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Pot Roast cooking

3K views 23 replies 12 participants last post by  rick alan 
#1 ·
I have a request for comfort-style PR with dried onion soup mix oven the top, and to tell you the truth I have never, to my own amazement, ever cooked a PR.  I'll follow what seems standard procedure by dredging with seasoned flour and browning is a pan before topping and popping it in sitting on some leeks, carrots and liquid.  The cut is about 3" thick x 6 high and 8 long.

~~Simple question(s), is it really prudence to cook a good chuck/pot roast covered for the whole 3 hours, as every recipe I see calls for. Anyone uncover for browning, and if so how long and do you raise temperature?

Rick
 
#2 · (Edited)
About 3 hours sounds about right.  Cook until done.  Temp should be no less than 180 when finished; many people like higher temp like 190 - 200 for falling apart meat.  As for browning... not sure what you mean but think you might be talking about browning the finished product like one browns BBB.  If that is what you mean, then no.
 
#4 ·
Don't forget to add some celery, that will add not only good flavor but lots of yummy liquid.

Between 2.5 and 3 hrs should do it. If you uncover it will go dry and stringy on top. This is not a roast, you are not looking for color in that particular way. You will be searing it in the beginning which will give you that color and a good fond. Personally I do not sear floured meat. The flour burns right away but I know others do it. I make sure the meat is not the slightest bit wet and then sear it on all sides. Then I remove the meat and add the chopped mirepoix to the pot, sweat them and then I add some flour, making a sort of roux that will thicken the sauce as it cooks. Only about a tablespoon. I then add the liquid (water or wine or broth or beer or tomato, whichever you're opting for), and nestle the roast so that the liquid comes half way up the side of the roast. Cover and cook up to 3hrs (not more though) turning once after an hour or so.
I've only made a pot roast a handful of times and I'll share with you the mistake I made:

DON'T remove the meat from the braising liquor!

Leave it rest for about 30 minutes, uncovered before transferring to a board.

In addition, I learned to flip the meat over after the first hour of cooking.
Thanks for that tip, I'm never quite sure about that but I too find that if I remove the meat it goes dry.
 
#5 ·
Parsnips add a bit of sweetness to the mix.

Also for thickener add dried bread and NOT stale.  Bread dried in the oven thickens the mixture without adding glutiny gumminess that stale bread provides.
 
#7 ·
Thank you all, it was a resounding success! Adhering to your critical points I loosely followed this recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/awesome-slow-cooker-pot-roast/. Particularly attractive as it included condensed mushroom soup, which my generation grew up on, along with the onion soup powder, and of course that just spells "comfort."

It turned out a wonderous gelatinous mass! Never had anything like it. My thanks also to the supermarket meat department guy who hand-picked the roast for me. Hope you all had an equally wonderful Easter.

Rick
 
#10 · (Edited)
Great!

Did the meat guy give you specific cut or just "pot roast"?

mjb.
In all truthfulness I knew what to look for, it just wasn't out on the shelf to begin with. You want what is simply called a chuck roast, but of course there are different cuts. This particular piece was apparently from a center section of the muscle mass and contiguous, a solid 4 pound chunk, not rolled up and tied as you often find them. It's what I prefer to use for beef burgundy, but rarely do as I can typically get top-round for less than half the $5.29.lb I paid.

The meat has both marbling and a lot of connective tissue surrounding the muscle fibers themselves, and this is what I'm sure makes for the moist gelatinous quality when slow-cooked, and all that collegian also contributes to the quality of the pot juices produced.

My mother was a great cook in general, but she made a zillion PR's and none ever came out like this one. I'm not sure exactly what she was doing wrong 'cause I can't remember now how she made them, I'm just thrilled I didn't duplicate those errors. :) The chunks of meat in my BB's don't come out like that, but I run it at higher temps to create some reduction and that may be the biggest thing, along with the smaller chunks.

Rick

PS: The condensed mushroom soup may have very well have contributed to the critical cooking process as it literally envelops the meat. I certainly can't complain about the sauce produced as it was also wonderful.
 
#11 ·
@kaneohegirlinaz I've seen that episode with the italian pot roast and have made it myself! You called yours an adaptation of that, but I can't recall what the recipe is off hand, what did you do differently?

