When to make chulent?

baba

Tue, Nov 30 2010, 10:04 am

If you work on Thursdays and Fridays, when do you make chulent?

I'm a newbie at this, both working wintertime and chulent. When do you make it? Is it ok to put it in the crockpot Thursday evening? And then it's on all shabbes as well? I have a sensitive stomach and am very scared of it going bad and me getting sick (which already happened last week when I tried to make chulent, on a Friday morning, I dont know what I did wrong).

So, what do you do?

OOTBubby

Tue, Nov 30 2010, 10:20 am

Assemble everything in the crockpot on Thursday evening. Refrigerate it until Friday morning. Before you leave put it in the crockpot set on high (may vary depending on your crockpot). Around an hour before Shabbos (in the winter) turn it to low. I always cook it all day Friday even if I am home and could put it up later.

chaya35

Tue, Nov 30 2010, 10:39 am

anonymrs wrote:

chaya35 wrote:

I always put mine up Thursday night in the crockpot and lower it Friday afternoon.

What company is your crockpot?

west bend

Barbara

Tue, Nov 30 2010, 10:43 am

With the caveat that I rarely make cholent ...

I soak the beans (IN the crockpot, so I have one less thing to wash) overnight Thursday. I also get together all of the ingredients Thursday night, but do not put them in the crockpot. Friday morning, I rinse the beans, throw everything in the crockpot, and turn it on low before I leave for work. Just before lighting, I check the water level, then turn it to warm.

anonymrs

Tue, Nov 30 2010, 10:55 am

chaya35 wrote:

anonymrs wrote:

chaya35 wrote:

I always put mine up Thursday night in the crockpot and lower it Friday afternoon.

What company is your crockpot?

west bend

Just wondering cuz my mother used to do that, then she got a new crock pot, Rival, and it burned the bottom, so she had to stop:(

baba

Tue, Nov 30 2010, 11:01 am

chocolate moose wrote:

The din for the crockpot is very different than a blech. You can actually put the cholent in the crockpot completely raw, right before Shabbos.

I was wondering about that, but wasnt sure. Would you then just leave it on low?

I thought of preparing it Thursday evening, but wasnt sure if you could put everything in already. I leave very early in the morning, so dont want to be busy with it then (besides just turning it on)

Mine also has the keep warm function, but in the booklet it says to use that max 4 hours, and given that I get sick so easily, I dont think that's such a good idea.

louche

Tue, Nov 30 2010, 11:04 am

What makes cholent spoil is not the length of cooking but not staying consistently hot enough to kill microorganisms. If your crockpot is faulty and doesn't maintain the temperature, or if you use an extension cord or timer that's faulty and cuts out now and then, the food can spoil. I have seen this happen when a friend used a cheap extension cord, and the results were not pretty.

If you put a big chunk of frozen meat in the crockpot covered by cold vegetables and beans, then the inside of the meat , insulated by the surrounding veggies and beans, could stay relatively cool long enough to allow spoilage germs to multiply. This is more likely if you add little or no liquid, and the meat is deeply frozen. It's not a real likely scenario, but could happen.

I don't see why you would put up the crockpot Thursday night. Friday before you go to work is good enough. You can put it on high first thing when you wake up and switch to low as you walk out the door. The cholent should be edible by licht benchen and fully mature by shabbat lunch.

PinkFridge

Tue, Nov 30 2010, 11:06 am

One day - not erev Shabbos - you can put a few crockpot bags filled with everything but potatoes. Let them cool and freeze in individual (I.e. weekly) containers.
Thursday night, refrigerate a week's worth.
Peel, dice or chunk potatoes and leave them in water overnight.

Friday, at whatever time is convenient for you, combine, put in crockpot. Voila!

baba

Tue, Nov 30 2010, 11:32 am

Thanks for all the ideas and especially Louche for explaining how it all works.
Would it really make a difference to put it on high when I get up en then switch to low before I leave? It's only about 35 min. Can I just switch it on low before I leave? Or high?

OOTBubby

Tue, Nov 30 2010, 11:34 am

baba wrote:

It really depends on the crockpot. I find that most (other than the really small 1-1½ qt. ones) need to be on high most of the day and only changed to low in the mid-late afternoon.

ra_mom

Tue, Nov 30 2010, 11:56 am

Provided that you find that your crockpot cooks evenly, put it up Friday morning on low before you leave to work.
(Prepare the raw cholent in the crock the night before, and place it in the fridge until morning.)

baba

Tue, Nov 30 2010, 12:02 pm

I'll try that then, thanks ra_mom.
I guess there's now other way of finding out if it cooks evenly without trying it and hoping I wont get sick (at least it's only me and not the kids).

louche

Tue, Nov 30 2010, 12:02 pm

baba wrote:

wow, you're fast in the morning! For such a short period of time it probably makes no difference. Go ahead and put it on low right off the bat. I'm not sure what would happen if you left it on high all day Friday and switched to low before Shabbat--it would depend on how much liquid you put in and how well-done you like your cholent. Cholent-making is not an exact science.

farm

Tue, Nov 30 2010, 12:06 pm

I have the Westbend one. I prepare everything on Thursday night- potatoes, meat, onions and spices in the crock in the fridge, beans and barley soaking on the counter. I put it up Friday morning at 7-ish and leave it on "3" all day (my crockpot has 5 temperature settings). It's ready to eat Friday night but more "cholenty" by lunch. If you like your cholent more mushy then put it on a higher setting.

baba

Tue, Nov 30 2010, 12:14 pm

louche wrote:

baba wrote:

Well it takes me about 40, but I gave myself 5 min to wash hands, go to the toilet, before I would zombie over to the kitchen. It's early, I only take one kid with me and she eats breakfast in the car. I have to wake her up much earlier than she usually would, so I try to keep it to a minimum.

Tamiri

Tue, Nov 30 2010, 12:17 pm

I used to make cholent when I worked Fridays but it was more than 20 years ago so I don't remember exactly what I did, besides that it was all ready Thurs night and just needed cooking. The most important thing, to me, is to make sure that the stew is bubbling for a bit before putting it on low, to make sure that all the bacteria are killed before Shabbat. What they do later on (the bacteria) is up to them, but we've never had problems with cholent.