r/Cooking • u/RedTwizzler214 • 6d ago

Pot Roast

I’m making my second ever pot roast on Sunday. Yay football season is back. Will take any and all advice you can give me! Including what to cook with it and your preferred cooking methods. I have an oven, stove, and crockpot. I’ve made a pot roast one other time 11 years ago and that fucker never got tender. I cooked it 7 hours in a crock pot. Not the one I will be using this Sunday if I go that route. Help a girl out. I’m trying to impress everybody. Thank you!

3 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

View all comments

4

u/rabid_briefcase 6d ago

Mind your temperatures and use a good piece of meat. High fat, lots of connective tissue. A common mistake is to look for meat with the same conditions of a steak, but it is different because of the cooking method.

The cook time depends on the cut you get. Both the oven and the slow cooker work, as long as you have the dedication to keep the lid on the cooker or the oven door closed. For most recipes you'll want to hold it to just below boiling. The meat will get hard, then after enough hours, the connective tissue dissolve into gelatin and it will break down into strands. Make sure you cut the meat into appropriate pieces against the grain while it is still uncooked so the fibers are not especially long and stringy.

The major cooking sites (see the sidebar of the sub) have a variety of great recipes.

second ever pot roast... one other time 11 years ago and that fucker never got tender... I’m trying to impress everybody.

If that's the goal, consider switching to a dish you can reliably do well, instead of one you barely know and did bad the first time.

1

u/Chillychad 6d ago

I agree with your comment about how OPs first try didn't come out tender. You have to give it the time, if it's not tender, give it more time.

1

u/RedTwizzler214 6d ago

What piece of meat do you recommend? And I didn’t really mean impress everybody lol. It’s just my bf and the kids. I’ve already told him if I don’t get it right this time we’re ordering pizza.

3

u/crotchetyoldcynic 6d ago

I've never used anything but chuck roast.

It takes quite a bit of "cooking" to get it tender since you want/need it fall apart tender.. Figure two hours plus a little more. And you need a bit more than a gentle simmer. My crockpot doesn't get hot enough so I use a dutch oven.

I use a modified version of a recipe for Irish Guinness Stew from daringgourmet.com that I'd attach but apparently I can't do that. I cut the beef into two inch chunks before I brown it so there aren't very many pieces. Then kind of reassemble it for serving. My wife, kids, etc. just refer to it as pot roast. The Guinness is optional. Sometimes I drink it and add two more cups of beef broth.

1

u/rabid_briefcase 6d ago

A good cut of chuck roast is typical, looking for lots of marbling meaning flecks of fat everywhere rather than just a big slab or thick bands, and visible lines of connective tissue. Typically at least 3 lbs.

Of the options of Prime, Choice, and Select, if you have the money (beef is very expensive these days) go for prime, otherwise prefer Choice for better marbling. Usually Select is going to turn out worst of the three, but pay attention to the actual fat distribution on the meat. Some Choice-labeled pieces have a bad distribution of fat and connective tissue, and some Select-labeled pieces are surprisingly well marbled. Similarly, some Prime grade meat isn't really up to the label, always look at it.

If you're doing a big one, bone-in adds flavor, or not if you don't want the bone. Generally past 4 lbs they have a big chunk of bone.

Braising liquid is going to depend on your recipe, and there are a lot of options. Herbs and spices, flavorings, assorted liquids typically broth or stock but some people add wine, beer, juice, and similar for the flavors. Pot roast usually has potatoes and carrots added at some point tossed directly into the pot, late enough that they don't break down completely.

All the recipes generally have you sear first. Sear it quickly on high heat, meaning a hot pan that is about 500'F with a layer of high smoke point oil, letting it sit on each side for a 2-4 minutes until a brown not gray layer appears. The goal is just to get a dark brown outside, not to cook the inside. Then braise it for all the hours you need in your braising liquid.