Tonight, I made my first pot roast. I wasn't exactly sure how to do it and nothing I found online seemed like the way my Mom made it so I called her up. I followed her directions to the "T". I browned the roast in the oven for 20 minutes. Then I put it in the slow cooker with pearl onions, baby carrots, the little potatoes cut in half, some garlic and a cup or so of water. Four hours later, it smelled heavenly and looked like this:
Too bad the meat was like leather. Seriously, it was very very tough. The veggies were delish, though. What did I do? Maybe it was the cut of the meat? Who knows! I may just have to wait until I'm in Big D again to have a decent pot roast. :'(
11 comments:
That's quite strange, usually the longer you leave it the better it gets...
I'm no expert on meats, I usually stick to pot roasts so I don't get it wrong but maybe you used the wrong cut, like one that's meant to fried hot and fast??? That's the only thing I can think of that went wrong. Either that or you had the temperature too high??
It's a shame because it looks delicious!
Hmm, I think maybe you didn't cook it long enough. When I make pot roast, I normally put it in my crockpot in the morning on low and let it cook all day long until I get home... normally about 9 hours or so. Nina
Another thing that I have found that helps--after letting the roast cook all day long on low, the last hour I turn the slow cooker up to high and cook another hour. Don't know why that works but it does. Mmmmm, now I am hungry for pot roast!!!! Oh, and I usually use just a cheap ole' chuck roast with good marbling (fat) running through it--that'll add some moistiness. Slice it thin and pour some of the crockpot juice back over it.
Bummer about your leathery pot roast. It looks pretty darn tasty in the picture too. :(
/Clara
That is very weird, as a crock pot can usually turn even the worst (or cheapest) cuts into something edible. Maybe it cooked too long? The outside looks good so I am as a baffled as you are.
I agree with Nina that low temp and all day cooking tends to break down the tougher meats. It's a matter of chemistry if you ask Alton :-) But it is possible, every so often, to just get a disappointing hunk of meat. I've also heard that cutting against the grain of the meat can help a LOT...that's another Alton thing.
Hello SD neighbor! Sorry about your roast. I agree, let it cook longer, when it's done it should just shred right apart, you almost won't be able to pick it up out of the crockpot it'll be falling apart. Any cut of meat will end up shredding and be fine, but I use chuck roast for my roasts. I know a great recipe that makes the gravy with the roast. It's been a fav in our house for some yrs now :)
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Awesome-Slow-Cooker-Pot-Roast/Detail.aspx
I agree too that it probably needed to cook longer. Did you have it on low or high? On high it probably still needed up to 6 hours. I cook mine on low all day. I just posted my recipe on my blog in fact. It has a fabulous gravy too :) Looks like you may have used the same cut of meat I did also. One other thing, are you sure your slow cooker is working well? That can also be a factor.
It took my husband and I forever to figure out how to get the meat to just tear apart. Now, I put it in the crockpot in the a.m. on low, go to work, and when we get home, it is perfect!
I know my reply is late, but I would have to say you didn't cook it long enough. It is certainly done around 4 hours, but it needs that extra 4 or 5 hours after that to break down the connective tissues in the meat. I usually season mine the night before with my special spice rub and cook it in red wine and beef broth/stock. Put vegetables under the roast to keep it off the surface of the slow cooker. I usually put pearl onions under mine.
Interestiing thoughts
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