If you’ve had bad luck cooking beef roast, you’re not alone. I often talk to customers who would prefer to just get some hamburger because they don’t want to deal with or aren’t sure how to handle certain cuts of beef, especially the roasts. I’m here to tell you the absolute easiest way to cook a roast and have it turn out tender and juicy.
If you look up beef roast recipes online, you’re likely to get a variety of complicated and time consuming instructions on what to do with the roast such as: let the roast sit out for 2 hours to bring it up to room temperature, sear the roast in a frying pan before cooking, roast in the oven at a high temperature for an hour and then turn the temp down for a couple hours to finish cooking, roast for 30 minutes per pound, sauté vegetables in a pan and set aside for later, cook the roast for 2 hours, 3 hours, 4 hours, etc.
Some of these recipes may be good, but they’re also going to require more dishes and more time in the kitchen. Plus, questionable results to go along with it.
We don’t use these recipes in our house and the reason why is simple. We just want to put a healthy, delicious meal on the table for our family. Complicated recipes are not required.
The one thing that is required for this method is a crock pot/slow cooker. We have a simple crock pot with a manual control knob and a low, high, and warm setting. We choose not to keep a multi-cooker/instapot, air fryer, toaster oven, or indoor grill, because the slow cooker is such a simple and versatile small appliance. Its inexpensive, reliable, and we use it every week. You can get one for $40.
Here’s a frozen arm roast that has just been put in the crock pot.
Simple steps for a delicious roast:
Take a roast directly from your freezer, remove that wrapping and place it in the slow cooker.
Add your favorite seasoning (we like beef bullion)
You can also add cubed vegetables for a full one pot meal (onion, potatoes, carrots…)
Adding just enough water to cover the bottom of the pot is a good idea if you won’t be around to check on it
Put the lid on the slow cooker and set it on low
Go to work
Come back 8-10 hours later to a hot and ready meal at home
9 hours later, it’s ready to be shredded
No nonsense shredded beef roast
That’s it! One of the best parts about this, is that it can be a last-minute decision before you go to work for the day. Not sure what you’re going to prepare for supper? Grab a roast from the freezer and throw it in the crock pot.
If you’re making roasts this way, and they’re not turning out fork tender, chances are that they need more cooking time. 8-10 hours is a good range. Again, this is for a frozen roast. If it’s already thawed, the time will be less.
Because of the low and slow heat, and high moisture in the crock pot, this method is hard to screw up. The one time I thought I really messed it up, ended up being one of the best roasts I ever made.
I put a roast in a 6am, and I didn’t add any water. I left for work, and I got home around 5:30. When I looked in the crock pot, I thought I had made a big mistake. The bottom was dry, and the roast looked a little shriveled up with dark brown and black edges. Turns out, the dark brown was just an extra flavorful crust around the roast, and the inside was still tender with plenty of moisture. So even when I thought I screwed it up, this method proved to offer plenty of flexibility.
We also use this same method, for pork roasts, and whole chickens. Sometimes, whole chickens don’t fit because the legs stick up too high to put the lid on. In that case we just make a lid out of tinfoil and seal it around the edges of the crock pot.
If you want to practice your chef skills and use an in-depth roast recipe, go for it! If you’re just looking to put a week night home cooked meal on the table for your family, try this no nonsense method. I think you’ll like it!
Sincerely,
Herman