Can you cook a beef joint in the slow cooker?
Beef joints are a great way to put on a show for Sunday dinner, or any event for that matter. The best bit is that you’ll probably have delicious leftovers to use in subsequent meals throughout the week too. The barrier people often hit when considering whether to buy beef joint is the time and attention often needed in its cooking.
Can a slow cooker be used to save on this? Find out below.
Types of beef joint
A ‘joint’ is a butchery term that simply refers to a large piece of meat, typically containing a bone. Due to its increased size compared to other cuts, the cooking of a joint is a long process best done at low temperature. This is why you often see them referred to as roasting joints.
As a result, beef roasting joints can come from a variety of areas of the animal. This includes:
Joints can be a cost-effective option for feeding a large family or, if you want to splash out, act as an amazing centrepiece. Part of the experience that comes with buying a beef joint is carving big slices at the table. However, this requires the entire joint to be cooked beforehand, which requires a bit of planning.
The process of cooking a beef joint in a slow cooker
The main challenge people face with larger cuts of meat is putting aside enough time to monitor the cooking. With a traditional roast or grill method, the cooking needs to be adjusted at various points during the process to ensure heat penetrates to the centre of the meat. Whether this means it’s taken out, covered, basted, or the temperature increased or decreased.
Slow cookers offer an elegant solution to this problem as the lid can be left on for the entire cooking time. So yes, using a slow cooker is a good option for cooking a beef joint. Here’s a simple example of how:
- First, check that your beef roasting joint will fit your model.
- Brown the joint on all sides in a frying pan. It’s perfectly safe to add raw meat to the slow cooker but frying is recommended to create a seal and deepen the flavours.
- Put any vegetables you want in bottom of the slow cooker pot. Sit the joint on top and add stock and salt and pepper.
- Cook on low until done to your liking. Two hours per 500g is typically a good benchmark.
- If you have a meat thermometer, check for an internal temperature of 55°C.
- Remove, cover, and rest for 30 minutes before serving.
If you’re not convinced by this method, we have a simple and delicious recipe guide for cooking a beef rump joint on the BBQ.
Buy quality beef joints UK
However you choose to cook your beef joint, you can ensure quality by choosing the Village Butchers as your supplier. All the roasting joints we source are hand selected and primed by our experts. If stocks are getting low as we head into the winter, simply contact us directly to check when we’ll have what you need.