Beef Chuck Roast

[Pam R]

I have a 2 kg boneless, netted chuck roast in the fridge waiting to be cooked tomorrow. Normally I'd braise it but I'm wondering if that's the only way to go. Can it be roasted without all the liquid?

I don't want to grind it, cube it or cut it into steaks. I'm also not smoking or grilling (it's too cold outside!).

Have any good recipes? Though I'm looking for something other than a braise this time, if you have a good braising recipe let's see that too -- there are more chuck roasts in the freezer.

[PopsicleToze]

I'd do a Texas Chili

[Shalmanese]

It can be slow roasted with great success. You can cook it at a 350 or so until it hits 130 internally, then drop the oven down to as low as it will go and let it coast from 130 - 140 over the course of an hour.

[Marlene]

Beef bourguignon

[weinoo]

I'd do a Texas Chili

Beef bourguignon

But she doesn't want to cube it or grind it.

My only question about Shalmanese's technique is whether the connective tissue will break down at that final temperature.

[lancastermike]

I'd do a Texas Chili

Beef bourguignon

But she doesn't want to cube it or grind it.

My only question about Shalmanese's technique is whether the connective tissue will break down at that final temperature.

I was wondering the same thing. It will cook, but I doubt it will be anything but tough and chewy. She could wrap it in double thick foil with just a little liquid, but that is just another type of braise.

To dry roast it I would think you would need 10 hours at 275 or something like that

[robirdstx]

I've not tried it but I found a couple of recipes on cooks.com for a baked chuck roast where the meat is completely wrapped in foil.

[IndyRob]

You could probably adapt a method I've used to good effect for ribs. Put some aluminum foil in a pan, put some barbeque sauce on it, then the ribs and more sauce on top. Then fold the aluminum foil over the top to cover and put in a 250 degree of for a couple hours, then sear with grill or broiler. Still a braise as far as I'm concerned, but done in a different way.

Instead of barbeque sauce, maybe some mushrooms, wine, garlic, etc.

[weinoo]

There's no doubt it can be roasted whole in a covered roaster with even a little bit of liquid...I do that same technique with ribs, brisket, etc. and they come out great.

[lancastermike]

Perhaps she could try the official endorsed method of the EG Politburo , put it in a plastic bag and throw it in some hot water for a week or two.

[Jaymes]

Perhaps she could try the official endorsed method of the EG Politburo , put it in a plastic bag and throw it in some hot water for a week or two.

[MelissaH]

Maybe you could do what we do with pork shoulders, since this is basically the beef equivalent: season however you wish, then put in a fairly low oven to roast for many hours until it's tender. Let it rest for a while, then pull it apart and serve in buns with BBQ sauce and cole slaw.

MelissaH

[rlibkind]

According to McGee, the collagen breaks down at a much lower temperature. iirc, he recommends braising in the oven at 250F for a couple of hours (starting in a cold oven), which breaks down the collagen, then finishing at a slightly higher temp. He also urges that the lid be left ajar, because a tight seal allows liquid in braise to boil; McGee's technique avoids anything more than a couple bubbles at a bare simmer.

[mkayahara]

Maybe you could do what we do with pork shoulders, since this is basically the beef equivalent: season however you wish, then put in a fairly low oven to roast for many hours until it's tender. Let it rest for a while, then pull it apart and serve in buns with BBQ sauce and cole slaw.

Yeah, I was going to say the same thing, only I do it with lamb shoulder rather than pork: season, rub with oil, then put in a covered roasting pan. I cook the lamb this way by preheating the oven to 500F, then dropping it to 325F as soon as the pan goes in, and roasting until the meat is pull-apart tender, which usually takes about 4 hours. And yes, it does end up well-done, but I think that's the fate of any cut with that much connective tissue, unless you cook it sous vide. Sauce is your friend.

[Jaymes]

On cold winter days, we often put a chuck roast into the crockpot first thing in the morning, along with a couple of cups of homemade salsa (or Herdez salsa casera if we don't have any homemade in the fridge). By dinner time, it's ready to be ladled into tortillas and served with all the taco fixin's alongside.

And a couple of Shiners.

'Cause this is Texas.

[kayb]

It's a braise, but I love it: brown the salted-and-peppered roast, take it out, caramelize a couple of sliced onions, move them to the outside edges of the pan, plop the roast back in, put a bottle of dark beer over all, cover and braise at 275 for four or five hours. You can finish off the sauce with some dijon mustard and a touch of brown sugar to give it the taste of carbonnades a la flamande, if you wish. I love to shred the meltingly tender beef up in the sauce and heap it on a baguette.

