Susan's Musings

This chuck roast recipe is by far the best I have ever had. What makes this so easy is that the beginning high temperature sears the meat right in the roasting pan without using the stove top, and the delicious gravy practically makes itself while the meat is roasting.

Originally, I made this pot roast without the vegetables in the pot. I served it with mashed potatoes, green beans and dinner rolls. However, in the photo on the left I added baby carrots and celery to the pot, and served it with boiled potatoes. (See below for an updated version, which includes cooking a frozen chuck roast! (9/28/13)

Ingredients:
3-4 lbs chuck roast
1 tablespoon brown sugar
salt and pepper for rub
1 large onion, peeled, whole or quartered

Gravy:
5 cups water
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions:
Rub all sides of roast with salt, pepper, and brown sugar.
Place the meat into a roasting pan, uncovered.
Roast at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, turn roast over and roast for another 15 minutes. Remove from pan and put aside.

This is my new lasagna pan, and it’s great for pot roast – I love it!

In roasting pan, whisk together 5 cups of water, flour, 1 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Place roast back in roasting pan and pour some of the water mixture on top. Add onion. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees and roast for 3 hours (preferred method), or at 350 degrees for 2 hours, turning roast once at the halfway point of the cooking time. Unless the roast is completely covered with water/gravy, I would suggest covering the pan at this point to avoid the top from drying out.

Chop the onion into the gravy before serving. The kids don’t like onions, so I reserved some of the gravy without them.

Serve with mashed potatoes, biscuits and your choice of vegetable.

This time, I added baby carrots and celery to the roasting pan in the beginning, after browning the roast, and served with mashed potatoes.

Everyone raved about it, but I’d still prefer to cook it without the vegetables. Also, the gravy cooked out more than I would have liked. I placed the roasting pan over two burners and whisked in more water and flour. Keep an eye on the gravy and add more water or beef broth an hour before it’s done if it cooks out too much. You want at least two cups of gravy when finished.

Printable recipe without images:

9/29/13

Have you ever cooked a FROZEN roast?

This was one of those days when I was all prepared to season my chuck roast and sear it in the oven. Except for one thing. It was still FROZEN SOLID!! I was thinking that the roast was sitting in my refrigerator and completely thawed out. I had forgotten that it was only last night when I took it out of the freezer and placed it in the refrigerator. My fridge runs cold, so it would normally take a few days to thaw out a 4-lb. roast. Not only was the roast frozen, but I got a late start. It was almost 2 PM. I still had a good four to five hours before dinner, so I should have enough time (I hope). Unfortunately, there have been times when my roast would seem to cook all day and just never be tender enough. It has taken as much as five hours before. You can’t always be sure with cheaper cuts of meat.

I quickly went to the Internet to see how to cook a frozen chuck roast. To my surprise, I found many responses. The one I chose was where a woman seasoned and placed the roast in a 450 degree oven, which is what I always do at first, anyway. She continued to roast at the high temperature for several hours, but she was cooking a 10-12 lb. shoulder roast, and my chuck roast was just less than 4 lbs.

Since it was frozen, I skipped the rub in the beginning. I put it in the oven at 2:15 Pm. After 15 minutes on each side at 450, I stuck a fork in it and it was completely defrosted! I figured it had only been 45 minutes since I began to prep, so I really hadn’t lost that much time. I removed the browned meat and set it aside. I then added the salt, pepper and brown sugar to both sides.

In the roasting pan, I whisked together the water, flour, 1 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. I placed the roast back in the roasting pan and scooped some of the water mixture on top. I then added the onion.

This time, I decided to add baby carrots and celery to the pot. I lowered the oven to 350 and set the timer for 90 minutes. It was now 2:45 PM, so it looked like it would be done in time for dinner (I had figured dinner to be between 6 and 7 at the latest). I will see how far along it is and decide whether to continue at that temp. I just don’t want the roast to dry out. Even though it’s sitting in five cups of water, it will evaporate and I need to keep an eye on it.

4:15 PM. Internal temperature was 150F, but since it’s a chuck roast it still has a ways to go before it’s tender enough. I need to be able to cut it with a fork. The tops of the meat and veggies are singed, so I gave it a good stir, turned the meat, and covered it with foil. Back in the oven for another hour or so.

5:30 PM. Checked pot roast for tenderness. Will wait until 6 PM to start potatoes.

6:00 PM. Peeled and quartered russet potatoes, and boiled in a separate pot for 20 minutes.

6:30 PM. Removed from oven and placed chuck roast on large platter, surrounded with potatoes, carrots, onions and celery. Served with gravy and warm dinner rolls.

Chalk this one up to another wonderful Sunday dinner.

Family Rating:

Bon appétit!

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