I had pot roast on the menu for today. I usually use a Dutch oven and
cook for about 3-4 hours with potatoes, carrots and celery.

I forgot we had to be someplace at 2pm, and probably won't get home
until about 4, so I went with the crock pot instead.

My question is, if I want to add potatoes and carrots, what's the
minimum time they need in the crock pot?

I'm assuming I can't put them in now and cook them all day, right?

In article >,
wrote:

> I had pot roast on the menu for today. I usually use a Dutch oven and
> cook for about 3-4 hours with potatoes, carrots and celery.
>
> I forgot we had to be someplace at 2pm, and probably won't get home
> until about 4, so I went with the crock pot instead.
>
> My question is, if I want to add potatoes and carrots, what's the
> minimum time they need in the crock pot?
>
> I'm assuming I can't put them in now and cook them all day, right?

Place them properly and you won't have to worry about it.

When I layer a crockpot, I do it in this order:

Grain (usually barley)
Root veggies (carrots, spuds)
Onions
Meat on the top.

Top with your choice of dried or fresh herbages.

IME, root veggies such as carrots and spuds (and radishes and turnips)
take longer to cook than even tough cuts of meat. Onion, leeks, garlic,
shallots and scallions are softer so go on top of those.

The bottom of the crock pot is hotter.

Meat goes on top with spices.
--
Peace! Om

I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe. -- Dalai Lama

> wrote:

> I'm assuming I can't put them in now and cook them all day, right?

Yes.

-sw

Sqwertz wrote:
> > wrote:
>
>
>>I'm assuming I can't put them in now and cook them all day, right?
>
>
> Yes.
>
> -sw

I don't crock pot so i don't know how it would work in one but when i
make a stove top, dutch oven pot roast i caramelize some sliced onion &
diced carrots in butter & oil in the dutch oven. Then, when the carrots
and onions are sufficiently caramelized add the rough dice of the raw
carrots, onions & celery to cook with the browned meat for 3 - 4 hours.

After the 3 - 4 hours of cooking & skimming i then remove the meat from
the pot, strain the cooking liquid & dead, over cooked veggies through a
cheese cloth lined colander (pressing firmly on the veggies to get out
as much of their juices as i can) and return it to the dutch oven.
Return the meat to the skimmed cooking liquid and then add the carrots,
onions, celery, green pepper, potatoes to be simmered for another 10 -
15 minutes and served and eaten with the pot roast.

It is at the beginning of the last 10 minutes or so of cooking that i
would add crushed garlic, sage, a pinch of cumin, worsteschire sauce and
i do like some red wine in my pot roast, which i would be adding all
through the cooking process. A good hearty Burgundy.
--
JL

"Omelet" > wrote in message
news
> In article >,
> wrote:
>
>> I had pot roast on the menu for today. I usually use a Dutch oven
>> and
>> cook for about 3-4 hours with potatoes, carrots and celery.
>>
>> I forgot we had to be someplace at 2pm, and probably won't get home
>> until about 4, so I went with the crock pot instead.
>>
>> My question is, if I want to add potatoes and carrots, what's the
>> minimum time they need in the crock pot?
>>
>> I'm assuming I can't put them in now and cook them all day, right?
>
> Place them properly and you won't have to worry about it.
>
> When I layer a crockpot, I do it in this order:
>
> Grain (usually barley)
> Root veggies (carrots, spuds)
> Onions
> Meat on the top.
>
> Top with your choice of dried or fresh herbages.
>
> IME, root veggies such as carrots and spuds (and radishes and
> turnips)
> take longer to cook than even tough cuts of meat. Onion, leeks,
> garlic,
> shallots and scallions are softer so go on top of those.
>
> The bottom of the crock pot is hotter.
>
> Meat goes on top with spices.
> --
> Peace! Om


That's the same way I do it in the crock pot, I like the vegetables
and meats cooked together as the flavors are all through the
vegetables. I also don't like tender crisp vegetables in stews and
pot roasts,
CC

On Feb 22, 2:18*pm, "CC" > wrote:
> "Omelet" > wrote in message
>
> news >
>
>
> > In article >,
> > wrote:
>
> >> I had pot roast on the menu for today. *I usually use a Dutch oven
> >> and
> >> cook for about 3-4 hours with potatoes, carrots and celery.
>
> >> I forgot we had to be someplace at 2pm, and probably won't get home
> >> until about 4, so I went with the crock pot instead.
>
> >> My question is, if I want to add potatoes and carrots, what's the
> >> minimum time they need in the crock pot?
>
> >> I'm assuming I can't put them in now and cook them all day, right?
>
> > Place them properly and you won't have to worry about it.
>
> > When I layer a crockpot, I do it in this order:
>
> > Grain (usually barley)
> > Root veggies (carrots, spuds)
> > Onions
> > Meat on the top.
>
> > Top with your choice of dried or fresh herbages.
>
> > IME, root veggies such as carrots and spuds (and radishes and
> > turnips)
> > take longer to cook than even tough cuts of meat. Onion, leeks,
> > garlic,
> > shallots and scallions are softer so go on top of those.
>
> > The bottom of the crock pot is hotter.
>
> > Meat goes on top with spices.
> > --
> > Peace! Om
>
> That's the same way I do it in the crock pot, I like the vegetables
> and meats cooked together as the flavors are all through the
> vegetables. I also don't like tender crisp vegetables in stews and
> pot roasts,
> CC

Because I am usually cooking that pot roast for one (with leftovers)
and it's hard to buy fresh carrots/potatoes/rutabega/parsnips/celery
etc less than a pound at a time; I usually double those veggies cut in
BIG chunks and add HALF of that quantity at the beginning.

