topic Re: Pot Roast Pros... advice please. in Kitchen

Pot Roast Pros... advice please.

house_cat — Sun, 11 Nov 2018 14:45:27 GMT

I have a 3.3 lb chuck roast.

I'd like to cook it in my oven, low and slow until it's falling apart.

I have a LeCreuset Dutch oven.

Can someone tell me what to do to get those results?

I have very little experience with beef.

Thank you.

Re: Pot Roast Pros... advice please.

LindaSal — Sun, 11 Nov 2018 14:57:46 GMT

I would roast that in a slow cooker ( thus getting the results you are looking for) on low at least 8 hours. You can put the vegetables in with it. Yum!! Sounds good, what time is dinner??? LOL Not sure about the oven method, sorry.

Re: Pot Roast Pros... advice please.

haddon9 — Sun, 11 Nov 2018 15:00:58 GMT

I'd like to hear more replies too. I'm sure by cooking it in a slow cooker for many hours you get good results.

Re: Pot Roast Pros... advice please.

Sooner — Sun, 11 Nov 2018 15:02:16 GMT

I'd put it in a dutch oven that is not too big for it so the liquid won't boil away, maybe some diced tomatoes and beef broth? The liquid should nearly come up to the top of the roast.

You can add onions, celery and some spices you like for flavoring or poke a few holes in the roast and put in slivers of garlic.

Roast at 250 degrees for 8 to 12 hours. Check liquid occasionally. Don't let it boil away. Roast should pull apart ad 195 to 205 degrees. It varies. Check with a fork during after 8 hours, then occasionally to see if it is where you want it.

Re: Pot Roast Pros... advice please.

hayseed00 — Sun, 11 Nov 2018 15:05:01 GMT

I always make my pot roast in my Le Cruset, I put the roast in the pan and add about 2 cups of beef broth, then I put my potatoes and carrots around the meat and sprinkle Lipton dry onion soup mix all over the meat and veggies I usually use two soup packets. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 3 hrs. My roasts are always so tender. This was my mom's recipe that I grew up on.

Re: Pot Roast Pros... advice please.

house_cat — Sun, 11 Nov 2018 15:03:43 GMT

@LindaSal

Thank you. The info I found online says it will take about

2 1/2 hours at 350°... so that means dinner will be around 5 o'clock. I like to eat early on Sunday so I can clean up and have a relaxing evening.

Re: Pot Roast Pros... advice please.

house_cat — Sun, 11 Nov 2018 15:08:33 GMT

@Sooner wrote:
I'd put it in a dutch oven that is not too big for it so the liquid won't boil away, maybe some diced tomatoes and beef broth? The liquid should nearly come up to the top of the roast.

You can add onions, celery and some spices you like for flavoring or poke a few holes in the roast and put in slivers of garlic.

Roast at 250 degrees for 8 to 12 hours. Check liquid occasionally. Don't let it boil away. Roast should pull apart ad 195 to 205 degrees. It varies. Check with a fork during after 8 hours, then occasionally to see if it is where you want it.

Thank you, Sooner! I'm assuming you've used this method? It's a rare day that I can be home with it for 8 hours, so I'm going to try it. Also, at what point in the process would you add carrots and potatoes?

Re: Pot Roast Pros... advice please.

Sooner — Sun, 11 Nov 2018 15:17:58 GMT

@house_cat wrote:
@Sooner wrote:
I'd put it in a dutch oven that is not too big for it so the liquid won't boil away, maybe some diced tomatoes and beef broth? The liquid should nearly come up to the top of the roast.

You can add onions, celery and some spices you like for flavoring or poke a few holes in the roast and put in slivers of garlic.

Roast at 250 degrees for 8 to 12 hours. Check liquid occasionally. Don't let it boil away. Roast should pull apart ad 195 to 205 degrees. It varies. Check with a fork during after 8 hours, then occasionally to see if it is where you want it.

Thank you, Sooner! I'm assuming you've used this method? It's a rare day that I can be home with it for 8 hours, so I'm going to try it. Also, at what point in the process would you add carrots and potatoes?

