Attn: Crockpot Aficionados...need advice!

[Deanna]

We are having a Chili Contest/Fundraiser at work tomorrow for United Way. I made six quarts of chili and guess what, it's in my NEW 6 quart oval programmable crockpot!

My question: I have the crock full of chili in the REFRIGERATOR...we are to bring our chili pots to the office tomorrow and set them up in a certain room where there will be plenty of electrical outlets.

How long do you think I need to heat this 6 quart container of chili to get it hot all the way through? High or Low?

And...since the crock is in the fridge overnight, is there any damage to the crock if I pop it in the base tomorrow morning and turn it on?

HELP!

[Jewel]

First of all, I hope you learned from my unfortunate experience and made sure your beans were cooked before they went into that crockpot! :rolleyes: Don't want the nice United Way folks crunching on beans...

I would make sure that crock warms up to at least room temp before you put it on the base. I would think that about an hour on low would bring it to the serving temp! Maybe a little longer? Set it out when you first get up, then hopefully by the time you get it to work it should be at room temperature. You wouldn't want to go from fridge-cold to heat I wouldn't think! ;)

[sneezles]

According to the little instruction booklet that came with my 6-qt oval you just need to put it in the base on either low or high but do not preheat the base. So I would start it on low for about an hour then check to see if it might need to go up to high (depends on when it needs to be ready) but 4 hours on low should have it heated through just fine.

[Deanna]

Thank you both so much!

Jewel, I used canned pintos so we are okay with the beans.

Sneezles, I guess I was in a little panic...wouldn't it be horrible if it was lunchtime and my 6 quarts of chili were cold? So the booklet says put the crock right in, no problem. Okay. I guess I can start it on low and check it around 8 or 9 am (I go in at 7) and if it's still pretty chilly-chili, I can turn it up to high for a couple of hours or so.

Thanks guys, I'm not used to using the larger capacity crockpot!

BTW...they are selling tix for $5.00 apiece, all the chili you can eat. Sounds like it could be a pretty good moneymaker for United Way!

[Jewel]

We're doing a company-wide bake sale on Monday for United Way, so I guess I know what I'll be doing all weekend! :rolleyes: Oh well, as long as I can keep DH from snitching before I can get them to the office, we'll be OK!

[Deanna]

I love bake sales, Jewel! What will you be making?

[McSix]

Whether or not I could put my new crockpot insert from the refrigerator to the crockpot was exactly the question I was going to ask you all today. Interesting! Anyhow, if I understand this thread correctly, I can get everything ready the night before, refrigerate the container, and then put it into the crockpot and turn it on. If I misunderstood, please let me know! By the way, I'm using a crockpot again for the first time in at least 20 years!

[Deanna]

Well...the competition (and the chili!) are heating up!

Everybody made posters/flyers to advertise their chili...Mine is "Cheeto's Six-Gun Chili" (Spicy but not ridiculous!)

Poster has a black cat's head with a sombrero on it and a six-gun in a holster. Description of the ingredients, highlighting the FINE QUALITY of each.

Suddenly, we are seeing posters in elevators...at the reception desk...probably in the restrooms, too!

McSix: FYI...I took the crock out of the fridge at 6:30 am. Put it in the base at 7:00 when I arrived at the office; started it on LOW. Checked after an hour and a half, heating up but want to be sure it's really nice and hot so turned it up to HIGH. No mishaps so far!

[McSix]

Thanks, Deanna! I can always find answers here.

[Linda in MO]

How did the competition go?

[Deanna]

Well...I was two votes behind third place. That is out of 24 entries! Not too bad. What surprised me is the top two (first and second place) were the HOTTEST entries; each had lots of jalapenos and habaneros. I thought they were both great (you know what a chile-head I am!) but past experience told me NOT to create a nuclear pot of chili...as most folks like a more "middle of the road" bowl of chili. Not the case here, obviously.

But then again...I work for an architectural/engineering firm and with approx. 300 employees, there are probably 80-90% men. That may have had something to do with it.

Also, one thing I wasn't too crazy about. Keep in mind I just started with this company six months ago, so I don't have a "clique" and I'm not the most "well known" or "popular" person in the building. YET, anyway! We were asked to PUT OUR NAMES (???) on our chili! In past competitions (other places I've worked), the entries were only identified by a number. I think by saying whose pot was whose may have unfairly influenced some votes.

Does anybody have thoughts on this subject? Or am I just being over-sensitive because I'm the "new kid on the block?" I'm happy with the votes I got, but I think it should have been handled differently in order to promote judgment of the CHILI, not voting for your friend/departmental co-worker

P.S. This is interesting. The guy who got first place with his nuclear pot of chili...was passing out PBJ sandwiches to eat WITH the chili. Anybody ever hear of that?