@Rick Alan I'm glad your pot roast came out well. I would urge you though to make it using fresh ingredients next time, your recipes calls for nothing but packets of processed foodstuffs.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Yes you're right Koukouvagia, but the canned and powdered soup was a nostalgia thing, I don't typically make what you'd call comfort food, so it can't hurt every once in a while.  As far as the recipe goes, I just did what most of you might also:

The outer stalks of a large leak, some of which thinly layered the bottom along with a layer of coined and browned carrot, sliced the rest up along with some carrot mirapoix, of which the latter interestingly enough was still intact after cooking.  I used sweet vermouth instead of dry, and added a bit of white wine as I couldn't believe the small amount of liquid the recipe called for would be enough, and I just wanted to wet the bottom stuff a bit also.  As it turned out the sauce was just the right consistency.  The only other changes where some fresh thyme, and for the last 45min halved garlic cloves, addition leak and browned portabella was added.

As far as the processed ingredients go, unadulterated dehydrated onion I suppose is easy enough to come by, just have to find out how to mimic the base of a condensed creamed soup to clean things up.

Rick
 
#15 ·
Fresh onionis even easier to get and use. If you have a Trader Joe's nearby they have frozen pearl onion (already peeled) that would go into a stew quite nicely.
Interesting. I just recently (yesterday) used frozen pearl onions for a beef bourguingnon, but with no beef. Mushrooms instead (it's quite delicious) but the pearl onions just didn't do it. It braised for about 40 minutes and they didn't really taste all that great. They were a bit hard in the center and didn't absorb any flavors. First time using frozen pearl onions.

Maybe 3 hours in a pot roast would do it.
 
#16 ·
Salt and pepper.  Lightly brown in skillet (no flour), including edges.

Lay large sheet of foil on counter.  Sprinkle  foil with 1/2 pkg. Lipton Onion Soup Mix in size and shape of roast.

Lay roast on foil/soup mix.  Add pepper.  Sprinkle other 1/2 soup mix on roast, cover with sliced onion rings, and season lightly with Italian seasoning.

Bring foil up sides and pour in 1/2 can Campbell's Beef Broth.

Close foil tightly and place in fairly deep glass or metal pan, about 10x10 or 11x11.  Glass is easier to clean.

About 350 degrees for 1/2 hour, reduce to 275 for remainder of 3-hour time.  Let rest 30 minutes, open foil, turn roast and let sit for five minutes.

Works the same for a crock pot.  Use whole can of broth and 1 1/2 pkgs. mix.  Add taters, onion and carrot chunks (not itty bitty pieces).

I generally use 1 1/2 pkgs of soup mix, but I'm a salt freak.

Not the gourmet way, but it's pretty darn good.
 
#17 ·
Fresh onionis even easier to get and use. If you have a Trader Joe's nearby they have frozen pearl onion (already peeled) that would go into a stew quite nicely.
Well there are 2 reason for dried: they contribute no liquid, rather they suck it up; they satisfy the comfort/nostalgia quotient, offering a unique flavor, regardless of your preference for it.

Of course caramelizing onions in the oven first would be a more elegant choice here.

I've considered taking that a step further, and somewhat satisfying the original objectives. There is an African technique I'm told where you sauté onions until they are actually black, after which the carburized material is discarded and the remaining oil used in cooking and as an additive. I've thought of doing thinly French cut and section onion pieces this way, stopping short of the blackening part, onion crisps actually, as these would more closely mimic the pieces of dried onion you find in the soup mixes. And drizzle some of that strained oil/fat over the plated portions of course.

Ooooh, now I will just have to do that! And no reason I should have to tell anybody it is other than dried onion soup mix. ;-)~

Rick
Interesting. I just recently (yesterday) used frozen pearl onions for a beef bourguingnon, but with no beef. Mushrooms instead (it's quite delicious) but the pearl onions just didn't do it. It braised for about 40 minutes and they didn't really taste all that great. They were a bit hard in the center and didn't absorb any flavors. First time using frozen pearl onions.

Maybe 3 hours in a pot roast would do it.
I should think that if you brown those pearl onions first they would at least improve some.

Rick
 
#18 ·
Well there are 2 reason for dried: they contribute no liquid, rather they suck it up; they satisfy the comfort/nostalgia quotient, offering a unique flavor, regardless of your preference for it.
Fresh onions contribute a lot of liquid, make no mistake. I've never heard of onions sucking up liquid before, they are nothing like a potato. There is a braising technique where you put the raw veggie mirepoix into the food processor and then sweat it, for those that want more flavor. Or, you can cut them in chunks and cook as they are then at the end of the braise you remove the roast and put a stick blender in the vessel and puree them into the sauce.
 
