Pot roast is a hearty meal to eat when it's cold out.
Coming home to a meal ready to put on the table helps busy families relax and unwind for the evening. Slow cookers are an invaluable cooking appliance that creates delicious meals, demanding little or no attention during the cooking process. Pot roasts are an easy meal to put in a since the roasts need long cooking at low temperatures to tenderize. Any roast works well in a slow cooker and you can use beef, pork or even venison roasts to make a healthy meal with a little preparation.
Instructions
1. Place a tablespoon of cornstarch in the bottom of the slow cooker and mix it with a fork with 2 or 3 tablespoons of cold water until the cornstarch has dissolved and there are no lumps. The cornstarch thickens the juices that form in the slow cooker, creating thicker gravy.
2. Wash the vegetables and peel if you want. Chop the vegetables into smaller pieces unless you are using baby carrots or new potatoes. Carrots, quartered onions, diced celery and potatoes are the typical additions to a pot roast, but you can omit some of these and add others if you like. Some people like turnips or rutabagas in a pot roast instead of potatoes. You can also add garlic. You can season the vegetables with herbs like rosemary, peppercorns, bay leaves or thyme for added flavor.
3. Stir the vegetables with the cornstarch and the seasonings of your choice to coat them evenly.
4. Remove the pot roast from the packaging and place it on top of the vegetables. Set the slow cooker to low for all-day cooking or high to cook it within six hours, depending on the size of the roast. Avoid the temptation to lift the cover in the slow cooker since it loses heat each time you lift the cover. Slow cookers do not reheat as fast as stovetop or oven cooking.
5. Insert a fork into the roast. If the meat breaks apart, the roast has finished cooking. Place the cooked roast on a serving platter, sliced thin, and place the vegetables around the meat. If you like perfectly smooth gravy, strain it and put it in a bowl or gravy boat.
Tags: slow cooker, cooker since, lift cover, place vegetables, slow , Slow cookers