Jar some condensed milk and put it in your slow cooker for a dessert you'll love

Did you know that with one single ingredient, you can produce golden, utterly delicious caramel in your slow cooker?  Despite this revelation, I have very mixed feelings about this recipe.  On the one hand, I now make a lot of caramel.  On the other hand, I now make a lot of caramel.  See my problem?  There's hardly anything that I'm not dipping, stirring or combining in some way with fresh golden caramel.  Gah, what am I saying?  This isn't a problem.  Hang the guilt and pass a bigger spoon!  

If you make the caramel in attractive jars, you could even add a fabric cover and nice label and give a few jars away as gifts.  It's a really rewarding process making the caramel; true kitchen alchemy in action!  

3 12-oz cans of sweetened condensed milk
3 preserving jars with lids

1. Pour the condensed milk into the jars, and seal very tightly.

2. Pour hot (not quite boiling) water into your slow cooker to between 1/2 and 3/4 full, then carefully place your jars into the water and top up the water so that the jars are completely submerged, before cooking for 8 hours on low.

3. It's vital that the jars are submerged in the water during the whole cooking process, so keep checking the water level and top up if necessary.

4. Let the jars cool down completely at room temperature before opening to avoid the glass breaking. The jars should be vacuum sealed, which you can check by pressing the lids. If the lid 'pops' when you press it, then use that jar straight away. Any jars with lids that stay firmly down when pressed are safe to store for up to four months.