#19 · (Edited)
I have a request for comfort-style PR with dried onion soup mix oven the top, and to tell you the truth I have never, to my own amazement, ever cooked a PR. I'll follow what seems standard procedure by dredging with seasoned flour and browning is a pan before topping and popping it in sitting on some leeks, carrots and liquid. The cut is about 3" thick x 6 high and 8 long.

~~Simple question(s), is it really prudence to cook a good chuck/pot roast covered for the whole 3 hours, as every recipe I see calls for. Anyone uncover for browning, and if so how long and do you raise temperature?

Rick
Hi, Rick. Glad it turned out to your liking. Haven't made a pot roast in awhile, but recall using a mixture of dried Lipton onion mushroom soup mixed with water poured over the top, adding a glug of red wine, & cooked in a slow cooker. Place the roast on the bottom, top w/ baby carrots, wedges of onions & potatoes (halved or quartered). Pour the onion mixture over the top, cover, & cook. I used a defatting cup to get rid of any grease/fat. Made boeuf bourguignon in a slow cooker as well, but browned the chunks of beef first, turning with tongs, so as not to pierce the meat & release the juices. Take a look at ATK's method, and Alton Brown's pot roast recipes.

I've even used a can of diluted French Onion soup *gasp* lol. I know it's loaded with salt, but it's dispersed over the whole dish. And, hey, it's comfort food. ;-)

My Hungarian Grandmother used to cook flanken all day long on the stovetop, with potatoes, carrots & onions. Wish I had her recipe.
 
#20 · (Edited)
I totally get what @Rick Alan is sayin.
My mom ( and me when I left home) also made the Lipton pot roast.
The SIL still does it using chunks of beef and serves with homemade egg noodles.
Kinda addictive (she adds the mushroom soup) .
It is impossible to find a bone in chuck roast these days.
If I call ahead a few days my butcher will fix me up with something nice tho.
Maybe I will take a stroll down memory lane this next week.

mimi
 
#21 · (Edited)

Right you are on the LOS FFG. I believe you still find chuck steaks bone-in, but not large roasts. My grandmother would simmer the former in a pan with carrots and ketchup. She put ketchup in just about everything, including spaghetti sauce.

These images fairly represent the cut I spoke of. Not sure when I will get to the next PR, I still have a few pounds of oxtail in the freezer, but I am going to research how to scratch together something like a condensed mushroom soup base for it. If any of you know please fill us in.

Rick
 
#23 ·
I made something tonight that's really good. It was my idea, but it must have been done before (only in the age of Bruce Aidell):

I chopped a red bell pepper, a yellow bell pepper, 2 carrots, one parsnip, 4 small red potatoes. I tossed them with some of my homemade ketchup, (spicy and not sweet), and with some ground smoked paprika. I put this all in a casserole pan with a package of Aidell's chicken meatballs (carmelized onion version) and baked loosely covered for about an hour. Man, it is good!
 
#24 · (Edited)
"Aidell's chicken meatballs (carmelized onion version)"

Ahahaha, Oregon Y, you will have to make your own meatballs after reading this:

Firstly, the recipe at the end of the link I gave has changed as often happens by internet magic.  The original called for 22oz of the Cambells but just a paltry 4oz of liquid in the form of dry vermouth.

That said I followed pretty much the previous recipe I gave, with the promised change to freshly made onion crisps to replace the dry onion soup mix.  For the 4lb roast 2 lb of onions were sliced into what can be described as short, fat shoestrings.  These went into a 7x11" baking dish with a couple ounces evo for about 2hr in 300F convection oven.  Resulting was the perfect onion crisps and some residue past the candy-crack stage which took some muscle to deglaze.  Caramelized onion on steroids.  These went directly atop the roast, with the Campbell's and Masala mix poured over.

Liquid this time was about 4oz sweet Masala, 6oz Vermentino (bittersweet), and a splash of the most incredible bang for the buck desert wine I have ever had, rich in complexity as well as concentration, Loupiac Gaudiet 2010, an astonishing <$14 from a local purveyor!  There was some scratch chicken bone stock, concentrated from 8oz to 2 by some previous use for fondant potatoes and open fridge storage, it hardly constituted a liquid at that point.  Rosemary and Sage were the herbs, along with S+P, garlic cloves and additional leek at the end.

 As you might imagine, no powdered onion soup mix could produce a sauce that rich and wonderful!  You all simply have to have to try it.  Wish now that I'd taken a picture as seeing those dark almost black onion shoestrings laying atop the finished roast was just such a sight.

Now the the $1 discounted 48oz can of Campbell's mushroom soup is finished I'll have to investigate how to produce something similar from scratch.  If any of you beat me to it please do post it here.

Rick
 
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