share your pot roast secrets please!

[user251]

if i can make a suggestion, go to youtube and check out good eats a chuck for chuck or celebrity roast. If youre not familiar with good eats the chef is Alton Brown from Georgia, he is a well known chef on food tv and tends to explain things about cooking on a level the regular joe can understand. he explains why and what makes things good. He is a little cheesy so bare with it but his chuck for chuck and celebrity roast episodes are very good info for pot roast. If you are interested you can see all his episodes on http://www.surfthechannel.com/ look for the channels section at the top of the page, go to the tv section then go to the G section and look for good eats. also they have all kinds of online tv and movies free.

 

[Dace]

if i can make a suggestion, go to youtube and check out good eats a chuck for chuck or celebrity roast. If youre not familiar with good eats the chef is Alton Brown from Georgia, he is a well known chef on food tv and tends to explain things about cooking on a level the regular joe can understand. he explains why and what makes things good. He is a little cheesy so bare with it but his chuck for chuck and celebrity roast episodes are very good info for pot roast. If you are interested you can see all his episodes on http://www.surfthechannel.com/ look for the channels section at the top of the page, go to the tv section then go to the G section and look for good eats. also they have all kinds of online tv and movies free.

I will have to look that up...I love Alton Brown, his is the only cooking show that my kids like. I like the way he explains the reasons why things do and do not work, certainly makes for an interesting show!

 

[patandchickens]

thanks for the suggestion, unfortunately I am on dialup and watching videos online is not practical


Pat

 

[poppycat]

Poppycat...I am about to make my first pot roast tomorrow. Do your veggies turn to mush after 4 hours? I was kind of thinking that I would add them at about halfway thru the cooking process.

Yes they are soft, I think adding them an hour or so before you are done would be fine.

I will often put carrots and potatoes in whole at the beginning and then just cut them upon serving.

 

[poppycat]

Thank you all very much. I am also looking forward to trying out other parts of your recipes next time I make pot roast. (I am in the 'stove-top' camp, btw, only because I lack a covered roaster, but I'm keeping an eye out for a good one at thrift shops because I want to be able to cook middle-aged chickens that way, so when I find one I'll probably try the oven version of potroast too)

Pat

You may never find a good covered pan at a thrift shop. I would sooner give up my first born than my enameled, cast iron dutch oven.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Can you believe I never thought of using flour to thicken up the 'gravy' the way you would with, er, gravy?

Thank you all very much. I am also looking forward to trying out other parts of your recipes next time I make pot roast. (I am in the 'stove-top' camp, btw, only because I lack a covered roaster, but I'm keeping an eye out for a good one at thrift shops because I want to be able to cook middle-aged chickens that way, so when I find one I'll probably try the oven version of potroast too)

Pat

I do my old birds in the pot, too, since I usually make soup ou of them anyways. But hen I usually cook hem for a few hours, as you would stock. Then remove bird, let it cool strip meat, and make soup from he stock.

 

[TanksHill]

Here's how I do it

I have a large enameled dutch oven, I heat some oil on the stove in it till it's nearly smoking. I brown all the sides of the meat that I can until they are seared and release easily from the pan.

Then I dust the whole mess with *about* 1/3 cup of flour and turn the meat over a few times to spread the flour around. The flour and oil should mix and cook/bubble a bit.

Then I add my liquid, be it water, beef stock, or red wine for venison. The liquid should nearly cover the meat. Then throw in your veggies of choice (I use carrots, onions, celery, and potatoes cut into large chunks.)

Add a bay leaf, slap the lid on and put into a 325 degree oven for a minimum of four hours. If you are going to let it cook longer you may need to add a little water at about four hours of cooking time.

Now my mom adds a can of tomatoes and some instant tapioca the last hour of cooking instead of making the flour roux. Tapioca has always reminded me of eyeballs, so I prefer the flour.

I'm sorry I don't have an actual recipe, but I tend to cook by the seat of my pants. Usually things come out pretty well though

Allmost exactly as I cook mine. I usually roll my roast around in the seasoned flour then brown it on all sides. I use large chunky veggies to avoid the over cooking and parsnips are allways nice in the mix.

poppycat i'll give you my right arm for your enamel pot!!! Wait I am right handed, how about the left one?

 

[patandchickens]

Thank you all very much. I am also looking forward to trying out other parts of your recipes next time I make pot roast. (I am in the 'stove-top' camp, btw, only because I lack a covered roaster, but I'm keeping an eye out for a good one at thrift shops because I want to be able to cook middle-aged chickens that way, so when I find one I'll probably try the oven version of potroast too)

Pat

You may never find a good covered pan at a thrift shop. I would sooner give up my first born than my enameled, cast iron dutch oven.

I know, but I've found enough other things at thrift stores that I would rather give up my firstborn than... it seems that not everyone has the same priorities, or sumpin'. Fortunately

Pat

 

[poppycat]

poppycat i'll give you my right arm for your enamel pot!!! Wait I am right handed, how about the left one?

You'll have to pry it outta my cold dead fingers