Do you leave your crockpot on while you are not home?

[dustysky]

NO - NO - NO
I tried this ONCE and only once. Per norm my husband was in the hospital, kids at school and I was at work. I thought it would be so nice to come home to a meal. I worried SO much about that darn thing ALL day that I called the fire department to see if there was any reports of fire on my road. I do have to admit here that I have some OCD and things catching on fire is something I worry about constantly so calling the fire department may have been extreme but I just cant do it

 

[mass01581]

i put mine on a timer when I am not home. I set it so it goes off just at the time I get home.

 

[puffkin]

I use mine all the time....at least 2-3 times a week. With us both working FT and having 1 hour commutes it is the only way to ensure we get a non-takeout dinner every night. DS5 goes to bed at 8 so we make sure to have dinner ready by 6 at the latest.

Mine does not have a timer. I usually prepare the meal the evening before and refrigerate it in the ceramic crock. So it is cold when I put it on the unit the next morning (around 7am) which seems to help with the overcooking. I cook on low all day and DH turns it down to warm when he gets home around 5. We usually eat when I get home at 6.

Be careful if you use the safety outlets. Mine has popped more than once and we have come home to a cold dinner that we had to throw out for safety issues. We now live on the edge and use the regular outlet on the other counter. Also you can buy crockpots with lid locks. My friend had to because twice her cats got into the crockpot and ate the contents while they were at work. My cats don't bother ours though (and they do frequent our counters even though they aren't supposed to).

 

[bowne90]

Yes, I do it all the time. I couldn't survive without it!

 

[scrapquitler]

This question is brought about by the baseball/softball dinner question that I asked earlier. Thank you all for your responses so far and I will be using some of those ideas for sure. The only one that I hesitate about is the crockpot. I use a crockpot occasionally, haven't gotten into a routine of using it. I only use it when I am home though. I cannot bring myself to leave the house with an appliance plugged in and turned on - especially one that generates heat!

How do you all do it? I would be worried sick that a fire would start and I would not be home to notice the smoke! While material things can be replaced, I have pets that could not.

The refrigerator and your furnace and hot water heater stay plugged in and generate heat.... just saying....


Yes, I leave the crockpot on. I've never heard of a fire caused by a crock pot.

 

[december]

As others have said, that is the point of a crockpot! I work, and once or twice a week use the crockpot so dinner is ready when I get home. I have a chicken in some BBQ sauce in mine right now. Friday night, I plan to come home to a deer stew.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Yep, all day or all night. Also leave the dryer, washer and dishwasher going. Will even leave dinner in the over for a short time to run somewhere quick.

Don't tell my MIL....she won't even go to the bathroom with her crockpot plugged in!!!

 

[RN01]

Yes I do and the dryer too!

 

[rubato]

I use mine about every other day. I have never even thought NOT to leave my house. Isn't that the point? Also, my oven has a timer. I can put something in the oven an hour or two ahead of schedule and set the timer to start and stop at specific times. Awesome!

 

[angierae]

Yep, all day or all night. Also leave the dryer, washer and dishwasher going. Will even leave dinner in the over for a short time to run somewhere quick.

Don't tell my MIL....she won't even go to the bathroom with her crockpot plugged in!!!

Reminds me of my step-aunt. She used to sit in the basement all day on laundry day because she wouldn't leave the dryer running to even go back into the main part of the house.

I OFTEN throw clothes in the dryer on my way to bed, or start the dishwasher on my way out the door.

 

[herdtoDisney]

For quite a number of years, ovens were sold with a feature where you could put the food in the oven when you left for work and program it to turn on at a certain time, so your meal would be finished when you got home. We had that type of oven in our old house. I used the feature once, and only once. I was a nervous wreck the entire time I was at work, thinking the house would burn down. I'm not sure if ovens are still made with that feature or not.

We had a mid-80's stove in the rental we lived in before we bought this house 2 years ago...I LOVED that feature! I could put something frozen in there and have it all baked up by the time I got home It would just thaw in there until the timer turned on.

When we got this place, I had to get new appliances (for the first time in my life) and I went looking for a stove with that feature-I could not find one I get food safety and all, but golly, how spoiled is something FROZEN going to get inside my COLD oven? My stove now has a timer that will turn the oven OFF, but not ON

 

[robinb]

Yes. If I didn't, there'd be no point in having a crock pot, as I work all day.

Yup. Isn't that what crock pots are designed to do? Why even have one if you are not willing to leave it on when you're gone.

 

[pixiewings71]

I use mine like that all the time, never had any problems with it. We keep the pets out during the day when we are all gone so no worries about them knocking it down either.

 

[MrsHockey]

I place my crockpot on a baking sheet on top of a sturdy pot holder...I always worry that the outside feels so hot to the touch...better safe then sorry.

 

[Chelley00]

My crockpot is on while I'm at work 3-4 times a week during soccer seasons. If it wasn't, I'd have to come home from work and I'd have 18 minutes to make and serve dinner before we run back out the door again.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

I leave mine on the counter without anything near it. I make sure the cord isn't touching the base. I program it for the appropriate cooking time and the unit switches it to warm automatically at the completion of the cooking cycle. After 8 hours on warm it shuts off completely. Sometimes I don't get home until very late. Roasted potatoes or taco soup after a long day which may have included travel to another state or two... it's a nice welcome home.

 

[marie1203]

No way! You never know if you are going to be late. I love my pets too much to try to risk it.

 

[LuLuO]

Isn't that the point of a crockpot? Fix it and forget it? If I were to stay home all day to watch it then I'd just use the oven.

The one I have switches to 'warm' automatically when the timed cycle is done.

 

[LuLuO]

No way! You never know if you are going to be late. I love my pets too much to try to risk it.

Maybe you need to get a better crock with a timer. I love my pets too BTW.

 

[Poohforyou]

I may run a few errands while I have it on but I don't use it if I'm going to be gone all day. Then again I don't use the crockpot for a meal we'll be eating that same day. I'll cook a pot roast or something like that but then I let it cool in the fridge so I can get the fat and gristle off. The thought of eating that makes me want to become a vegetarian.