Slower Cooker Concerns

I have seen two of mine jump up to investigate mine and stick their paw on the hot lid - no serious burns but enough for them to pull their paws back - its not just fine for me with curious cats

Crazy suggestion here... put it in the bathroom and shut the door?

We dont have any outlets in the bathroom and the door would not close with a cord, its not a huge deal to me, there are plenty of days I work from home and can use it then

Originally Posted by icklemiss21

We dont have any outlets in the bathroom

Click to expand...

That's strange! Even my '60s house has some and the 1910-ish house I grew up in did, too. That must be a real pain when you want to use a blow dryer/curling iron/charge an electric shaver, etc.

Maybe the suggestion will work for someone else, though?

Originally Posted by rapunzel47

The whole point of a slow cooker is to let it cook your meal while you are off doing something else. I may have used mine while I was home once or twice, but not deliberately. It's perfectly fine to put your meal in the pot in the morning and leave it chuckling on low all day. In fact, had life not intervened, there would have been a pot roast doing in my slow cooker today. Probably tomorrow now, and I'll turn it on around 7:30 in the morning and expect to serve dinner around 8:30 in the evening.

So, no, I wouldn't worry about it at all.

Click to expand...

Maybe while you are in the home doing something else, but not to leave the property and go to work for 8 plus hours! That's just stupid! It only takes once to loose everything, so why risk it. Trust me, it only takes once......

I use mine all the time. I did read an article that said if you are cooking meat, to set the slow cooker to high for the first hour, then lower it to low, if you plan on leaving it for longer. Apparently bacteria can grow on the meat and the heat won't quite kill it unless it gets up to heat faster. This also works if you brown the meat first- getting it up to a higher temp before putting it in the slow cooker. I'm doing a Guiness beef stew tomorrow, but I'll be home with it. I'm browning the meat and onions tonight, and cooking it all tomorrow to save time before work.

Originally Posted by cheylink

Maybe while you are in the home doing something else, but not to leave the property and go to work for 8 plus hours! That's just stupid! It only takes once to loose everything, so why risk it. Trust me, it only takes once......

Click to expand...

I wouldn't leave the house for a full day with a cooking appliance heating.

When i bought mine i was a bit dubious about leaving it on when i was at work, but i did a lot of googling on how safe it was, and was quite happy to leave it on.

For the ones that don't like to leave electrics on, do you unplug your fridges and freezers every morning?

Originally Posted by strange_wings

That's strange! Even my '60s house has some and the 1910-ish house I grew up in did, too. That must be a real pain when you want to use a blow dryer/curling iron/charge an electric shaver, etc.

Click to expand...

They don't put them in UK homes either incase theres steam in the bathrooms. They have shaver sockets though because their low voltage

Originally Posted by strange_wings

That's strange! Even my '60s house has some and the 1910-ish house I grew up in did, too. That must be a real pain when you want to use a blow dryer/curling iron/charge an electric shaver, etc.

Click to expand...

Originally Posted by Rosiemac

They don't put them in UK homes either incase theres steam in the bathrooms. They have shaver sockets though because their low voltage

Click to expand...

I am used to it after living in the UK, there isn't even one close in the hallway that you could plug a hair dryer into and use in the bathroom

^Rather troublesome if you need to use those items. It would probably make the two of you nervous to know that my master bath outlet is literally right next to my shower/tub. I'm not thrilled that it's there.

Originally Posted by Rosiemac

For the ones that don't like to leave electrics on, do you unplug your fridges and freezers every morning?

Click to expand...

Exactly. And on that note, even appliances left plugged in and turned off are a potential hazard because it's connected to an active electrical source.

So if you are afraid of something happening, those who are afraid of leaving a slow cooker turned on should go around and unplug their TV, DVD player, computer, stove, fridge, freezer, A/C, telephone, dishwasher, washer and dryer and everything else that is electric in their home, every single time they go out. Oh, and hot water heaters and furnaces too. Those are major risks.

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

Exactly. And on that note, even appliances left plugged in and turned off are a potential hazard because it's connected to an active electrical source.

So if you are afraid of something happening, those who are afraid of leaving a slow cooker turned on should go around and unplug their TV, DVD player, computer, stove, fridge, freezer, A/C, telephone, dishwasher, washer and dryer and everything else that is electric in their home, every single time they go out. Oh, and hot water heaters and furnaces too. Those are major risks.

Click to expand...

It depends on what your issue is, with me, I am not afraid of potential fire - I am afraid of the cats not leaving it alone (the only time they ever jump on countertops is when the slowcooker is on) - I would not leave something in the oven or stovetop for the same reason

I'm not concerned about having something plugged in. I'm concerned the cats will smell the tasty food, mess with the lid, and get scalded.

Originally Posted by killerapple

I'm not concerned about having something plugged in. I'm concerned the cats will smell the tasty food, mess with the lid, and get scalded.

Click to expand...

I always keep my kitchen door closed when i'm out the house. The cats have free reign of the house apart from the kitchen

Originally Posted by strange_wings

^Rather troublesome if you need to use those items.

Click to expand...

Not really because i dry my hair in the bedroom while i sit on the bed

I also dry my hair in the bedroom or the office - I tend to have my makeup on my office desk too

They put short cords on electric appliances deliberately and usually caution against using extension cords, so there isn't a long cord to get caught and dragged or anything like that.

I'm fortunate, I guess, that my cats are not counter surfers and have no interest in human food, so leaving my slow cooker on the kitchen counter is not an issue as far as they are concerned. Good thing, cuz that's where it is today with its pot roast chuckling away. DH will be around some, but it's a gorgeous day, so I'd be very surprised if he wasn't out for a good part of it. And that's fine.

I haven't actually done the cord thing, but if I were to do that, I would use one of those orange heavy duty utility cords and make sure it was tight enough not to be pulled....plus they are plenty long that it wouldn't pull the crock pot over.

Crock pots were designed to be used while people were at work, hence gone all day.

Like Eithne said, I'm not worried about a fire, but I am worried about my cats teaming up to get at whatever smells good in the pot and possible hurting themselves