Like most things, I have come late in life to the Slow Cooker but I am absolutely revelling in it’s many fabulous foodie facets. I’m like someone who married very young and has just got divorced at 30. I can’t get enough of it and this recipe for a Slow Cooker Beef Joint has knocked me bandy.
Slow Cooker Joint of Beef
I am usually a Roast Beef Brisket girl through and through but I used Silverside here as it was on an half price offer and it was seriously good. I still think that the Brisket has the edge as Roast Beef slow cooked in the oven but this was still so tasty that I went straight out and bought another of these joints to have sliced cold in my fridge over Christmas and it made me deeply excited. If you are wanting to cook a joint quicker than 6-8 hours then you can put the slow cooker on high for 4-5 hours. I suggest you use Topside here as it is not as lean as Silverside and therefore requires less cooking time to tenderise. I would still allow for more time if your joint is on the large size and I do find that the longer you can give it the better. Out of choice I always opt for the 6-8 hours for a more tender outcome. If you find there is not enough juices for the gravy either simply add some more beef stock to the finished juices probably another 250 mls.
Cooking a Joint of Beef, whatever the cut, in the Slow Cooker for 6 hours is never going to give you pink, bloody beef but it will give you beautifully soft and tender beef that is full of flavour. The boon here is, of course, the complete simpleness of it. Put it in your slow cooker and 6/8 hours later you have the centrepiece of a fabulous meal. However the options of what to do from this point on in are many and diverse fellow slow cookers.
You could simply slice thickly for serious Roast Beef Rolls. I’m thinking caramelised onions and mustard or horseradish and rocket served with chunky chips and coleslaw. I do something similar with my Brisket Buns here. In fact it’s one of my favourite ways to easily feed a crowd. I serve pulled Brisket in big dirty baps with spoonfuls of gravy and have done so for many a standing ovation. You would need to cook for even longer though – see recipe.
You could serve it with beautiful creamy mash, lots of gravy and peppery green beans and I would also love to have it just simply sitting cold in the fridge already sliced for sandwiches or whatnot throughout the week. The children go bonkers for warm roast beef sandwiches and ketchup and one of my husband’s all time favourites is cold roast beef and chips. I’m a hero whichever way we go here and you could go almost anywhere with this recipe and isn’t that half the point. It’s about options with the slow cooker. It does more than half the job itself so that you can sweat the small stuff.
You could serve it for Sunday Lunch as I have here. If you are planning on having it at noon then you would probably need to put it in last thing at night and get up early to switch it off which kind of ruins the whole lazy vibe we’ve got going on in the first place. So you could cook it the day before and reheat. In fact that is the way I actually recommend and the way I usually go as if you leave it to go cold and then wrap it up and put it in the fridge, it is super easy to slice the next day. I then put the slices back in the slow cooker an hour before I need it hot and cover with gravy. I then reheat it on high until it is piping hot, so damn easy. The other alternative is to simply have a later lunch or even supper. Whateves you decide it’s about the only pressure you will be under here, we are now entering a seriously laid back situation. Someone pass me the weed…….
How To Cook A Joint Of Beef In A Slow Cooker With Gravy .
I’m afraid I stray here from most recipes. I DON’T like my beef gravy to have anything else other than beef in it. But I do understand that most do. So I have added a couple of carrots, celery and an onion in the bottom of the slow cooker here for the beef to hunker down on and flavour the gravy. Feel free to add your favourite flavours. Jamie Oliver would have bay leaves and rosemary tucked in there I’m sure. Obviously the joint requires a jolly good salt and peppering on all sides before being seared in a very hot to trot pan, also on all sides. It is this that gives a good flavour to the whole shebang. You want serious browning. Don’t be shy.
