This is for a plain roast using either pork or beef. Usually we serve this with whipped potatoes and some sort of vegetable, but it's also good as a base for barbecue sandwiches the next day. It rarely ever lasts more than two days in our house.
You need: slow cooker with a lid (about 6-8 C size) about 2 lbs of pork or beef (we use tenderloin and brisket, respectively) 1 beef bullion cube about a cup of water (alternately, you can use a cup of beef stock, if you're concerned about salt) 3 T of table salt (you can scale this)
Start this early in the morning. It's going to take quite a while to finish cooking, so you want to have time. We tend to let it cook for about eight hours or so. Start it around 9 and it should be ready for dinner by 5. 1. Place meat in cold slow cooker (we use a crock pot) and heat your water, just warm enough to melt the bullion cube. You want to use a cooker that's just big enough to hold the meat without seeing a lot of empty space around it. 2. Dissolve the bullion in the water, pour around the sides of the meat. Try to get the thing stuffed down in there fully, so that the meat is sitting on the bottom of the dish. 3. Now plug the thing in and turn it on to high heat to start. Sprinkle a bit of the salt in around the meat, and cover it with the lid. Walk away. 4. In a couple of hours, come back and check on it. Don't be too concerned if the liquid is trying to bubble out from under the lid. That's not unusual. You may need to turn the meat at this point. Turn the heat down to low if it's cooking too fast. Essentially, you want to slow-simmer it in its own juice. 5. As it gets closer to dinner time, keep checking your roast. It should shrink a bit, and exhibit a nice colour by about 5-6 hours. 6. Around hour 7, take a couple of forks and open the lid. Be careful of the steam. Take your forks and try pulling apart the fibres of the meat. They should separate easily, and you should see juice run from between them. It's ok to just leave it in there at this point, just sitting there keeping warm. This is also when you probably want to start your sides. If your slow-cooker has a warming setting, you can use that too, I guess. Ours doesn't have one, so idk what that would do.
When the meat is done, lift it out of the liquid and place it on a rack to be carved or separated as you see fit. The liquid is now stock, and if you let it set in the refrigerator after it cools, you'll get a layer of white, solid fat at the top. This can be scooped off easily, as it's consistency is different from the broth, or you can leave it on, if you like your stock with a little extra....slippery. Ta-da, pot roast!!
Serve with potatoes, biscuits and any frozen vegetables you have in the fridge. Rib stickin' meals should be served with good beer.
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timeasmymeasure
Pork/Beef Pot Roast
Date: 2011-02-24 05:23 am (UTC)You need:
slow cooker with a lid (about 6-8 C size)
about 2 lbs of pork or beef (we use tenderloin and brisket, respectively)
1 beef bullion cube
about a cup of water
(alternately, you can use a cup of beef stock, if you're concerned about salt)
3 T of table salt (you can scale this)
Start this early in the morning. It's going to take quite a while to finish cooking, so you want to have time. We tend to let it cook for about eight hours or so. Start it around 9 and it should be ready for dinner by 5.
1. Place meat in cold slow cooker (we use a crock pot) and heat your water, just warm enough to melt the bullion cube. You want to use a cooker that's just big enough to hold the meat without seeing a lot of empty space around it.
2. Dissolve the bullion in the water, pour around the sides of the meat. Try to get the thing stuffed down in there fully, so that the meat is sitting on the bottom of the dish.
3. Now plug the thing in and turn it on to high heat to start. Sprinkle a bit of the salt in around the meat, and cover it with the lid. Walk away.
4. In a couple of hours, come back and check on it. Don't be too concerned if the liquid is trying to bubble out from under the lid. That's not unusual. You may need to turn the meat at this point. Turn the heat down to low if it's cooking too fast. Essentially, you want to slow-simmer it in its own juice.
5. As it gets closer to dinner time, keep checking your roast. It should shrink a bit, and exhibit a nice colour by about 5-6 hours.
6. Around hour 7, take a couple of forks and open the lid. Be careful of the steam. Take your forks and try pulling apart the fibres of the meat. They should separate easily, and you should see juice run from between them. It's ok to just leave it in there at this point, just sitting there keeping warm. This is also when you probably want to start your sides. If your slow-cooker has a warming setting, you can use that too, I guess. Ours doesn't have one, so idk what that would do.
When the meat is done, lift it out of the liquid and place it on a rack to be carved or separated as you see fit. The liquid is now stock, and if you let it set in the refrigerator after it cools, you'll get a layer of white, solid fat at the top. This can be scooped off easily, as it's consistency is different from the broth, or you can leave it on, if you like your stock with a little extra....slippery. Ta-da, pot roast!!
Serve with potatoes, biscuits and any frozen vegetables you have in the fridge. Rib stickin' meals should be served with good beer.