the way we do beef roasts for french dips(though the meat turns more into a "pulled pork" type constancy instead of thin sliced) is put the roast in the crock pot with one packet of Liptons mushroom & onion soup mix, one package Au Jus mix, and a teaspoon or so of McCormick's smokehouse ground black pepper, add some water high for an hour or two in the morning then low till supper....makes some excellent au jus for dipping or gravy....while i experiment a lot depending if i want to go to the store or not to pick up a missing ingredient this provides consistently good results....