Seared Beef Joint
Place the beef in the slow cooker on top of the vegetables and pour in 500 mls of hot Beef Stock. Set the timer on low and let the bronzed beauty cook away for the next 6/8 hours. Nothing is a problem Man……
Beef Joint in the Slow Cooker
When you are ready for the joint, remove and rest for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile remove all the vegetables from the remaining liquid and decant the liquid into a saucepan. Put two heaped teaspoons of cornflour into a mug and add a couple of inches of water. Stir to dissolve all the corn flour into the water. Put the saucepan on the heat. Once the liquid is bubbling a little, pour in the cornflour mixture and, using a whisk, stir until it begins to thicken. Repeat if the gravy is not thick enough. So simple I’m snoozing….
Slow Cooker Joint of Beef
Slow Cooker Beef Joint
This recipe for Slow Cooker Beef Joint delivers on all fronts. Not only is it super delicious it is super easy too. The options are endless.
Ingredients
- 1.5 kgs joint of beef at room temp
- 500 mls double strength beef stock 2 x stock pot jelly/cube
- 2 medium carrots
- 1 medium onion
- 2 heaped tsps corn flour
- 2 tbsps olive oil
Instructions
Take out the beef from the fridge 30 mins before you are ready to go so as to allow the joint to reach room temp. Chop the carrots into three and the onion into four. Place them in the slow cooker. Season the joint generously all over with salt and pepper. Switch the slow cooker onto low.
Put a large frying pan on a high heat and add the olive oil. Standing in the braced position and using some serious tongs, sear the bejesus out of your joint. It will hiss and spit. Don't do it in a bikini or speedos.
Place the browned joint onto the veg in the slow cooker. Pour over the 500 mls stock and put on the lid. Cook for 6/8 hours.
When the 6 hours are up push a carving fork right into the centre. If the meat is medium soft then you are done if not cook for another hour and repeat. Don't do it longer than 8 hours. Remove the beef and set aside to rest for 30 mins covered with foil. Remove the left behind stock and decant into a saucepan. Carve the beef when you are ready for it. If you are serving the beef at a later date allow to cool before putting in the fridge covered.
To make the gravy put the cornflour in a mug and add a couple of inches of cold water. Stir well to dissolve. Put the saucepan on the heat and making sure the stock in the saucepan is bubbling a bit add the cornflour mixture. Using a whisk keep whisking as the stock bubbles. It should be nicely thickened, if it isn't then repeat with another couple of tsps of cornflour and water.
Use the joint in whatever way you want. If you are just using the beef without gravy then cover gravy when cool and put in the fridge for sausages and mash or a cottage pie. Having homemade gravy in the fridge always makes me feel like Delia.
Apply to Stoned Face.
Recipe Notes
This feeds four with left overs or six in the one sitting as a meal. Obviously it will go a little further served in rolls and sandwiches.
If you do use for rolls and sandwiches then keep the gravy in the fridge for sausages and mash, cottage pie etc.
A smaller or bigger piece of meat may require shorter or longer cooking times although not significantly. The best test is to plunge a fork in to feel if it is soft yet. The meat should be 71 C. It can become crumbly so if it does thick slices are the way to serve.
I like to make it the day before and allow to go cold before wrapping up and putting in the fridge. It slices very well then.
Here are some other incredibly easy and delicious slow cooker recipes.
Slow Cooker Gammon
Slow Cooker Sausage Casserole
Slow Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese
Slow Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese
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I have entered this post with #CookOnceEatTwice over at Searching for Spice
#CookBlogShare over at Everyday Healthy Recipes
Ooh this does look tasty! I don’t cook enough beef joints (read that as I have never cooked a beef joint!) and this is tempting me to give it a go because of how easy it is.
Oh Cat! Gosh this is def the one to start with. Then I personally recommend the Roast Brisket, almost as easy. The smell of it too is just divine!
I still haven’t got a slow cooker but with recipes like this one I am more and more convinced I need to get one soon! Thank you for bringing your lovely recipe to #CookBlogShare
I love my slow cooker and it is great for cooking beef joints in. I need to do that more as I think it’s at least a year since I’ve cooked one in mine so thank you for the reminder too! I definitely need to do it again. Thanks for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice too!