pot roast help

[PrincessFiona]

I'm looking for a pot roast recipe where the meat literally falls apart after cooked...Does anyone have a good recipe?

[HouseofWool]

I have a hard time with pot roast - I find beef tends to try out. I generally put the roast in the crock pt and and a packet of liptons french onion soup and some water.

If I am doing pork, I do the same thing, sometimes I add some applesauce or apple butter.

[Sheherezade]

Wine or beer is usually involved in my recipe. That and beef broth and seasoning.


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[SuzySunshine]

I use a pork roast but do just what Kris said - put the roast on a large piece of aluminum foil, cover with lipton soup mix, wrap up in foil put the whole thing in the crockpot and cook on high for an hour and low for 6-7 hours, it falls apart.

I also do the same thing with a tenderloin and a bottle of bbq sauce for pulled pork sandwiches.

[MsSassyBaskets]

I never really use a recipe, but here's approximately what I do: I blot the meat dry with paper towels, rub with salt and pepper, brown it in a couple tbsp of oil in a cast iron dutch oven, turning to each side to brown well. Then throw in a quartered onion and several peeled, smashed cloves of garlic. Add a couple cups (up to an entire carton depending on the size of the roast) of beef or veggie stock to deglaze the brown bits and keep it moist, put the lid on it and pop it in the oven. I generally look up an estimated cook time and temp each time I do it. Not too high, like 300? Or you can put it in the Crock Pot and just let it go all day. I think my style is approximately like this: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2...the_pot_roast/

[Sheherezade]

Sounds about right. I've never tried wrapping the roast in foil, it's always in some liquid in my recipes. That's interesting.

[diggitydot]

I sear it on all sides (on high heat) in my cast-iron pan after seasoning with salt and pepper, bake uncovered in the oven in the same pan, and then allow it to rest for 15 minutes or so before cutting into it. Resting helps the meat reabsorb whatever moisture was released during the cooking process. I do the same for pork roasts, too.

It's not fall apart tender, but it's usually able to be easily cut with a fork.

[spotty_dog]

Here's what my Science of Cooking (from the Cooks Illustrated people) book says about getting your pot roast to be that tender: "We cook this pot roast until it's very well-done -- to an internal temperature of about 210 degrees, the point at which the fat and connective tissue are really melting well. Simply bringing the meat to this temperature does not achieve the desired fall-apart-tender pot roast. But we found that if you leave the pot roast to cook at that same internal temperature for a full hour longer, the roast will be so tender that a fork poked into its center will be met with no resistance, nearly disappearing into the flesh."

Their recipe has you braise at 300 for 3.5 to 4 hours, but start checking doneness at 2 hours. My other two reliable cook books that I've used for great roasts have you braise at 350 for 2.5 to 3 hours (but I'm sure I've turned this down, this is always a roiling boil in my cast iron Dutch oven) or on the stovetop at a bare simmer for 2.5 hours.

Let me know if you want an actual recipe and I will gladly type one out! None of the three cooks potatoes in with the beef (one cooks carrots and potatoes on the side); two have wine, one has beer and tomato paste; all call for a 3 1/2 to 4 pound chuck roast.

DH likes the soup mix and Crock pot method, but I find it dries out pretty badly.

[BonBon]

I put mine in with a chopped onion on top, a bay leaf or two, and dump half a jar or so of tomato sauce and leave it for 8+ hours. Totally falls apart and is pretty much submerged in liquid by that point, even though when it starts out there's not a lot.

[diggitydot]

I always forget how great Cooks Illustrated is on researching things. I need to renew my subscription.

[spotty_dog]

I always forget how great Cooks Illustrated is on researching things. I need to renew my subscription.

I got the book for Christmas last year but only recently started bringing it out to answer questions. I liked the explanation of how brining affects a roast turkey (helpful at Christmas), how long slow caramelization affects onions (my friend was making French onion soup and skeptical of recipes that called for 15-20 minute caramelization), and now this! So nice to understand instead of just going through the motions. Also, browning the meat before you cook it is important not just for sealing in moisture but especially for the Maillard reaction that brings out all that great roast-meat flavor.

[GreyhoundsRUs]

This is amazing: http://crockingirls.com/recipes/jalapeno-pot-roast/

As is this: http://iowagirleats.com/2013/12/16/beef-stew/

As is this: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2...en-on-a-plate/

I've made them all recently, and I'm by no means an awesome cook! They've all been great. Also, OreIda makes bags of frozen, peeled, cubed potatoes that you micro and mash


Wife of a PGY-4 Orthopod

[Ladybug]

My sister sent me this Cook's Illustrated book. It's so scientific!

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Slow-Easy.../dp/1933615249

[BonBon]

My sister sent me this Cook's Illustrated book. It's so scientific!

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Slow-Easy.../dp/1933615249

Totally going to buy that!

[Vanquisher]

I have most, if not all, of the Cooks Illustrated series. Love them.