Roast beef in a slow cooker

SkeeterUK

SkeeterUK

SkeeterUK

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Anyone know a good way for roast beef in a slow cooker with nice chared outside edging? I was gona sear it in my non stick pan on full blast with a bit of olive oil rubbed all over and do each side 30 sec or so then put some rub on I bought PRI PRI mild stuff I bought then on a bed of onions in slow cooker then on low for 8 hours and do some potato and carrots and peas in other pans and some frozen Yorkshires near the end. Would that work or somit else.

I want to be able to slice it but also be soft and tender enough but without it breaking apart for slicing
 
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Pre-sear is a good idea but you'll almost certainly want to do a post-sear too (I do pre and post with sous vide cooking and it works well).

It's going to be a little tough to get the texture you want with a slow cooker though. I think you may have to experiment a little.

What cut of beef will you be using? This will make a huge difference to how you need to approach the cooking.
 
If you want to slice the beef then you're better off cooking it on high. The lower the temperature the longer you have to cook it and the more tender it becomes.
 
I wouldn't recommend it - rump goes a bit grainy and chalky in the slow cooker. Slow cooker is better for something like a brisket/skirt - sinuous or fatty meat, cooked long and slow - not a prime cut.

In any case if you want to give it a go sear it well first and slap it in the oven/BBQ when finished to get the crisp.

Happy to be corrected on this if anyone has made it work.
 
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What I've done with lamb shoulder is sear in a cast iron pan, braise in a low heat, then finish in an oven at max to crisp up. I know it's not beef, but principle should apply.
 
Pics to come later but I've done some carrots potatoes and onions bed in the slow cooker then I removed the basing fat that came with roast so there is less fat. Then I covered with EV olive oil and then rubbed the pri pri stuff all over then left it 5 mins to warm the skillet up.

So I pan sear it by having it on full wack after about a minute and a half, I then added some olive oil to the pan then placed the meat in. About 20 seconds per side. Only had 2 forks to help turn the meat as no tongs but sooo wish I had em cos doing the small end of the meat was hard and the damn pan moved and somehow caught fire and there was a woosh of flame going up about a foot and geez what a shock. Thought I was in trouble lol but nah I moved the pan quick enough and it went away quick as it came. Had to open window tho cos if fire alarm went off I'd have the neighbours complaining due to early morning haha.

So gona leave it on low for just about 8 hours. Maybe 7 I dunno then use warm feature till family gets over here.

PIC of it just before I switched it on.
http://i.imgur.com/K97qfnCl.jpg
 
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As above, top rump shouldn't be done like that really. I'm sure you can get a nice result but it will be very easy to end up with something that tastes overcooked. Good luck anyhow :)
 
Well I want to use my slow cooker so has to be done. I just wasn't sure which way to go high or low setting and time wise and what went in. Hopefully it comes out OK, hopefully crispy on the outside and moist and tender but nor too tender on the inside. I've looked on utube and websites it looks like it can be done OK I just hope I do it OK.
 
SkeeterUK said:
Well I want to use my slow cooker so has to be done. I just wasn't sure which way to go high or low setting and time wise and what went in. Hopefully it comes out OK, hopefully crispy on the outside and moist and tender but nor too tender on the inside. I've looked on utube and websites it looks like it can be done OK I just hope I do it OK.
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Do you have any idea what temperature the slow cooker gets to on warm/low/high? If you've already seared the outside I'd actually be tempted to just use warm (assuming it keeps it at about 55C). As long as the temperature is above 54C it will be safe and if it's 60C or below you'll end up with very tasty top rump.

edit: To be honest, it would actually be safe at lower temperatures if you've properly seared the outside but the texture might be a little too rare for some if you have it below 52C.
 
According to the documentation you've linked to the crock pot will reach almost 100C and stay there. This is well past the point of well-done and into the realms of ruined meat, aside from when you're attempting to cook the meat to the point of it falling apart. Unfortunately if you don't pull it out of the cooker quite early I think you're going to end up with either something extremely dry or pulled beef. Between the two, I'd choose pulled personally.

edit: That said, if the meat is on a bed of onions/etc and not in liquid you might get away with it as it will essentially be the same as roasting it at 100C. Even then I'd expect it to take more like 2-3 hours absolute maximum to reach a reasonable internal temperature.
 
It turned out OK not great tho. It was rather dry and not moist and shrunk a bit. Still was a nice dinner tho but if I were to do it again I'd not do 8 hours more like 5-6 on low. Also even tho I removed the added on top fat off and threw it away it still released a lot of juices/liquid which made a nice gravy tho I think next time I'd add salt and pepper to the gravy when thickening. The veg I put in with the meat tho was delish.
 
Can't have slow cooker and roast in the same sentence. You can't roast in a slow cooker. It was never going to come out well, or in the intended way. Sous vide would have, but not slow cooker.
 
ants83 said:
The problem is it tesco value.
Why eat this when a butchers meat it 10x better than this.
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That's not the problem at all in this case. It was simply overcooked.

I agree that buying meat from a butcher will often get you a far nicer end product not everyone can afford to do that all the time. Even if you do start with decent meat you're only half way there and botching the cooking of it will still yield exactly the same results as botching the cooking of cheaper meat.
 
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Doing some beef brisket I got in slow cooker tomorrow I got a meat thermometer as well. What kinda temp should I be looking at for moist slightly pinkish colour for when its done and how long to let it stand and stuff. Its 0.850kg ish. Expected more marbeling on it but can't see much on my brisket. Bought from tesco butcher section. Oh how long u reckon I should have it in the crock pot on low? I was gona guess for 4 to 5 hours? Probably checking at 4 he mark for temp then every half hour after perhaps in order to make doubly sure it doesn't over cook this time even tho its a diff cut of meat I still should be careful.

I know I could do it in oven but what's the point of having a slow cooker if I don't use it which is mainly for casseroles or big chunks of meat.

Will brown it first of course about 25 sec per side before crock pot time and it will again be on bed of onions carrots and tata. Maybe use PKT of beef cassarole mix in half pint of boiled water.
 
So brisket is the kind of cut you should've used initially. You'll need to cook it for a long long time to get it tender and it won't be pink in the middle. If you cook it until it's just pink in the middle it's going to be incredibly tough.

For the results you want this time, you'll need something more like the cut you used the first time.
 
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