The Crockpot Roast

The next most favorite thing to cook in my handy dandy crockpot, is the ever easy Roast.  You toss it in, toss the ingredients in, and poof, a delicious dinner for a family of 8 without breaking a sweat.

We are red meat eaters, so any chance to cook something other then chicken in the crockpot my husband jumps at.  I prefer chicken over the red meat, but eh, being married means we all make some sacrifices right? But this meal? This meal isn't a sacrifice.  Its delicious, and its almost always either half of all the way gone before the night is through.

I like this particular recipe because it makes a bunch of gravy (so if you accidentally cook it too long like we did, it has a good gravy to go over the top that helps).  I like the gravy to have to pour  over potatoes, veggies, and of course the meat.

This is one of my favorite roasts to cook as well as the 3 envelope pot roast (that will be in next month's recipes).    As you can see below the roast is only slightly pink, so a little bit more well done then I would have liked it to be. This was done after 4 hours.  My husband just happened to check on it (notice he does this a lot?) and said it was done (the recipe calls for 8 hours of cooking!).  So I left the crockpot on warm and went about the remainder of the day since we didn't want to eat dinner at 2pm (what is this Sunday?!).

So there's an important lesson in this, that is good to know (even us seasoned crock potters make mistakes, as you can see).  If you keep the crockpot on warm, it still will continue to cook your meal.  So, if your roast is just a teensy bit rarer then you like, switch it to warm if its still an hour or two till dinner.  It will cook but not as much as the low setting.

Remember, all crockpot's are different. Some cook at higher temperatures then others.  The key is to learn how your crockpot cooks.  If it runs warmer the times will be shorter, if it runs cooler the times will be longer.  Use the times with each of these recipes , but watch closely.  Watch bigger things (like the roasts) an hour before its scheduled to be done, see how its coming along.

Anyways, once you get down how the crock pot cooks, timing your meals will be a breeze! 

How many of you have tried the Roast?

Beef Roast

3lb beef roast (seared on all sides, rub with olive oil, salt and pepper prior to searing)

Pepper to Taste (I use a pinch of pepper)

1 packet of Dry Onion Soup Mix

1 small can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup water

Cook low 5-8 hours