Can this Pot Roast be saved?

[Suzee]

Can tough stringy leftover Chuck pot roast be resurrected into something edible? The pot roast was gently cooked in a slow cooker with red wine, stock, tomatoes, celery. onions, carrots, garlic and fresh thyme. Flavor was good, I am clueless why the texture was so rubbery. Maybe why it was on sale for 3.99/lb ?!! . Will more simmering eventually make it tender? Any insights appreciated!!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

If the texture is rubbery, I'd say cook further (at around 170 deg F for several hours).  If the texture is more mealy and dry than rubbery I don't think it will ever get any better.

 

Chuck really benefits from being cooked sous vide.  Though I have never tried a whole roast sous vide.

[Okanagancook]

Repurpose it to taco filling.  Crispen it up with onions, chili and some Mexican spices.  Grated cheddar over the top in a taco would work for me.

[gfweb]

Slow cookers are not gentle. They are all too hot and generally over-cook meat. But tough meat suggests that a much longer, lower temp cook is needed. Dry meat suggests too hot a cook. Doesn't sound like that was the issue. Sous vide territory. Chuck needs a couple days cooking at low temp.

 

 

[FeChef]

First off, where did Suzee mention Sous vide, she clearly said slow cooker. Also, Suzee didnt say how long it was in the slow cooker. Last time i remember using a slow cooker it would take 8 hours being cooked "gently" in a slow cooker.

[Tri2Cook]

6 hours ago, FeChef said:

First off, where did Suzee mention Sous vide, she clearly said slow cooker. Also, Suzee didnt say how long it was in the slow cooker.

She didn't mention it, they suggested it as a good method for dealing with that cut of meat. A long low and slow in the smoker makes a nice Chucky too. But a long day in the slow cooker on low usually does a nice job with them so I'm in the "probably needed to go longer" camp until she tells us she did go longer.

[Suzee]

Thanks for your comments everyone. I let it cook about 5 hours and then took it off heat because it was fork tender and starting to fall apart.

[dcarch]

Make meatloaf.

 

dcarch

[Suzee]

Okay Guys, Have put the pot roast back in the slow cooker on low, we shall see! If it is still rubbery at the end of the day, I'll take the store manager up on his kind offer of a refund if I'm not satisfied. Does anyone remember the great round bone pot roasts that used to be available? For some reason butchers don't make that cut anymore. Those pot roasts were infallible 'back in the day'. ;-)

[kayb]

I tend to stick to the oven for my chuck roasts, rather than the slow cooker or sous vide. I find that 5 hours at 275 provides me with perfectly tender, still a bit toothsome, pot roast from my grass-fed, locally raised beef. Possibly my favorite treatment for cow. 

 

As for repurposing the leftovers -- vegetable beef soup!

 

[ChocoMom]

1 hour ago, Suzee said:

Okay Guys, Have put the pot roast back in the slow cooker on low, we shall see! If it is still rubbery at the end of the day, I'll take the store manager up on his kind offer of a refund if I'm not satisfied. Does anyone remember the great round bone pot roasts that used to be available? For some reason butchers don't make that cut anymore. Those pot roasts were infallible 'back in the day'. ;-)

 

Yeah, I seem to remember my Mom cooking something like that...but I don't recall the name of it. It was foolproof, though! 

Since we raise grass fed beef cattle, I request from our butcher certain cuts that I know customers want. And, the closest one I can think of that you're describing, with a truly round bone in, is the Chuck Arm Roast.  Another one, might be a Standing Rump roast,(though I do not believe that bone is entirely round). It only differs from a standard Rump roast, in that it still contains the bone.    While the 7 Bone roast (or Center Cut Pot Roast) isn't a round bone...it's shaped like a "7", it is a pretty tasty cut, so that might be one you could ask your butcher for.   Personally, I prefer to stay away from the Eye Rounds, and Top round roasts since those come from muscle areas, and as such, they tend to be tougher. (I suppose they can be SV'd into a more tender offering.)   Since our herd is a free range, grass fed bunch, we don't need anymore toughness than we already have.  We try not to let them grow over 18 months, and have pretty decent results--but still, those muscle cuts take a lot of effort to tenderize.

 

Back to the roasts, the other factor that comes into play, the terminology that different butchers use. One roast can have anywhere from 2 to 5 different names...it depends on who you talk to. (A Top Blade Roast, has 7 different names!)  I printed off some diagrams/guides and took it to my butcher. She said, 'oh...well, we call this cut such and such, and this cut is something else'. So, if you can do a little google search, and find some pics of the cuts you're looking for, a local butcher could probably help you out.

 

Not sure if that is of any help, but it might explain a little about why its so hard to find what we're looking for. =) 

[Tri2Cook]

7 hours ago, kayb said:

As for repurposing the leftovers -- vegetable beef soup!

Perfect! And that reminds me, I still haven't done my every-winter attempt (and thus-far, failure) at recreating my mom's beef vegetable soup. I suspect I'll never succeed with that one... if for no other reason than because mom didn't make it.

[kbjesq]

I agree with all the comments about cooking this type of meat on a very low temperature for a long period of time to achieve the desired result. However now that I have acquired an instant pot, I'm wondering if pressure cooking this type of meat would be a good idea? I don't cook meat very often as I personally do not consume it but I do cook it for others and if I could cook it in the instant pot my family would be very happy to eat meat more often.

[FeChef]

1 hour ago, kbjesq said:

I agree with all the comments about cooking this type of meat on a very low temperature for a long period of time to achieve the desired result. However now that I have acquired an instant pot, I'm wondering if pressure cooking this type of meat would be a good idea? I don't cook meat very often as I personally do not consume it but I do cook it for others and if I could cook it in the instant pot my family would be very happy to eat meat more often.

