Wednesday, December 14, 2011

#51 New Recipes: Crockpot Roast.... FAIL

Goal #51 on my Day Zero Project list had been going so well! I'd made 6 recipes and rocked them all. The tantalizing aroma that filled the air when I lifted the lid to my crockpot was full of false promises. This was the first recipe to not work out the way I thought it would and it was triply sad because not only was it a recipe I'd never tried before, but it was also my very first roast and my very first time using my slow cooker!!!

I am disappoint.

Perhaps if I was better acquainted with my slow cooker it would have gone better. Part of the reason I was excited about this recipe was because it takes 10 hours to cook - the exact amount of time between when I leave for work in the morning and come home in the afternoon. I wouldn't have to fool around with the timer or anything!... next time I'll set it on a timer, because 10 hours was WAY too long.

Crock Pot Roast

Ingredients:
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon rosemary
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 lbs top round roast beef (I used a 4 lbs piece... which means it should've needed to cook LONGER. Thank God I didn't use the 3 lbs! It would have been dry as a bone.)
5 garlic cloves, halved
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced (I had no onions on hand so I just used dried minced onion)
2 pieces bacon, cooked (not crispy)

1. Pour the red wine and water into the slow cooker crock; set aside

2. In a small bowl, combine the herbs, pepper, salt and olive oil; stir to combine.

3. Using clean hands, rub the oil and herb mixture all over the beef roast. Place the roast into the slow cooker crock. Sprinkle the garlic and onions around the roast and lay the bacon strips over top of the roast.
3. Cover and cook on low for 10 hours (LIES! THIS RECIPE IS LYING, I TELL YOU!)

4. Before serving, flip the roast over in the slow cooker, then turn the slow cooker off and let the roast rest in the slow cooker for about 15 minutes. Remove roast to a platter and let drain for a few minutes.

5. To serve, slice the meat against the grain. If you like, dip the roast slices into the cooking juices before serving or serve the cooking juices alongside the beef.

Now, here's the thing. I like my meat medium-rare, leaning towards the medium side. I was worried that, because I was using a bigger cut of meat than the recipe calls for, it wouldn't have cooked for long enough when I got home, so as soon as I got home I stuck a meat thermometer in it. Medium-rare meats should be 135 degrees. Medium meats are 145 degrees. Well done is 155. This chunk of meat was 165.

Do you see ANY PINK?! Do you?! *sigh* Barely. And cut against the grain? Yeah, not going to happen when the meat is falling apart into chunks instead of cutting. I would've done better to make it into brisket. In fact, that's kind of what it ended up looking like on my plate:

But not as juicy or moist, even after I'd poured juices from the pot over it.

Now... as much as I'm bitching about how this was an epic fail, it was, admittedly, a very flavorfull fail. It's the overdone-ness of the meat, its dry quality and tough chewiness that upset me so. If it had cooked for less time I think it would have been pretty amazing.

I am absolutely going to be making it again and cooking it for less time, sometime on a weekend when I can watch it and take its temperature repeatedly until I know the amount of time it should actually be cooked,and then I will write a blog about it called "Crockpot Roast... SUCCESS!"


5 comments:

  1. I like my food so cooked it's practically charcoal, so I think this recipe will work wonderfully for me!

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  2. YAY Well I'm glad it will work well for someone! =) It was very tasty, just not at all the temp I wanted.

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  3. The thing about slow cookers is that they are different sizes. So any recipe made in a big crockpot will take less time to cook than in a smaller one. Did it list the size of crockpot that they recipe was for?

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  4. Hm. No it did not, but that's good to know.
    Thanks =)

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  5. aw man that stinks! Yeah maybe next time it would be better to use a timer. At least all your other recipes were scrumptious!

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