The crockpot is not only conveniently hands-off, but it yields the most moist roast beef (not just chicken). It works every time.
Crockpot-roasting is especially good for grass-fed beef and yields very tender, moist meat.
The meat turns out best when cooked on low for at least, but often more than, 8 hours. Often, I let my roasts slow cook for 24 hours. If the meat is still a little frozen (not recommended), high works well. 😉 Don’t tell anyone I said that.
Like cooking heritage chickens, I advise adding water to about 2 inches to a large (mine is 6 quart) crockpot, along with the meat and liberal amounts of sea salt, pepper and garlic. Put the water in after the roast is in. 🙂
Other things to add: tomato paste or cumin. But salt, pepper and garlic are very simple and satisfying without anything else.
When the meat is falling-apart tender, I transfer it to a refrigerator storage dish, such as these from Anchor Hocking, and ladle in much of the flavorful juice. I shred it right then, into the size of pieces needed for the way I will use the meat. I taste and adjust the seasonings.
We most often use the shredded beef in sandwiches, flatbread pizzas, with rice bowls, or in skillet dishes.
How do you cook your roasts?
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Looks good! I just made beef stew yesterday in my crockpot. It’s been awhile since I have used it, need to use it more!
P.S. I often cook my roasts in my dutch oven. Yum!
Tiffany, double yum! I would like a Dutch oven. I keep hoping I will find one at a thrift store… Thanks for sharing how you do your roasts and stew. I am going to do a stew today in the crockpot.
I’m curious if you’ve been hearing the talk of possible lead in crockpots. 🙁
There’s always so much talk its hard to know if things are accurate or not.
Christie – *gasping* No, I haven’t heard this! Oh, boy… Can you point me to some links? I would not be surprised, but very disappointed…
There was a long thread on the Well-Trained Mind homeschool forum a couple of months ago. I never clicked on their links though, so don’t have “real” links to send you … like I said, I never know if things are overblown or true.
Actually, I think this confusion is very characteristic of society. We have so much information thrown at us, we either are overwhelmed or desensitized.
This recipe sounds delicious and I see that you follow Sally Fallon Morell’s NT guidelines. I am doing research trying to find out if Fallon USES a crock pot. I can’t find a reference to it anywhere in NT. Do you know Fallon’s ideas on the use of crock pots?
Camille – I’ve never seen a reference to a crockpot either. However, I’ve noticed among NT people talk of finding crockpots without lead used for the enameling of the actual crock. I know that http://cheeseslave.com/ has mentioned *somewhere* which crockpot is guaranteed not to have lead in it and she is a devout NT person. Getting a lead-free crock is on my radar to finalize soon! There is always room for improvement, isn’t there? Thanks for visiting! Enjoy the roast – you could do it in the oven on a low temp in an air-tight container with lots of liquid.
My mother in law uses homemade spaghetti sauce on her roasts, and the first time she did that I thought that sounded very strange for some reason. But it’s amazing good! My husband says the acid in the tomatoes tenderize the meat…either way, it makes for one tasty roast!
As far as the lead in the crockpot thing goes, I had also heard that…and that Rival brand has lead (which is the brand I have). I couldn’t find anything on Cheeseslave’s site, but did find this post on http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/789962/lead-free-slow-cooker
“I contacted Rival about the glaze on their crockpots. They are lead free.
Here is the email I received from them.
Hello Michelle,
I have just received your email and would like to thank you for writing. The glaze that we use on our products does not contain lead. It is made of silica flour, clay, feldspar, frit, and a few non-toxic minerals. These are ground up mixed, in specific quantities, with water. The resulting is slurry sprayed onto the pot and it is fired in the kiln at or around 1200-1600 degrees. If you need more information please contact us at 1(800)777-5452, 6am-3pm, MST, Monday through Friday.
Thank you,
Grace
Jarden Consumer Solutions”
This is comforting to know, as my crockpot is just about my best friend!
Do you think this method would work with a pork shoulder roast?
Thank you!
Carolyn — Yes!
I have tried doing this in my slow cooker (is that the same as a crock-pot?) many times and I always end up with dry meat. I use that amount of water and cook anywhere from 6-24 hours on low but every time it is dry. Am I doing something wrong or is my slow cooker just too hot?
Same for me Lisa. Every slow cooker I’ve ever had doesn’t seem to cook slow at all. Everything gets dried out. It doesn’t make sense.