[potroast] I fucking give up

C

ChewSpitt

Banned
It seems a simple enough idea. Stick meat and vegetables in a pot and slow cook them in their juices. But I'd be damned if i can get it right.

This is what i usually do:

1 shoulder pot roast (cut in half)
4-5 chopped potatoes
a bunch of baby carrots
1 can of mushroom soup
2-3 cans of water (by cans I mean I use the mushroom soup can)
I don't add any seasoning, because I read the salt in the seasoning can make the meat dry.

I stir all of this together in the pot, cover and set it to low heat. The cover has a gasket around it and clamps, so it's air tight. I leave it there for around six - eight hours. And I don't open it. I usually wait until the meat doesn't look pink anymore.

Every time the roast comes out dry as shit. I remember when my mom used to cook a roast, it would literally fall apart when trying to take it our of the pot.

So what am I doing wrong here?
 
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could be the roast you're using, sometimes the name on the package is a misnomer... if there isn't a decent amount of collagen/fat, it will dry out over a long period

could also be related to 4-5 chopped potatoes sponging up liquid, i might go with less
 
Doing it in a crock pot is way more bulletproof. Hard to get low even heat on a stove for long periods of time sounds like there is still just to much heat.

As mentioned you don't want a really lean cut for a pot roast either.
 
BadMoFo said:
you do realize that seasoning does not have to mean salt, right? You can do anything you want with a roast, hell you could roast it in a curry or something like that

in fact:

roast beef curry - Google Search

:D
Click to expand...

gross
this is what I use:

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There are three heat settings, high, low and warm. If I put it on warm, it would probably take three days to cook. Low is what I usually use. I never put it on high.
 
I got the idea from Tyler's Ultimate on Food Network, but it has worked out really well in the past:

• Brown roast with salt in the pot on each side with high heat, so that your get a browning without cooking through

• Add a smallish amount of chicken stock, like 1 cup

• Add about 3 tbps of tomato paste + 2 cans of unseasoned tomato sauce

• Simmer (very gently) for 2 hours

• Spoon off any of the extra fat that has risen to the top; add veggies, potatoes, thyme, oregano, etc to the pot. Make sure it's submerged in the tomato sauce

• Simmer (very gently) for another 3-5 hours, spooning off fat every hour or so

• Eat
 
ChewSpitt said:
It seems a simple enough idea. Stick meat and vegetables in a pot and slow cook them in their juices. But I'd be damned if i can get it right.

This is what i usually do:

1 shoulder pot roast (cut in half)
4-5 chopped potatoes
a bunch of baby carrots
1 can of mushroom soup
2-3 cans of water (by cans I mean I use the mushroom soup can)
I don't add any seasoning, because I read the salt in the seasoning can make the meat dry.

I stir all of this together in the pot, cover and set it to low heat. The cover has a gasket around it and clamps, so it's air tight. I leave it there for around six - eight hours. And I don't open it. I usually wait until the meat doesn't look pink anymore.

Every time the roast comes out dry as shit. I remember when my mom used to cook a roast, it would literally fall apart when trying to take it our of the pot.

So what am I doing wrong here?
Click to expand...

I never liked adding water to anything, I always use beef broth.

make sure you are adding liquid if needed, and use a really marbled piece of meat, not just a piece with a big chunk of fat on it. If you're cooking it 8 hours in a modern crock pot, you're probably boiling the shit out of it for 8 hours, which isn't very good. Use the oven method or beg your grandma for her slow cooker made in 1950.
 
never thought of beef broth...that's a really good idea.

As for the temp, it never gets to the boiling point. it might get close towards the end, but it never boils.
 
Your potatoes are sucking up all the liquid, including that out of your roast.

Try this instead.

1 boneless chuck roast, 2-3lb
kosher salt
black pepper
1 large white onion, chopped
2 large idaho potatoes, chunked
2-3 celery heart stalks, chopped
1 cup baby carrots, because I'm lazy
3 large garlic cloves, diced
1/2 cup cheap red wine (I typically use a merlot)
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
a couple of bay leaves
1/2 tsp powdered thyme

Chop potatoes, add to crock.

Rub meat with kosher salt and black pepper. Brown in large skillet, just enough to brown the outside. I do both sides and even brown the edges by holding the roast with tongs, but I'm OCD that way. Place in crock, keeping the skillet on the heat.

Chop the onion and celery, and add these to the skillet with the carrots. As they brown, dice the garlic, and add it last. Lightly brown all the vegetables, and then add to the crock.

Add the broth, wine, and spices. I like to "clean" the skillet with this mixture as it reduces for a couple of minutes, pulling up that burned garlic. Dump this mixture into the crock.

Finally, add the tomatoes, and let it cook for 6-8 hours on Low. If you're in a hurry you can do it on High, but it won't be as tender.
 
Seriously. I've been doing roasts that way for years now. It's fucking delicious and makes me wish I'd fired up the crock today.
 
i use a Chuck Roast in a cast iron dutch oven and go oven style. flour/season and sear the meat in the pot on the stove then add all the other stuff. i don't add the potatoes and carrots until far later into the cooking process. the roast literally falls apart as im taking it out of the pot.

chuck roast + cast iron dutch oven
 
The fresh herbs and seasonings go into the pot in the last 30 minutes of cooking, never at the beginning.
 
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