Dutch Oven Pot Roast

Grandpas Grub (Kent)

Ingredients

1 boneless chuck-eye roast approx. 3 ½ pounds ( I don’t worry too much about the cut of meat, but I try to get a large piece)
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped (up to 3 onions see note)
6 red potatoes quartered (or baker potatoes)
2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth ( I use as needed see note)
1 cup low-sodium beef broth ( I use as needed see note)
1 small celery rib, chopped medium
1 sprig fresh thyme ( or 1/2 tsp thyme)
1 small carrot, chopped medium (2 or 3 see note)
2 tsp sugar
1 – 1 ½ cup water
¼ cup dry red wine (optional – I don’t use) I use more broth

Instructions

Pat meat dry with paper towels Salt (natural or kosher) and ground pepper (as fresh as you can get) generously.

Put DO on egg (or stove top). Heat the oil (not to smoke point) and brown the meat on all sides apx 7 minutes each side. At times I will sear the meat I like the ‘goodies’ in the bottom of the DO which will add great flavor in the cook. Transfer the meat to a plate and set aside.

Your egg should be about 300° grid (or stabilized dome at about 330°) the grate temp is what’s important here. Put the DO on the egg. You may need to add a little more vegetable oil or (EVOO) to the pan. Add the onions, carrots and potatoes to the DO. Cook with some occasional stirring for about 7 minutes – soften the vegies.

Push the mix away from a spot in the center of the pan. Add the sugar and garlic to the bare spot with continuous stirring for about 30 seconds – we don’t want the garlic/sugar to burn. Add some of the chicken/beef broth and thyme. Scrape the bottom of the DO with a wooden spoon to loosen those browned bits.

Add the roast to the DO add enough chicken, beef broth & water up to the center of the meat. All veggies should be covered with the liquid. You will have pre judge to see how many veggies to add and brown in the previous step. Your egg setting is set to maintain 300° at the grid level, don’t play with the vents as it is going to take some time for the egg to bring the liquid up to our desired 300°. We do not want the mixture boiling just a simmer (almost but not boiling).

At any point add your flavor wood if you are going to use it, I like cherry. Do not lid the DO.

The following takes me about 5 to 6 hours to complete...

Cook for about 1 hour. Making sure you are not at a boil and the liquid is still at about ½ way up the meat. Grid temp at 300°. If you feel you need to, you can turn the meat. Check the liquid level and let cook another hour. Turn the roast and let cook another hour.

Now at the 3 hour point...

Check liquid levels and meat temp – don’t panic here as you can’t over cook with this method. At this point begin to pay more attention to the meat temps. We want to get the meat to a target meat temp of 210° and to cook at that temp for 1 hour for me this takes another 1 to 3 hours. The time is not all that critical, it is critical to let the meat get to 210° and cook for an hour.

You can begin to check the meat tenderness at any time. We are looking for it to be very easy to insert a fork or knife in the meat with very little or no resistance. The meat will literally cut with a spoon. When done remove the DO from the egg (leave vent settings alone for now unless you want to complete over the stove). Pull the meat and set aside, tent or wrap in AF depending on eat time.

Remove the veggies from the DO they will be extremely soft and flavorful. Now while the liquid is warm add S&P to taste. Let the liquid sit for awhile and spoon off any grease (I seldom find much grease).

What you do from here will depend on what your cooking intent is. For gravy, use a roux (mix warm water to corn starch or flour) then add the roux to the liquid to make gravy. You will need to bring the entire mixture to a boil to thicken so keep stirring so you don’t burn the liquid. OR if making sandwiches/subs: S&P to taste and keep cooking to reduce the liquid to get a very rich and flavorful taste for the subs. You may want to thicken the liquid a little with a roux to give some body to the juice.

Notes for making subs… For vegetables use more onions (4 or 5) & slice, no potatoes, carrots 1 and dice small, celery 1 rib and dice very small or cut in 3rds and remove and toss when pulling the meat. I will leave it to you on how you want to build the sandwich other than to say if you want less of a soggy bun use mayo or butter as a moisture barrier for the liquid in the meat. If you want soggy sandwich’s then add more juice as the bread will have a tendency to take the moisture out of the meat. S&P the onion (veggies) to taste before building sandwich’s. Use a good amount of your favorite cheese mozzarella mixed with other cheeses is great. The juice will add great flavor to the sub. Enjoy.

Notes

If there is enough room in my DO I will add more onion, potatoes, carrots and more chicken & beef broth in equal amounts. The veggies will be as good as the finished roast and will add great flavor to the resulting gravy or juice depending on what you decide to make.

Number of Servings:

Time to Prepare: 15 min. Cook 3-6 hrs