Can I slow cook in short intervals?

I would use a crockpot (electrical..low wattage). that's what they're for. I've cooked stews and broths for 12 hr and have had fine results .

what he said.

I finally bought a small crockpot maybe six years ago and I use it fairly often. A bigger one than I have would probably be better, a good addition for some cooking. But.. I still like my dutch oven on low gas. Yes, I sometimes start making stock, etc, later in the day and don't want to keep it going overnight. If it's already quite cooked down, I will even just cover it and let it sit on the stove over night. It'll cook some more in the morning anyway. (This odd advice comes from a microbiology major.) Alternately, it is both wise and reasonable to refrigerate it overnight and start again in the morning, at low medium to get it warmed up, and then back to low and slow. It'll still be fine, re breakdown and so on.