[Crouton]

Make a marinade of Olive Oil, lemon juice, rosemary, lots of crushed garlic, red pepper flakes & plenty of salt and pepper. Place chuck roast in plastic bag, pour in marinade and let it sit in the fridge for a day or two. Get a cast iron pan piping hot, wipe off marinade with a paper towel, dust with additional salt and pepper and sear in the cast iron pan until a nice dark crust forms, flip, add a few tablespoons of butter to pan along with whole lightly crushed garlic cloves, rosemary sprig and a slice or two of lemon and baste meat continuously with butter while 2nd side browns. Cover meat with the garlic, lemon slice(s) and rosemary sprig and pop in the oven at a low temp until medium rare - tending towards the medium side basting occasionally. You don't want rare chuck, it's too chewy. You want a nice medium to medium-rare pink. Remove from oven, let rest and slice against the grain very thinly. Serve... Poor man's prime-rib.

Edited January 6, 2011 by Crouton (log)

[Pam R]

It can be slow roasted with great success. You can cook it at a 350 or so until it hits 130 internally, then drop the oven down to as low as it will go and let it coast from 130 - 140 over the course of an hour.

This is what I had in mind.

My only question about Shalmanese's technique is whether the connective tissue will break down at that final temperature.

This was my concern.

To dry roast it I would think you would need 10 hours at 275 or something like that

I think you're right. Unfortunately it's for dinner tonight and I don't have that kind of time, but I'm going to try it with the next roast.

There's no doubt it can be roasted whole in a covered roaster with even a little bit of liquid...I do that same technique with ribs, brisket, etc. and they come out great.

That's what I'm doing. Though I wanted to try the dry method, timing didn't allow. I did what I'll occasionally do with brisket and slowly browned a couple of large onions, added some brown sugar, garlic cloves, tomato paste, red wine and a little chicken stock (no beef stock on hand). Basically it's on a bed of well flavored onions with a little liquid. It's in the oven now and smells great.

But I'm noting all of the ideas being posted. I keep kosher which really limits the beef cuts I can use, so the more options the better.

[weinoo]

There's no doubt it can be roasted whole in a covered roaster with even a little bit of liquid...I do that same technique with ribs, brisket, etc. and they come out great.

That's what I'm doing. Though I wanted to try the dry method, timing didn't allow. I did what I'll occasionally do with brisket and slowly browned a couple of large onions, added some brown sugar, garlic cloves, tomato paste, red wine and a little chicken stock (no beef stock on hand). Basically it's on a bed of well flavored onions with a little liquid. It's in the oven now and smells great.

That's the best way, in my opinion. You get a great jus to use as well. Probably for around 2 1/2 - 3 hrs.

[Pam R]

Never mind juice. That was the best chuck roast I've ever cooked. Used 2 large onions and left the lid slightly ajar when it was in the oven (at 325 for about 3, 3 1/2 hours). There was liquid in the pot when I pulled the roast out. I planned on pureeing the onions then reducing it a bit, but after it was pureed it was the perfect consistency and tasted great. Roast was tender too.

[kbjesq]

I now have acquired an Angus chuck roast and I'm going over to the instant pot thread to find out what to do with it.  

[FeChef]

27 minutes ago, kbjesq said:

I now have acquired an Angus chuck roast and I'm going over to the instant pot thread to find out what to do with it.  

My favorite dish to make using chuck roast in the instant pot is beef stroganoff. add 2 cups beef stock/broth, add roast and 1 chopped onion, 16oz sliced fresh mushrooms 45 min on manual mode (high pressure) turn off and allow 15 minute to naturally release pressure. remove the roast and cube it, make the sauce in the pot with the juices, flour and sour cream. serve overtop extra wide egg noodles.

[pistolabella]

I have a nice chuck roast I need to use, but it's truly Spring in Tennessee and I really don't want to fiddle with eating or making a pot roast..just seems wrong. Aside from Mexican-spicing the beef for barbacoa / tacos, what are some new & fun things I can do with this 2.5 lb roast? I can always grind it for burgers, but wondering if anyone has any tried and true recipes that are off the pot-roast path. Ideally using a dutch oven, 2-3 hr cook time ( no crockpot stuff). Thanks!

[AlaMoi]

sliced and pounded thin . . .

(careful pre-trim required) does a decent imitation of carpaccio

or a Phila style cheese steak

or (less thinly pounded) a neat beef schnitzel come (breaded) chicken fried steak.

 

or stuff it - look for "stuffed chuck roast" - many many ideas there.

[FeChef]

Makes great stroganoff. I usually use my pressure cooker. About an hour with a 10 minute natural pressure release for fork tender. Or you could sous vide it at 160F for 24 hours and it will be fork tender.