Gary wrote:
>Sky wrote:
>> Gary wrote:
>> > I would skip the flour and just sear the heck out of the roast on all
>> > sides before cooking. If you want thickening, you can always add the
>> > flour to the juices at the end.
>>
>> Tha works, too. Er, except, it's not wise to add the "thickener"
>> (wheat, rice, corn, whatever flour) afterwards. The 'thickener' should
>> cook along with everything else as to 'meld' Otherwise, there's too
>> much of the 'raw' (flour) taste .. .. .. .. and that has to get 'cooked'
>> away. Hopefully, that makes sense, eh?!
>
>A rhyme he Hi Sky! :-D
>
>Yes, what you say makes perfect sense. I guess I worded that wrong. When
>I say thicken at the end, I should have said thicken near the end
>(before cooking is done). If I'm cooking whatever for a couple of hours,
>I'll thicken it maybe 15 minutes before it's done cooking. I do that
>even when making homemade spaghetti sauce. I'll simmer it for hours
>,then near the end if it needs thickening, I'll add a can of tomato
>paste and more spice. Stir in well and simmer for a bit longer.
>
>That said, for a long time I didn't know about cook the flour to
>eliminate the raw taste. To make a flour sauce/gravy, I would add flour
>to melted butter, stir then immediately add the milk or broth. I've
>found that once adding flour to the butter, best to stir and cook just
>that for about a minute before adding the liquid.
>
>Once I learned this, I've eliminated the "cream of" soups for
>gravy/sauce.

No kinda flour, I think it's better to thicken a pot roast with
barley. I very often use a 5 lb top round to fill a 10 qt pot with a
thick beef barley soup. Still gets a couple three diced onion, a
pound of carrots pared/diced, a red bell pepper diced (adds color), ~6
ribs celery diced, a pound+ 'shrooms, a few sprigs curly leaf parsley
minced, a couple three bay leaves, a big pinch marjoram, s n'p. With
barley it needs no taters, no onion soup mix (blech), no garlic with
barley and 'shrooms. Start by tying, seasoning, and browning beef
roast (med heat, no burning, tying makes for easier flipping without
stabbing). Cover with water and braise/LOW simmer browned beef until
cooked about half way through (fork to test), then add everything
else. Remove meat before it falls into shreds and is still sliceable,
continue cooking until barley thickens soup to your liking. Adjust
seasoning, I use msg, enables for far less sodium. I measure
everything by eye and to taste... I'd typically use the full pound of
barley, if too thick add water. If you have dehy wild 'shrooms adds
more flavor, plain button 'shooms work, canned works too. Slice roast
and serve hot/cold with horseradish sauce with a big bowl of steaming
soup. Send your Pressure Processor to the scrap heap... the very best
it can do is recreate canned soup.