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Easy Frugal Cooking | Crock Pot BBQ Beef Sandwiches

This is such an easy recipe, it almost doesn’t even count as a recipe. But, since you all asked, I’m here to oblige.

I recently tried a Cook’s Illustrated beef brisket recipe that turned out some outstanding barbeque…it involved a spice rub and a pound of bacon (you top the brisket with strips of bacon).

Nothing that calls for a pound of bacon is ever bad, in my opinion.

However, you might not want to eat that type of barbeque on a consistent basis. And bacon isn’t exactly cheap.

So, when you’re feeling slightly less indulgent, this version is a good option. Because the roast cooks in the crockpot for 8-10 hours, this barbeque requires very little hands-on time, but it does require you to plan ahead. My mom likes to cook hers overnight, but I soured on that practice during my pregnancies (to a nauseated pregnant woman, the aroma of beef roast at 2 am is, well, less than pleasant).

If you don’t want to cook your beef overnight, you could always start it really early in the morning, or you could cook it the day before so that it’s ready for the next night’s dinner.

I use chuck roast for my barbeque because I think it’s pretty much the best beef roast out there, and it’s not terribly expensive. Happily, the quarter of the local cow I bought included a lot of chuck roasts. Yay!

Cut your chuck roast up into pieces, about like this.

Come to think of it, I wonder if it really is necessary to cut it up. My roasts come with a bone in them and won’t fit into the crockpot otherwise, but I imagine that if space was no issue, you could just put the whole roast into the crockpot.

Hmm.

Put the beef into your crockpot and top with some barbeque sauce.

Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until the beef is fall-apart tender.

The nice thing about a chuck roast is that it’s sort of impossible to overcook it. It’s better when it’s cooked for a really long time, actually. If you check your beef and it looks done, but it’s not tender, cook it longer.

Once the beef is done, remove it from the crockpot, let it cool, remove any extraneous fat/gristle, and shred the meat (it should practically shred itself if you’ve cooked your roast long enough).

At this point, you can add in your favorite barbeque sauce and call it done.

Or, you can make the sauce from my grandmother’s recipe, add it to the beef, and let it cook in the crockpot for another hour or two.

Serve on buns, of course.

Any leftovers freeze very nicely for a future quick meal.

Crock Pot BBQ Beef Sandwiches

3-4 pound boneless chuck roast

1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon. chili powder
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 tablespoons sugar

Cut roast into large chunks; place in slow cooker. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Remove beef from pot and let cool. Remove gristle/fat, and shred beef.

Add your favorite barbeque sauce to taste and heat, or combine above sauce ingredients, add to beef, and return beef to crockpot to cook on low for 2 more hours.

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Babs

Sunday 24th of June 2012

Your grandma's recipe for BBQ sauce is very similar to my Mom's. :>) She used to use leftover pot roast to make her BBQ beef. Just make the BBQ sauce, heat in a skillet on the stove, then add the shredded leftover pot roast. Yummy! One of my favorites. I'll have to try your version. Sounds delicious!!

Gwendoline

Thursday 20th of October 2011

Hi, I've never cook this before and I do have a slow cooker at home. Looks yummt and do I need to add water into the pot before putting in the beef? Or I just chuck only the beef into the cooker and turn it on to low and cook it? Thanks....

Kristen

Thursday 20th of October 2011

Yup, you don't have to add any water. :)

EngineerMom

Tuesday 11th of October 2011

I do the same thing with pork loin roasts! I use the Neely's BBQ sauce recipe, made with no-corn-syrup ketchup.

Jen

Tuesday 11th of October 2011

I do this with beef and chicken and pork! But I would love to hear that Cook's Illustrated recipe with the bacon, if you're willing to share!

WilliamB

Tuesday 11th of October 2011

Ymmm, bacon. Like this: http://klg2a.blogspot.com/2010/02/super-bowl-bacon-cheese-turtleburger.html

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