How to Cook Pot Roast

Pot roasts are something that many of us reminisce about, a favored form of home-style cookery. In this how-too, we'll go through the tips and tricks of how to cook this delicious meal.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Beef pot roast - can be labeled chuck or 7-bone.
• Dutch oven or pot & pan
• Vegetable oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Liquid - beef broth and wine are good options
• Aluminum foil

1. The first thing you want to do is take the meat out of the packaging and rinse it in the sink. This makes sure the meat's clean and that there's no leftover bits of plastic hanging around.
2. You need to decide what you're cooking the roast in. If you have a dutch oven (largish heavy pot with tight-fitting lid), then you can use that for both of the next two steps. If you don't have a dutch oven, not to worry. A pan to brown the meat in and a simple pot with lid will work as well.
3. Next, the dutch oven or pan needs to be heated to medium heat and a tablespoon of oil added. Once the pan's hot, carefully put the meat in, rotating it so that all of the large sides are browned. Browning goes fastest if you don't move the meat, so try to restrain peeking. While the meat's browning, add some pepper to the raw sides.
4. After the meat's well browned, we cook it with a small amount of liquid. for most roasts 1 cup of liquid is plenty. If the roast has been browned in a dutch oven it can stay there for this step, but if you've browned the meat in a pan it needs to move to the pot. Pour the stock or wine into the pot, place a sheet of aluminum foil over the pot then place the lid on top of the foil. This will create a tighter seal and keep the moisture in with the roast.
5. Once in the pot and foiled, the pot needs to either go in a 200 degree oven or on the stove on low. The idea here is not to have the liquid furiously boiling, but instead to have it just below the boil, otherwise known as simmering. The meat should cook for 2 or 3 hours or until it starts to fall apart. Cut up root vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, and parsnips can be added at about the 1 hour mark for a 1-pot meal.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't peek at the roast once you've covered it - this will only vent moisture.
• This isn't a last-minute meal. 3-4 hours for preparation and cooking time is not unreasonable.
• This is a great way to buy a cheap cut of meat, not put a lot of work into it, and get a great meal out of it.
• Be careful when opening the pot - steam will be present. Lift the lid and foil away from you to vent the steam.
• Always be sure that the roast is fully cooked before eating. Beef should reach a temperature of 170 F.