Best elk roast ever!

[npaden]

Okay, we've always struggled to cook roasts. They end up dried out, overdone, underdone, or something. I've tried them everywhere from medium rare to burnt. Oven, crock pot, with veggies, without veggies, some are edible but not by much. This year I ended up turning all my roasts into hamburger or sausage because we just don't seem to be able to cook them well.

Yesterday we were cooking a roast leftover from last year and put it in the crock pot at 8:00 am on warm. The crock pot was about 1/2 full of water. I thought I would give it a boost at the start and turned it to high and planned on turning it back to warm before I left for work. I forgot!

It cooked on high until 6:00 pm and I just knew we were going to get home to a shriveled up hunk of meat and just hoped the crock pot hadn't caught on fire or something.

Got home and the house smelled great. Checked the roast and it actually looked edible. Ate the roast and it was the best wild game roast I've ever eaten!

It was a neck roast from my New Mexico bull last year.

I know the neck roasts are better than the rump roasts and shoulder roasts but I wouldn't think that had as much to do with it as "overcooking" it did.

The meat was tender, tender and I cut it with a fork. It was very similar to a beef pot roast, except not as fatty and I think even better.

Have I been undercooking roasts all my life? Was this just an isolated bizzare incident?

Any thoughts?

 

[StrutNut]

I always slow cook my roast all day long either on burner on a light simmer or in over on lower temps. Crock pots work but I just dont use them as much. I usually put onions, potatoes and carrots in with some lipton onion soup mix, fill it almost full with and let it simmer all day until it pulls apart easily. I will also do the same without the veggies for BBQ pulled whatever game it is sandwiches. I have never had a bad roast this way. A little worchestier (sp?) and some cloves also give the roast some great flavor.

 

[Dinkshooter]

I don't eat the roast until I can break it apart with a fork.

 

[BrowningBLR]

I don't eat the roast until I can break it apart with a fork.

Elitist!

 

[emrah1028]

I, too, thought that a low/slow crockpot cooking method was supposed to result in the most tender meat. I was wrong!

A friend of mine told me how he made pulled beef/pork/whatever: Some wateror stock in the crockpot, throw in whatever meat you want plus veggies, seasoning, etc. He cranks it on HIGH for 6-8 hours. It is the best way to cook a roast by FAR! Super-tender and juicy.

Emrah

 

[idnative1948]

Blasphemy! Mom always made us turn any and all neck meat over to her and she made mincemeat out of it for pies.
Seldom do I any longer run across anybody who has eaten it.

 

[Big Slick]

Blasphemy! Mom always made us turn any and all neck meat over to her and she made mincemeat out of it for pies.
Seldom do I any longer run across anybody who has eaten it.

My grandma made mincemeat pie with the neck roast from the blacktail deer my dad would harvest. Love it!

 

[npaden]

Are the neck roasts way better than shoulder or rump roasts? Or have I just been undercooking them all my life?

I'm still amazed, I ate some more for lunch today. It was really good.

Thanks, Nathan

 

[idnative1948]

My grandma made mincemeat pie with the neck roast from the blacktail deer my dad would harvest. Love it!

Did you like it tho?
I would kill for a real mincemeat pie during the holdidays! About a inch, inch and a half thick, but the pie crust that melted in your mouth. She always railed on us when she still went hunting with bro , I and dad, "Don't shoot the neck meat!" Can still hear her today.....
She was a pistol of all pistols.

 

[AZ402]

I don't eat the roast until I can break it apart with a fork.

Elitist!

Probably no wire hangers in his closet either.......

 

[chasendeer]

I found the best way to eat them last year, corning them. They are great that way, and corned elk hash the next morning is great.
Jay

 

[Oak]

I found the best way to eat them last year, corning them. They are great that way, and corned elk hash the next morning is great.
Jay

I'm planning to corn a batch next week. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

I found the best way to eat them last year, corning them. They are great that way, and corned elk hash the next morning is great.
Jay

Please explain your method of Corning an Elk. I have seen picture years ago of a guy Corning an Elk, but there wasn't much on the explaination. I think it was a Yellowstone Hunt. John

 

[DreaminofMT6X6s]

We cooked a rump roast earlier this year on high in the crockpot and it's like you said, overcooked! It might be the meat I guess. Maybe neck meat is tougher so having it on high with all that water actually helped tenderize it as well.

 

[schmalts]

I do a version of corned beef type of roast as well. very time consuming but really worth it. I let mine cool and run it through a slicer as thin as possible and them vaccum seal it. It is like eating Carl Buddig corned beef slices.
Here is the way it is done. Take a hind roast that has the silverskin still on , do not trim it off as it holds in the moisture.
The recipe is PER POUND OF MEAT
.88 cup water
.64oz salt
.08oz cure (nitrate) careful with this stuff unless you like cancer
.24oz dextrose (I just use sugar)
2.0oz honey
if you want you can warm this mixture up in a pan to help mix and dissolve but let it cool again before injecting.
Inject meat every 2" and try to increase the weight by 15% . Pour remaining brine over meat and cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for 3hr per pound.
Remove, rinse and place on rack in frindge until dry. when dry rub a little cooking oil on roast and COLD SMOKE for around 4-6 hours with light smoke. Cold smoking is less than 90F
After smoking sear the meat on all sides in a large pan (to seal it) and then raost at 350f in oven to get an internal temp of 115f or medium rare.
The resulting effort will give you an unreal result. You can eat it warm, but I like slicing it and using it as lunchmeat as well/

 

[Lawnboy]

We use the crockpot almost every Sunday. The key to not burning is adding the water. Using a soup mix with water helps with the flavor as well. Like dink said I love it when it will just cut with a fork. My brother and I growing up would call it sagebrush meat because when it gets to that point the meat just falls apart like the wood strands of sagebrush.. Yea we were a little deprived as kids. That's what happens when you grow up without an x box or Wii.

 

[DavidKeenan]

I prefer the crockpot also but sometimes we use the pressure cooker on what, we think will be the tougher ones. then go back to the crock for final ingredients.

Mincemeat pie. A hell of a lot better than a potted meat sandwich My mouth is watering now. mmmmmmm

 

[skeeter89]

Try spaghetti sauce instead of water in the crockpot. Put it on rice or noodles. You won't be disapointed.

 

[Bambistew]

I either grill or roast mine. I season them up (some times stuff) and coat with olive oil. Then sear all sides in a heavy cast iron pan. Make sure the pan is HOT. Then finish in the oven or grill at 325 until medium. 10-30 min depending on size. Stuffing is more of a blend of spices or chutney than breading. If I finish in the oven I have a roasting pan with vegis started and finish all together.

 

[Gunflint]

try italian dressing in place of part of the water

save the juice

slice or fork pull the roast apart

serve on buns, use the juice for the dipping or.............pour over for a fork sandwich

I also add a bit of horseradish to the sandwich.........

Have had good success with roasts from moose, whitetail, elk