my roast beef has been coming out tough, and i dont know why?

Question

ive tried usinjg wine, beef broth, combinations of the 2, 1 time it turned out great, the other 2 it was like eating leather (all 3 were good looking chuck roasts).... ive used a slow cooker, on different heats for different times... the only thing that was constant was that i submerged the meat all 3 times (which ive found out subsequently im not supposed to do, but to leave it at about 1/2)... i also made beef tips tonite in a roasted garlic and beer sauce and they turned out tougher than i wouldve liked, and im not sure why, could i be cooking them too quickley? or needing to do somehting im forgetting to?

Answer 1

So you think you have tough meat, eh? How tough is it? I bet I've seen tougher. And stringier. It's a contest, and it's on, bro! I will take you down in the tough meat contest.
Anyway, here's a recipe for chuck roast from my favorite food scientist, Alton Brown of Good Eats (I know you don't have cable, but he really is fabulous). On the show he discusses in marvelous technicolor chemical detail why meat toughens, but I don't remember at all, and it doesn't say on his website. So, I just gave you the recipe. Follow it or else.

1 (2-pound) blade cut chuck roast
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons cumin
Vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
5 to 6 cloves garlic, smashed
1 cup tomato juice
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup cocktail olives, drained and broken
1/2 cup dark raisins

Preheat the oven to 190-200 degrees F. Place a wide, heavy skillet or fry pan over high heat for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, rub both sides of meat with the salt and cumin. When the pan is hot (really hot) brown meat on both sides and remove from pan. Add just enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom of the pan then add the onion and garlic. Stir constantly until onion is softened. Add the tomato juice, vinegar, olives, and raisins. Bring to a boil and reduce the liquid by half. Create a pouch with wide, heavy duty aluminum foil. Place half the reduced liquid/chunk mixture on the foil, add the roast, and then top with the remaining mixture. Close the pouch, and wrap tightly in another complete layer of foil. Cook for 3 to 3 1/2 hours or until a fork pushes easily into the meat. Remove from oven and rest (still wrapped) for at least 1/2 hour. Snip off 1 corner of the foil pouch and drain the liquid into a bowl or measuring cup. Add some of the "chunkies" and puree with an immersion blender. Slice meat thinly, or pull apart with a fork. Serve with sauce.

Sounds delicous to me.

Answer 2

I don't know what your problem is but I'll tell you how I do beef roast. I brown both sides thoroughly, then put it on a trivet with water up to the bottom of the meat. I salt the meat, bring the water to a boil, and put a tight lid on the pan. I normally use a large cast iron skillet. When I put the lid on, I set the fire to a very low flame and more or less forget about the meat, checking on it about once an hour and adding water as necessary. When meat fork will go through it easily, it's done. Just before it reaches that stage, I put quartered potatoes, onions, and carrots in the pot along with the meat, then replace the lid. My roasts are never tough and are always juicy and full of flavor. One thing you might be doing is overcooking the meat. This can and does make the meat very chewy. Try testing it for tenderness about every half an hour after the first hour and a half of cooking time.

I hope this helps.

Answer 3

Salt your meat well ( a 3 lb roast may take as much as 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt). Rub it in good. Also, add lots of freshly ground pepper. Place the roast in a large pouch of foil and pour in 1 cup good red wine and 6 garlic cloves. Now comes the boring part. Seal the pouch, leaving plenty of room around the roast, and roast in a 230 degree oven (thats right 230) for about 3 hours. Remove the pouch from the oven, snip off the end and pour out the cooking liquid. Let the meat rest for about 15 minutes while you heat the oven to 500 degrees. Take roast out of the pouch and set the roast on a cooking rack and place in the hot oven for 10 minutes to put a crust on the outside. Reduce the cooking liquid to top the slices of roast with. Be sure you slice across the grain of the meat.

Answer 4

maybe your not cooking it long enough, cause chuck roast is the easiest thing to cook if ya know how. its hard to kill(overcook). i cook it in a stock pot on the stove with beef base, water, garlic cloves, pepper, thyme, bayleaves, onions, celery and lea and perrins. make sure you got plenty of liquid, about 4 inches higher than the roast. start out on high , turn it down when it starts boiling good to a low boil/simmer, cook for hours(size of roasts dictates how long) til it starts breaking loose with a fork and then add your fresh onions, carrots, celery and tators(earlier onions and celery were just to add flavor to roast and are mush!!) your roast should be falling apart good in 30-45 minutes from this point and vegies should be done by this time as well!! you can put it in a crock pot all day, too, but i like this method cause i have control over how cooked my vegies are. save the broth it is awsome for soups, gravies, potpies, frenchdips, onion soup...etc......

Answer 5

your best bet with any type of meat is to cook it low and slow, for longer periods of time, the meats are more tender and juicier that way. For the roasts, try searing them first to keep the juices in them, before putting them in a crockpot, you can do the same with the beef tips...and sometimes certain sauces can make meat tougher rather than more tender.

Answer 6

Roasts are one of those things that are generally best cooked on a low heat for a long time. And believe it or not, apple cider vinegar makes a good marinade too- possibly for the same reason wine does.

Answer 7

Try the slow cooker again, on LOW, and for a long time. For example, I will take a two pound one, and simply put salt and pepper on it, a little onion, then leave it for about 10 hours or up to 12. I guarantee it will come out tender, and also, not too much water.

Answer 8

Brown the meat first and avoid salt or anything with salt in it. Also the cut of meat can be tough to begin with. I like to use a marinade/tenderizer on those cuts. Chuck is tough. Tenderize it first..you can use a can of coke in the marinade and marinade it over night. Slow cook on low with a cup of water per pound. no more than a couple hours..the longer you cook a tough cut the tougher it will get. Key is slow cook on low heat ...no salt...and tenderize or marinade tough cuts first.

Answer 9

how long are you cooking the beef for? ususally you roast meat for 30 minutes for every pound of meat. so a 2lb. roast will take an hour.
anyhow for more tips:
http://www.epicurious.com

Answer 10

Try using meat tenderizer and use a roasting bag.