Slow Cooker Question

[Soph01]

I use my slow cooker a lot and have to cooked meals like pork casserole in it. I recently cooked this dish in the evening and let it cook overnight. As I simply don't have time to cool it down quick enough in the morning after turning it off (its been cooking for 8/9 hours)I leave it on the worktop with the lid on and when im back home at the end of the day it goes in the fridge as by now its cool enough to go in the fridge without upsetting the fridge temperature or changing the temperature of the food too quickly.
I have just been told that's not a good idea due to bacteria. Research into it hasnt given me a clear answer so i thought i would ask here.

Thanks

[corylus]

Why not just switch it on to cook in the morning before you go out?

[woofgang]

Could you plug it into a plug in timer and set it to turn off earlier? Then when you get up you can put it in the fridge. Modern fridges are quite capable of dealing with hot food, the problem would be not cracking the pot itself by cooling too quickly.

[jourdain2]

Alternatively, do as I have just done: tip the contents into a saucepan and boil briskly for a few minutes :)

[237SJ]

Food is in the 'danger zone' as far as bacterial growth is concerned if it is left at 8 degrees for 4 hours or more. I personally wouldn`t cook it and leave it on the worktop for a long time.

[Tilly2]

prepare it the night before, put it in the fridge and then transfer the cooking pot to the slow cooker case before going to work. Don't forget to switch it on! (I did that once. What a disappointment when I came home)

[atalanta]

You can cool the food quickly by transferring it to a sealed plastic container and standing the container in a bowl or sink of very cold/iced water. If you do this in the morning, by the time you have had breakfast/got dressed/made the beds, it will have cooled enough to put in the fridge. Just don't put the slow-cooker-pot into the cold water.

[diddlydo]

What you are doing is a recipe for food-poisoning!

[gollob]

Load of rubbish unless you have got a warm kitchen
How do you think supermarkets get cooked hams etc. They cook them ,let them cool down to go cold, them put them in the fridge, them deliver them to supermarkets

[Canary42]

I'm a bit puzzled by this. Why put it in the fridge - surely when you get home you want to eat it - so heat it up to "piping hot" and keep it there for say 20 minutes, then eat.

(Feel free ABers to point out any flaws in this, I'm no expert, just someone who's survived over 45 years of my own cooking without once contracting food poisoning - except once when I ate out in London)

[pastafreak]

"Why put it in the fridge?"
Because anywhere between 5deg (4 is ideal fridge temp)and 63deg is where bacteria has a field day multiplying. Above 63 is hot enough to stop multiplication,but not to kill bacteria.
Either cool down quickly and refrigerate,or turn your slow cooker on in the morning.