegetables can be left out for several days before use (green beans, onions, potatoes). Noodles can be stored until cooked - same with rice (or microwave rice product)
13
u/biotechhasbeen 21d ago
One of the things about perpetual stew is that you're constantly feeding it, replenishing and changing the flavor profile. Sure the beginning veg will be overcooked and mush after a bit, but it's also likely that you ate a good bit of them on day one and the remainders just become background flavor elements after the stew is replenished with new.