Deck's Super Moist Slow Cooker Pot Roast

One of the gifts that we got for our wedding was a slow cooker, and I have to say I was really excited about it.  With as busy as we are, it's nice to be able to throw something in before leaving for work, and having a delicious dinner waiting when you get home.  The most common of all things to cook in the slow cooker would be the pot roast.  I've had some great slow cooker pot roasts, and I've had some not so great. The thing that makes a great pot roast is that when you take it out it is still moist, and doesn't need to be drowned in gravy.

So, I was determined to make sure that my first slow cooker pot roast was very moist, and found there are 3 tricks to making sure that this happens:

1. Make sure you get a cut of meat that has fat in it.  As the meat cooks, the fat renders down and keeps the meat nice and moist.  You can remove the leftover fat at the end.
2. Sear the meat prior to cooking it.  This creates a sort of "barrier" that keeps the moisture recirculating in the meat, making it increasingly moist.
3. Make sure you have enough liquid that it will keep the meat about 2/3 submerged through the cooking process.  If you want to make it into a gravy later, you can pour off what you need and reduce it.  

The great thing about this recipe is that it is ridiculously simple, and it turned out very well!  Feel free to modify spices and liquids to make it even better.

Deck's Super Moist Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Serves 4 (or 2 with leftovers)


Ingredients:

3 - 3 1/2 pound chuck roast (not super lean)
1 - 1 1/2 pounds fingerling or baby red potatoes
1 medium yellow onion
1 pound of carrots
1/2 bottle red wine
1 cup heavy cream
1 package onion soup mix
1/2 - 1 cup of water
Salt and Pepper

Step 1:  The day before you make the pot roast (at least 12 hours), season liberally with salt and pepper. Leave out at room temperature for about 30 minutes before returning the roast to the refrigerator.

Step 2:  In the morning, brown the roast on all sides using a little bit of oil over medium high heat.  This should take about 30 seconds to 1 minute per side.  You just want it browned.  When all six sides have been browned, place the roast in the slow cooker.

Step 3:  Cut the potatoes and carrots into medium bite size pieces.  You don't want them too small as they might get a little too mushy.  For the onion, peel it, cut it in half, and then quarter each of the halves.  Add all of this around the roast in the slow cooker.

Step 4:  Add the wine, onion soup, heavy cream, and just a bit of water to make sure that there is about 4 cups of liquid in the pot.  The roast should not be completely submerged.  Just about 3/4.

Step 5:  Set your slow cooker on low (or whatever setting cooks around 200-225 degrees).  If you have a timer, it should cook for at least 8 hours.  Then remove to a plate and enjoy.

I did not end up making gravy as the roast was so moist that it didn't need it, and I'm not a huge gravy person myself.  But you could definitely strain the liquid into a pot, reduce down for a little bit, add some flour and have a decent gravy.  Also, when the roast is done cooking, you can leave it in the liquid for as long as you need to on the warm setting.  The roast just continues to get moist, but doesn't get mushy.  We left it in for almost an additional 8 hours.

Rib Roast - Delay Cooking for a delicious dinner

On the days where I get home late, there really are two options.  One is to find something quick, easy and delicious like I did last night.  The other is to use the slow cook feature on the oven (or a slow cooker should I get one).  The first time I did this, I did the forever roasted pork from Michael Chiarello that turned out amazing.  So tonight, I decided to try the slow cooking approach tonight.

For the meat option tonight, I decided to do a beef rib roast.  I've never cooked with it before, but I'm a big fan of ribeye steak, and it was on sale, so I thought I would give it a whirl.  So, this morning, I put together a rub for the roast.  It consisted of white and black peppercorns, paprika, garlic powder, sea salt and a hint of seasoned salt.  I pulled out the mallet and broke down the pepper corns and salt to try and make it a fine powder.  Looking back on it, it would have been better to do in a spice grinder.  Unfortunately my spice grinder's primary usage is as my coffee grinder, and in the morning, coffee trumps everything.

After I had firmly beaten the spices, I took out the roast.  I cut a half dozen slits in each side of it, then rubbed it down with a little bit of butter prior to spreading the rub all over it.  I tried to make sure I stuffed some of the peppercorns that didn't get smashed into the slits.  Then I popped it into the oven, and set the delay to come on.

When it comes to beef rib roast, the cooking is a little different than the pork.  With the pork, the entire dish is cooked low and slow.  However, based on various recipes that I read, when cooking the beef rib roast, if you are not going to be able to sear it in a pan on the stovetop prior to putting it in the oven, then you start at a high temperature for a short period of time to sear the outside, then reduce the heat to finish it.  So, I set the temperature to 450 on the delay for 30 minutes, and let it go.

When I got home, I could definitely smell the roast cooking, and the timer was going off.  I opened the door, and stuck in a thermometer to find that the temperature was almost 160, quite high for a beef roast (it should be in the 130-140 range in the middle).  I quickly pulled it out to stop the cooking and let it rest for a little bit.  When I cut into it, it was still juicy and still tasted pretty good.  I warmed up some rice, sauteed some red peppers, and had dinner ready 15 minutes after we walked in the door.

While this was good, it wasn't quite like the pork.  One of the challenges for me is figuring out cooking times.  When you are looking at recipes they tend to look at bigger roast, 4 - 6 ribs (6-8 pounds).  But, when I'm only cooking for two, I don't want to have the many leftovers (or spend that much money).  So I have to try and adjust for much smaller roasts.  In this case, I was using a 1.75 lb. roast with a single rib.  I had it cook at 450 for 30 minutes, but looking back, should have only done it for 20 minutes.  Also, I think I need to be more generous with both the slits and the rub so that the flavor permeates the meat, rather than just sitting as a crust on the outside.

But, even with the couple of issues, I'm realizing that doing a little work in the morning, and leveraging the delayed cooking capabilities will allow me to do more than just quick and simple when I get home.  I just need to remember to keep in mind the starches and vegetables, and factor that into the cooking time (fortunately I had leftover rice from last night, and didn't have to make any).  And one of these days, maybe I'll try and do something with the sides and not just the main course.