When the meat's almost done, I fish our the cooked veggie chunks and
replace them with the other half of the veggies cut in regular sized
pieces. If it's crock pot, I steam the second addition of veggies till
tender crisp. That way I get flavor from the veggies in the stew/
broth/gravy but I'm not stuck with soggy cooked out veggies, I've got
tender sweet stuff.

Onions, celery and dry spices go in at the beginning but herbs and
green things (peas, blanched green beans ) go in for the last few
minutes.
Lynn in Fargo

"Lynn from Fargo wrote:
>
Because I am usually cooking that pot roast for one (with leftovers)
and it's hard to buy fresh carrots/potatoes/rutabega/parsnips/celery
etc less than a pound at a time; I usually double those veggies cut in
BIG chunks and add HALF of that quantity at the beginning.

When the meat's almost done, I fish our the cooked veggie chunks and
replace them with the other half of the veggies cut in regular sized
pieces. If it's crock pot, I steam the second addition of veggies till
tender crisp. That way I get flavor from the veggies in the stew/
broth/gravy but I'm not stuck with soggy cooked out veggies, I've got
tender sweet stuff.

Onions, celery and dry spices go in at the beginning but herbs and
green things (peas, blanched green beans ) go in for the last few
minutes.


You're jumping through a lot of hoops unnecesarily. Cook a larger hunk of
meat to match all your veggies, cooked pot roast freezes well... potatoes
sometimes suffer some but not terribly, and if you use waxy ones like reds
they'll be fine.

Don't overcook pot roast, if it falls apart into strings it's not any kind
of roast, then it's fercocktah hash. Cook pot roast just to the point that
it's neatly sliceable. For easy slicing pull the meat from the pot and let
it cool some so it firms up. Use a sharp knife and slice it all. Then you
can freeze portions for later. If you have a reasonably lean section of pot
roast save it in the fridge to become very firm, then slice it thin, it will
make wonderful sammiches.

When to add veggies depends a lot on the size of the roast. Since I tend to
like a five pound chunk of beef I feel it needs like an hour's simmer before
I add all the veggies. but while it's simmering I do add some trimmings
like celery leaves and the small ends of carrots... I add onion and garlic
in stages. Then I add the veggies in order of how long each needs to
cook... I like to add whole onions so those go in early... after a bit add
the fat ends of carrots, add the smaller ends later. Add minced parsley
stems early, add the minced leaves last 20 minutes. Get the idea... for me
cooking pot roast is an all day affair, an intimate affair because I really
get into it, and I give her a slow hand with lots of nibbles. You can't
make pot roast in the oven, that's called braised, a whole nother set of
techniques. You can't make better than so-so pot roast in a crock pot, and
it's always a gamble. In a pressure processor you get results
commisserate of the effort you put in, barely edible, something only a
starving dog would enjoy.

In article >,
"CC" > wrote:

> > Place them properly and you won't have to worry about it.
> >
> > When I layer a crockpot, I do it in this order:
> >
> > Grain (usually barley)
> > Root veggies (carrots, spuds)
> > Onions
> > Meat on the top.
> >
> > Top with your choice of dried or fresh herbages.
> >
> > IME, root veggies such as carrots and spuds (and radishes and
> > turnips)
> > take longer to cook than even tough cuts of meat. Onion, leeks,
> > garlic,
> > shallots and scallions are softer so go on top of those.
> >
> > The bottom of the crock pot is hotter.
> >
> > Meat goes on top with spices.
> > --
> > Peace! Om
>
>
> That's the same way I do it in the crock pot, I like the vegetables
> and meats cooked together as the flavors are all through the
> vegetables. I also don't like tender crisp vegetables in stews and
> pot roasts,
> CC

Thanks for the backup. :-)
--
Peace! Om

I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe. -- Dalai Lama

>
>Place them properly and you won't have to worry about it.

That worked out well. I took out the meat and put the potatoes and
carrots on the bottom, then replaced the meat.

So 4 hours on low was perfect for the vegetables.

But this is the first ever pot roast I made that was tough after 9
hours! It was bad. I alternate between crock pot and oven, and
either way the meat has always fallen apart.

This must have been one tough cut.

In article >,
wrote:

> >
> >Place them properly and you won't have to worry about it.
>
> That worked out well. I took out the meat and put the potatoes and
> carrots on the bottom, then replaced the meat.
>
> So 4 hours on low was perfect for the vegetables.
>
> But this is the first ever pot roast I made that was tough after 9
> hours! It was bad. I alternate between crock pot and oven, and
> either way the meat has always fallen apart.
>
> This must have been one tough cut.

I generally rescue stuff like that with my pressure cooker. :-)
--
Peace! Om

I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe. -- Dalai Lama

wrote:
>> Place them properly and you won't have to worry about it.
>
> That worked out well. I took out the meat and put the potatoes and
> carrots on the bottom, then replaced the meat.
>
> So 4 hours on low was perfect for the vegetables.
>
> But this is the first ever pot roast I made that was tough after 9
> hours! It was bad. I alternate between crock pot and oven, and
> either way the meat has always fallen apart.

How many times did you open the crockpot? That has been known to change
the cooking time of slow-cooked foods.

I put the veggies and meat in together and don't open the thing until
the end.

Serene

--
42 Magazine, celebrating life with meaning. Inaugural issue March '09!
http://42magazine.com

"I am an agnostic only to the extent that I am agnostic about fairies at
the bottom of the garden." -- Richard Dawkins

>
>How many times did you open the crockpot?

Only the one time to add the veggies. About 4 hours in, I think.

Probably could have used another 90 minutes or so. I'll start earlier
next time.

My son took the wrong pork out of the freezer, so I guess I'm having
pork shoulder tomorrow. Was supposed to be a Sunday dinner, but oh,
well.