@house_cat I'm not sure when I'd add carrots. I do know that brisket cooked in a bbq smoker cooks at 225 all day and if you want pork butt or brisket to pull you'd want it to be more than 190 degrees, because it will still slice at that point usually. BUT every eat is different.

I also have a recipe for chuck or arm roast that is 3.5 to 4 pounds and it cooks 8 to 12 hours at 250 in liquid. It falls apart and shreds when cooked this way. I don't use potatoes and carrots in this one. If you wnat to do that, they dry cook at the 350 degrees. It may or may not fall apart. . . It's hard to judge today because you see so much variety of beef in the market.

Go on some good government and university websites to get some information on what to look for in beef and how the USDA grading system works. It makes a huge diffeence if you know how to judge what you see in the cases now. You can get some really good products and really bad ones--and pay the same money.

Re: Pot Roast Pros... advice please.

Tigriss — Sun, 11 Nov 2018 16:43:41 GMT

Get it on now if you want it for tonight. Put it in at 300 with your liquid, veggies, and roast. Sear the roast first deglaze with some of your liquid (red wine, white wine, broth, etc) once done, putt he roast back in and surround with veggies. Bake at 300 till supper time. Try not to peek, but nearer the end dot some butter around. You can take the lid off for the last 30 to 45 minutes to thicken the sauce/gravy if you like. I love mushrooms in mine. Fresh mushroom let go of a bunch of moisture, so I don't use lots of broth/wine. I also use a bit of cornstarch to thicken it or you could flour and season your roast before your sear it, then it will thicken from the flour as it cooks.

Re: Pot Roast Pros... advice please.

SandPiper — Sun, 11 Nov 2018 15:22:47 GMT

@house_cat I use to make pot roast like this all the time. Here’s what I did. Sauté onions and carrots in some oil. Add roast and brown on all sides. Add some beef broth to deglaze bits on bottom. Then cover meat half way with beef broth. Oven on 275. It should take approximately 3 hours. After an hour and a half I added potatoes as well. Check meat for tenderness.

Notes: Use seasoning of your choice on meat. I even added red wine sometimes. Also i turned the roast during roasting. Enjoy!

Re: Pot Roast Pros... advice please.

coconut1818 — Sun, 11 Nov 2018 15:27:13 GMT

Low and slow! Bob Bowersox "Granny's Pot Roast" is done on the stove and is delicious. If you can't find it on Google let me know and I'll post it. My Dear Dad would always add a dry burgundy wine to my Mom's Sunday pot roast. It made the best gravy! My Mom's famous last words "don't put too much!" Sure do miss them.

Re: Pot Roast Pros... advice please.

fluffysmom — Sun, 11 Nov 2018 15:39:16 GMT

@house_cat I don't use a slow cooker for mine. I don't care for all the liquid.I use an enameled cast iron roaster. Brown it good on both sides on stove top. I season with pepper, garlic salt or garlic powder. Cook on 325 degrees in oven.When it's getting tender I put potatoes and carrots around it and continue baking until the vegtables are tender. When done I make gravy out of the browned bottom of the pan with beef broth.

Re: Pot Roast Pros... advice please.

LiveLaughLove — Sun, 11 Nov 2018 19:57:03 GMT

I used to put it ib the oven at 250 degrees before going to work in the morning. If you want to make it really easy, put it in your dutch oven, top with a can of mushroom soup and a packet of Lipton onion soup mix, put it in the oven at 250 for six to eight hours - or a little longer. You can add carrots and potatoes, but I always found them too done that way, so cooked them separately when I got home.

Re: Pot Roast Pros... advice please.

SharkE — Sun, 11 Nov 2018 20:08:18 GMT

Brown in oven for hr or hr and a half. Put in Instant Pot to tenderize for 45 minutes, set and forget.

If I want vegetables just open a can and add bacon grease or butter depending on if it's corn or green beans, hominy, etc.

Re: Pot Roast Pros... advice please.