Absolutely. The best beef stroganoff ive ever made was in my instant pot. Even the best beef short ribs ive ever had/made was in my instant pot. Check out this coca cola short rib recipe. Its amazing.http://www.chowhound.com/recipes/pressure-cooker-cola-braised-beef-short-ribs-30305

The recipe calls for 30 minutes but i have found better results at 45-60 minutes. And i am not counting the time to come down in pressure. So add an additional 15 minutes for that.

Edited January 8, 2016 by FeChef (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

16 hours ago, Suzee said:

Okay Guys, Have put the pot roast back in the slow cooker on low, we shall see! If it is still rubbery at the end of the day, I'll take the store manager up on his kind offer of a refund if I'm not satisfied. 

 

 

Suzee,

 

I hope your roast turns out well after the second cook.

 

I cook boneless chuck roasts in my circa 1982 Rival Crock Pot a lot, and according to the recipe in the owner's manual/recipe booklet that came with it, it calls for 5 hours on HIGH or 10-12 hours on LOW. It makes a big difference what setting you're cooking with. My experience is with the low setting, and I have even cooked from partially frozen on the low setting in the glazed clay crock with the recommended 1 cup of liquid to prevent thermal shock. I always have had excellent results when following the suggested time.

 

I have read that older crockpots like mine cook at a lower temp on the low setting than the newer ones, so that would make a difference too.

 

Their recipe says to add veggies at the same time as the roast, but I find the veggies except for the onions overcooked that way. I fish the roast out and add carrots, potatoes and celery to the bottom of the pot in the liquid a couple or three hours before the end of cooking time when the pot is at a boil on low. Then I place the roast back in the pot on top. After adding the veggies, I might kick it up to high until it reboils, then switch back to low,  if I'm in a hurry. It always makes a delicious meal and all it needs is some good, crusty bread to soak up the juices.

 

I have noticed that chuck and even rib eye steak and roast cuts can be tougher lately than they used to be. The crock pot has always been an effective tool for dealing with tough cuts in my experience, anyway.

Edited January 8, 2016 by Thanks for the Crepes (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

@FeChef

 

I think your excellent-sounding dish would work in a crockpot too, of course with a lot more time. The way I would do it is to introduce the flour to dredge the seasoned roast and then sear it in a skillet before placing in the crock, preferably in some of its own slowly rendered fat. That's what I do with pot roast too, just because I dislike the raw flour taste when I try to thicken with it later in the cooking process.

 

If I'm lazy that day, I throw the roast sometimes even pretty frozen into the pot. The juices are thinner, still delicious, and that is what crusty bread is made for. 

 

@Suzee

 

How did your recook on the pot roast turn out?

[Suzee]

 I cooked it almost 24 more hours and my stepson said it was almost as good as Dinty Moore canned Beef Stew LOL!

[kayb]

On 1/7/2016 at 9:43 AM, ChocoMom said:

 

Yeah, I seem to remember my Mom cooking something like that...but I don't recall the name of it. It was foolproof, though! 

Since we raise grass fed beef cattle, I request from our butcher certain cuts that I know customers want. And, the closest one I can think of that you're describing, with a truly round bone in, is the Chuck Arm Roast.  Another one, might be a Standing Rump roast,(though I do not believe that bone is entirely round). It only differs from a standard Rump roast, in that it still contains the bone.    While the 7 Bone roast (or Center Cut Pot Roast) isn't a round bone...it's shaped like a "7", it is a pretty tasty cut, so that might be one you could ask your butcher for.   Personally, I prefer to stay away from the Eye Rounds, and Top round roasts since those come from muscle areas, and as such, they tend to be tougher. (I suppose they can be SV'd into a more tender offering.)   Since our herd is a free range, grass fed bunch, we don't need anymore toughness than we already have.  We try not to let them grow over 18 months, and have pretty decent results--but still, those muscle cuts take a lot of effort to tenderize.

 

 My grass-fed beef supplier does the same. I have come to prefer the arm roast to the basic chuck or shoulder roast simply because of that bone, or more particularly, the marrow in it. I scrape it out, mush it up finely, and add it to the beef when I make my vegetable beef soup. Flavor explosion!

 

On 1/7/2016 at 3:55 PM, Tri2Cook said:

Perfect! And that reminds me, I still haven't done my every-winter attempt (and thus-far, failure) at recreating my mom's beef vegetable soup. I suspect I'll never succeed with that one... if for no other reason than because mom didn't make it.

My dirty little secret when it comes to making vegetable beef soup -- Lipton's French Onion soup mix. <<hangs head in shame>> I dice/shred up the beef, add it and the jus and the marrow, if there is any, along with any leftover onions; a quart of canned tomatoes (I puree mine first), a pint of tomato juice, a bag of frozen mixed veggies, and the onion soup mix. While that's cooking (30 minutes in the IP, however long I want to leave it on low in the slow cooker), I dice up any leftover carrots or potatoes from the pot roast. Those get thrown in just in time to get hot all the way through in the soup. Finishing touch is some Worcestershire sauce.

 

Don't know what it is about that onion soup mix, but it's the perfect seasoning/tie-it-all-together element for VB Soup.

 

FWIW, my roast is generally cooked in some wine and beef broth first.

[kbjesq]

@Thanks for the Crepes  if you toast your flour (in a dry skillet or toaster oven) before adding to your soup it will not have that "raw flour"  taste that you mention. I dislike that flavor as well. I usually will toast a few cups of flour at a time, and keep in the freezer to use as needed for thickening soups, sauces, gravy, etc. It's quite a handy ingredient to have in the freezer

 

 

 

 

 

21 hours ago, FeChef said: