Joint of meat in the slow cooker
Posted: 17 Dec 2012, 17:50Thought this was worth posting for anyone who needs to cook extra at Christmas - or who wants to be able to go out and let it cook itself 
We had a biggish piece of topside in the freezer so thawed it overnight and today decided to have a go at doing it in the slow cooker; I've done half shoulders of lamb before so figured it would work ok.
I sliced half a big onion, a carrot and a stick of celery, and peeled & squished 2 cloves of garlic.
First seasoned the meat and smeared some Dijon mustard over it. Browned the meat in a frying pan (sorry no idea what it weighed, I seem to remember about 1.4kg but could be completely wrong). Took it out, browned the veg. Put the veg in the cookpot, sat the beef on top.
Added a glass of red wine to the frying pan, bubbled it, then poured into the cookpot. Cooked it for 1 hour on high, then tested after 3 hours on low and it was done, another time I'd just do the 4 hours on low.
It's now wrapped in foil (had no idea how long it would take an didn't want to be waiting for it), and the juices are strained and tasted delish. Will let them cool then take off any fat.
There should have been a bayleaf and some thyme or rosemary added at the beginning but I didn't think of it.
The meat is sliceable, like a roast but softer. Personally I prefer beef pink and will try for it another time, but especially if you like it well done this is very effortless.
I've since found a recipe which is virtually identical.
Another one says to put the veg in raw but does stress you should brown the meat first. I know some of you do and some don't, and I'm not about to argue
We had a biggish piece of topside in the freezer so thawed it overnight and today decided to have a go at doing it in the slow cooker; I've done half shoulders of lamb before so figured it would work ok.
I sliced half a big onion, a carrot and a stick of celery, and peeled & squished 2 cloves of garlic.
First seasoned the meat and smeared some Dijon mustard over it. Browned the meat in a frying pan (sorry no idea what it weighed, I seem to remember about 1.4kg but could be completely wrong). Took it out, browned the veg. Put the veg in the cookpot, sat the beef on top.
Added a glass of red wine to the frying pan, bubbled it, then poured into the cookpot. Cooked it for 1 hour on high, then tested after 3 hours on low and it was done, another time I'd just do the 4 hours on low.
It's now wrapped in foil (had no idea how long it would take an didn't want to be waiting for it), and the juices are strained and tasted delish. Will let them cool then take off any fat.
There should have been a bayleaf and some thyme or rosemary added at the beginning but I didn't think of it.
The meat is sliceable, like a roast but softer. Personally I prefer beef pink and will try for it another time, but especially if you like it well done this is very effortless.
I've since found a recipe which is virtually identical.
Another one says to put the veg in raw but does stress you should brown the meat first. I know some of you do and some don't, and I'm not about to argue