SCshopper2 — Sun, 11 Nov 2018 20:09:22 GMT

Don’t own a slow cooker, never really cared for the results. You have a fantastic vessel that will allow you to make a great roast. Wish I had one but adthritis won’t let me have one, just use my Calphalon with great results. I either d a pot roast on stove top or in oven. You can google the better websites for help - Southern Living, Americas Test Kitchen ( but you do need a membership... )I always start with an old Betty Crocker recipe from the dark ages when I was first married (google it) and ad-lib other stuff I would like in it, like maybe some wine, Worcester sauce whatever. Use that Le Cruset while you can still lift it -lol- they are really heavy and don’t get any lighter the older we get.

Re: Pot Roast Pros... advice please.

novamc1 — Sun, 11 Nov 2018 22:17:19 GMT

@SCshopper2

Good advice.

I have plenty of Le Creuset and other brands of heavy enameled cast iron...........but I still resort to doing *MY* version of pot roast in a slow cooker, just since I finally found one that I like.

My pot roast version usually turns out to be more like a beef stew or beef-vegetable soup, but we like it. It's a great way to pack a variety of vegetables into one meal.

If I wanted a "real" pot roast, it would be done on the stovetop or oven in my LC cast iron braiser pan or Dutch oven for about three hours or more.--AND it would have a much richer and tastier appeal than the slow-cooker version.

Re: Pot Roast Pros... advice please.

jannabelle1 — Mon, 12 Nov 2018 01:11:51 GMT

My dear mom and dad always made an awesome pot roast for the 3 of us. I cook it in a crock pot, but it's more like stew. They always cooked it in the oven for about 4 hours at 325 degrees. The roast, quartered potatoes, carrots and parsnips were added at the same time along with a can of beef broth, seasonings and a little water (the liquid never covered the roast). The meat was so tender and wonderful - fork tender.

Re: Pot Roast Pros... advice please.

tobes — Mon, 12 Nov 2018 01:15:24 GMT

I woud cook it on top of the stove. Brown it well on all sides on high heat then reduce heat and simmer as long as you wish.

Re: Pot Roast Pros... advice please.

Nightowlz — Mon, 12 Nov 2018 02:14:38 GMT

Next time you have time try this one. It's so good. The gravy is yummy. I think the gravy is better made with Better Than Bouillon vs beef broth. I did use 5 cups water total instead of 4 because it seems to evaporate more using the better than bouillon.

I have made pot roast a few other ways but this is my favorite.

4-5 pound chuck roast
2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt, and coarse ground black pepper (about 2 teaspoons each of salt and black pepper)
3-5 medium yellow onions, quartered
5-6 whole carrots, peeled and cut into bite sized chunks
3 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into bite sized chunks
Around 4-5 cups beef broth
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour

Pre-heat your oven to 275 degrees.

Use paper towels to pat the chuck roast dry.

Liberally season both sides with salt and coarse ground black pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium high heat. Brown both sides about 3-4 minutes.

Remove the browned roast from the pan and set aside.

Add a bit more oil to the pan, add in the onions and brown on all sides.

Return the roast to the pan, placing it on top of the onions.

Arrange the carrots and potatoes on the sides of the roast.

Add in enough beef broth so that the sides of the roast are covered, about 4 cups.

Bring it up to a gentle simmer, then cover the dutch oven and place in the oven for about 4 hours for a 4-5 pound roast or 3-4 hours for a 3-4 pound roast.

When the roast is fork tender and will easily fall apart, it’s done.

Carefully remove the roast from the dutch oven. Remove the onions, carrots and potatoes as well.

Return the dutch oven to the stove with the liquid remaining. Heat over medium high heat for about 5-10 minutes.

Make a roux - In a small saucepan, melt 1/4 cup butter over medium heat.

Add in the flour and whisk really well. Allow the roux to cook for a minute or two.

Mix the roux in with the liquid and whisk really well. Simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the gravy has thickened a bit. YUM!!!

Re: Pot Roast Pros... advice please.

house_cat — Mon, 12 Nov 2018 03:20:47 GMT

Thanks, everyone!

It turned out great!

And the best part is.... we have reruns on the menu for Thursday!