I look at your question this way :
Slowcookers cook meat in a similar manner to cooking them in the oven in a covered pot.
you have noted : " the meat tends to be a little on the dry side. " from a crock pot. its also that way w
a traditional braise or stew. the meat contracts at the final ' pot ' temp , which is greater than 130 F
possibly as high as 170 to 180 F
that squeezes out moisture and fat, from the meat. that's where you gravy flavor comes from. Braises are better the next day
as the meat muscle relaxes and some of that Jus goes back into the meat. but its still going to be ' drier ' than
that same meat cooked SV 130 F + as you add more SV temp , the muscle contracts a little more and thus
more Jus in the bag. I like to try to keep at least most of the jus in the meat.
so : cook your meat SV to your desired temp , and BTW you get tenderness in tough cuts but picking a longer
SV time. use the jus in the SV bag for your gravy . it looks awful , but it will taste fine.
the conflict here is that at say at SV 140 F you will have less Jus in the bag , than say at 180 F
but at that higher temp , you will get ' braise ' meat , ie a little dry
you can not create flavor out of nothing. so if you want a full flavored gravy , and want tender succulent meat
( SV 130 - 140 F ) you need to find a flavor supplement that does not come from the meat.
this seems complicated , but is not.
