Friday, May 29, 2009

How to Cook a Crock Pot Roast

By Jackie Lee

It doesn't matter if you are getting ready to cook a pork, beef or even venison roast. There are some basic tricks that will make the end result absolutely delicious. Roast is a great crock pot meal because not only is it delicious the first time around it can be repurposed in so many different ways, so the leftovers never go to waste.

You can make a well balanced meal out of roast with veggies you probably already have sitting in the kitchen. Potatoes, carrots, onions and green beans go great with roast. Make sure you cut your potatoes in equal size pieces, so they will cook evenly. You can add some potatoes to the bottom of the crock pot, since they take the longest to cook. You can even make up a packet of gravy and add it to the potatoes at the bottom. Add your carrots around the edges of your roast. Top your roast with the onions to keep them from turning to mush. If you want to add a splash of color add your green beans about 30 minutes before your cooking time is up. This will keep them from getting mushy.

You can season your roast with a variety of things. You can use a packet of onion soup mix. You can use cream of mushroom soup. You can also go ethnic choosing spices that correspond to maybe Italian or even Spanish flavors.

You can add dry spices in with your vegetables and roast, they will work just fine. If you are using fresh spices I would suggest waiting until the last hour of cooking time before you add them. Fresh herbs easily permeate the meat and will do well cooking in for such a short amount of time.

What is your cooking time going to be? It depends on a few factors. Your personal crock pot and its cooking temperature. The size of your roast. Whether it is frozen or thawed. No matter what any of these variables are you can bet on at least 6 hours to cook your roast. It may take as much as 9 if it is a large frozen roast. The more you cook roasts in your crock pot the better you will know how long it's going to need to cook.

Because the roast has to cook so long makes it a perfect meal to cook while you are gone at work. Yes, you can cook a roast in the middle of the week. In fact, you can do it quite easily. Starting with a frozen roast will minimize the chances of overcooking your roast while you are gone. You can even put it all together in the crock the night before. Just cover the crock with plastic wrap and set it in the fridge. You can easily uncover the crock and set it in the crock pot in the morning. Then all you have to do is set it and forget it.

Cooking roast in the crock pot has so many advantages. You can use cheaper cuts of meat and they will still be tender and delicious. It gives you a chance to have a family dinner. You know exactly what went into your food which is always better for your health. Roast used to be a Sunday food, but with your crock pot it can now be an easy Wednesday dinner.

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