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Bland pot roast


Milt

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Last evening I prepared a pot roast, using salt and pepper, red wine, and thyme. The carrots and potatoes were great, the gravy decent and the meat was rather tasteless. Was it the meat? Or was it my preparation? Regardless, what do you suggest to do now to improve the flavor of what is left.

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Best cut for a pot roast? This is on my list of things to make possibly this week. Slow cooker or dutch oven method?

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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My favorite for pot roast is chuck. I usually use a dutch oven in a slow oven.

Milt... Sometimes it is just the meat. I had that happen to me with a pork butt one time. I was in my HEB, usually pretty reliable for pork, and this piece just called out to me. It was well marbeled, exceptionally so, and I thought AH HA! It cooked up really fine looking but had as much taste as the styrofoam tray it arrived in.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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Fifi, right on on your picking a piece of lovely looking roast only to find out later that it was beyond your control ...

still, Milt, I would reduce the 'gravy' at the end of the cooking and slice the roast into that and reheat for it to gather more flavor (I do this with a brisket) .. and amen to the extra garlic and onions .. fixes everything ...

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

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:sad: NUTHIN' fixed that roast. :angry:

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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I made pot roast out of beef shoulder the other night and it tasted wonderful.

"Homer, he's out of control. He gave me a bad review. So my friend put a horse head on the bed. He ate the head and gave it a bad review! True Story." Luigi, The Simpsons

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How much pepper did you use? And how much wine? Maybe it might help to add more of both? I'm not sure. Bay leaves are also good. Also, if the meat isn't tasty, could it be possible to make the pieces smaller, so that it gets more of the sauce around it?

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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I would prepare a cooked marinade (raw alcohol pickles the meat - cooked, the flavor of the wine is what's left), then season the meat with S&P for an entire day. I would also choose a cut from the shoulder area - more flavor generally. That, a good and lengthy slow sear to develop caramelization and an adequate amount of aromatics, are what I depend on to deepen the flavor.

Paul

-Paul

 

Remplis ton verre vuide; Vuide ton verre plein. Je ne puis suffrir dans ta main...un verre ni vuide ni plein. ~ Rabelais

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I'm curious about the procedure that was used to cook this meat.

I'd have started by letting the meat marinate for several hours or overnight in wine with a mirepoix of a quartered onion, sliced carrots, and sliced celery. Add in some cloves of crushed garlic if you like. Then I'd sear the beef, saute the mirepoix, and then begin to braise. Even better would be to add in a pig's foot and some cured raw ham and throw in a bouquet garni. Season with salt and pepper. I think burned pepper tastes bitter so I wouldn't add it till this point.

Without knowing what was done, it's hard for me to comment further.

If the meat wasn't marinated and could stand some more cooking (i.e. it's not mush), I'd marinate the cooked meat and then braise for another hour.

You know, it could be as simple as checking the seasoning and adding some salt.

Edited by esvoboda (log)
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Thank you all for all o fyour help and suggestions. I did fail to mention that I did use Worcestershire sauce. So much for working from memory. I have used a variety of recipes in the past, and a variety of cuts of beef also. All have turned out well - of course, some better than others. This time I followed the Betty Crocker basic cookbook, and followed it to the letter for the oven preparation. I thought about onions and mushrooms when I was preparing the pot roast, but the recipe didn't call for them and, therefore, I didn't use them. My son, after tasting the meat, suggested that I should have marinated it first.

I love pot roast and am gradually learning more about the processes, ingredients, seasonings, etc. Thank you again. I'll prepare another soon.

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