We just picked up a side of much recommended grass fed beef from a co-worker.

300 pounds of the stuff is now stuffed into the freezers. We have 4 "bone in arm roasts" (not my pic)



Any good recipes for this cut of meat? I really want to stay away from crockpot recipes or stews. I am not a fan of over-boiled, tasteless, stringy meat. I've heard swiss steak is made from this cut..........


Any ideas?

thanks!

--Duck911

I'm assuming (from the butcher's definition), you're looking at a big chuck roast. Tough and suited for slow moist cooking.

To avoid the crock pot and stews... I would wonder if you could brine one and smoke it. Low and slow bbq beef.

My Grandmother used to make 7 bone chuck roasts in tomato and it's really good. I make it and you need 2" thick slices of chuck. I brown a 5 or 6 pound slab and put it in the Dutch oven. A couple garlic cloves, a sliced onion, and a couple cans of sauce, a couple cans of water, and about a half can of red wine. A couple bay leaves, a little rosemary and thyme. Put it on a low slow bubble for 4 hours or so and spoon all the meat and nice gravy over rice or mashed potatoes. Between that and boneless short ribs, I don't know anything that gives more of a real beef taste. The left over sauce is very good too.

Well, I suspect you've never had osso bucco made right, because that's a slow cook, Dutch oven, approach, but it's nothing like what you describe. I would think cooking these like veal shanks might be a good approach.

First preheat oven to 350. Then you coat the shanks with flour, salt, and pepper. Then brown them all around in enough fat to coat the pan. Then remove them and set them aside. Now toss in some chopped celery, onions, and carrots (one carrot, one medium onion, one celery stalk, for say two shanks), in roughly equal portions, and saute them till starting to brown, then add a little crushed garlic and lemon zest and saute for a couple minutes more.

Remove vegetables to Dutch oven, place shanks on top. Drain pan of oil, then deglaze pan with a cup of white wine, scraping up all the bits, and pour the wine and bits over top the shanks. Now add two or three cups of chicken broth (homemade is best, of course), one cup of crushed skinless tomatoes, some chopped parsley, salt and pepper, to the Dutch oven, and bring to a boil over the stove. If the liquid doesn't just barely come to the top of the shanks, add more broth before bringing to a boil. Now cover Dutch oven and place into preheated oven for two hours, turning the shanks once after the first hour. Then, after two hours, remove shanks and cover them with tinfoil. Pour the vegetable and liquid into a bowl through a fine wire sieve/strainer. Set the vegetables aside, as they are delicious as a side dish, and use an oil separator to remove and dispose of the top oil. Place the liquid into a small pot and cook it down, if necessary, to thicken it. Check to see if it needs more salt, then add as needed.

You can also thicken it with corn starch if you prefer, by the usual method of adding a heaping teaspoon full of it into a quarter cup of white wine and stirring, then add that into the (not boiling) liquid and stirring, then bring to a boil while stirring. Plate the shanks over rice, polenta (grits), or pasta, and pour the sauce over the shanks, then serve.

Fancy pot roast?

That's basically, more or less, how I made venison pot roast last week, less the chicken broth and tomatoes, and used a heavy cast aluminum roaster and did all the browning/sauteing in that. With leftovers I added a couple chopped tomatoes for a different taste, about the end of what came from the garden. Should be a very good way to prepare arm roast. Cooked at 300 rather than 350 though I suppose it isn't so important with good beef.

that is not a chuck roast or 7 bone roasts... chucks are cut from near the front legs.... the cut shown is basically a round of the rear leg... in essence its a top round, bottom round, eye of round and bottom sirloin all together... I would personally separate it and cook the better pieces as steaks and use the others for either soups or other slow cook recipes...

By definition the arm roast is from the chuck primal. The pic might not match the cut in this case, original post says it is not his pic. If it is labeled as arm roast it is a type of chuck roast. I shot a buffalo a few years ago. I had the rounds cut all into steaks. I got several arm roasts as they did not come from the round.

Any recipe for chuck roast will work. The key is to cook it slowly. I don't like chuck roast. Taste is fine but I don't like well done meat. The problem with chuck roasts is people try to cook them too fast. You might get them tender but they will be dry and tasteless.

Quickly brown the roast. Add some veggies onions carrots garlic whatever seasoning you like. Enough liquid to cover the roast about a third of the way. I use chicken broth. Canned beef broth is too salty once it cooks down. Cook at around 300 covered. Check it occasionally. Add more liquid if needed. You don't want to boil the roast. Just a bit of liquid to keep the roast moist as it cooks. Roast is done once it can be pulled apart with a fork. Makes great sandwiches. Remove any excess fat shred and put back into the juices. Or you can do the usual pot roast dinner with it. Just remember to cook it low slow and don't rush it if you think it is not cooking fast enough. Eat later than you planned if need be but don't turn up the oven.

I have done many a chuck roast this way as well as my buffalo arm roasts. They were moist and very flavorful. But still not my favorite cut of the critter.

Basically, but much better in my estimation.

It does sound excellent, I may do that next time depending on how my tastes run when I do. Few of my recipes are set in stone, seems like I'm always varying depending on what sounds good that day. Like the venison roast got green peppers because a couple from the garden were on the counter and it felt like the thing to do. Usually it works out well.

It's a veal shank recipe, so try it with veal shanks.

That is my favorite beef roast.The way I cook mine is:
Season the meat(I like Tony's Creole seasoning)
Add a little oil(I like peanut or olive) in the bottom of a Dutch Oven
Turn heat to med-med hi on the stove
Add the roast and brown each side.It will look like a med cooked steak when brown enough.
Add enough water to almost cover the roast(I like it with about 3/8-1/2" of roast still above the water.
Bring temp back up to a simmer and put on the lid.
You can cook the roast on top of the stove,but I like it better cooked in the oven around 350 degrees for 3-4 hours.Make sure to check the meat every once in awhile to make sure the water hasn't completely cooked off.Add water as needed during cooking,usually once or twice.
If you want gravy,(most of the time I just like the juice)you can remove the roast when done.With the Dutch Oven back on the stove,bring the juice back up to med-med hi.In a glass or cup,add 1-2 table spoons of flour to one to two cups of water and stir until totally dissolved.Pour the water flour mixture into the juice and stir until it bubbles and cooked to your desired thickness.Once it's done,turn off the heat and serve.
Enjoy!

Thanks guys! Like usual, I will probably take the best parts of all of your replies and strike out on my own

Getting hungry just thinking about it!

--Duck911

An alternative to pot roast is to make shredded beef for tacos, enchiladas or fajitas.

What I do is cover the roast with water, season with chili powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, cumin, oregano and bring it to a boil, then simmer until tender, cool and shread it with a fork.

My favorite is shredded beef fajitas. Lightly brown some onions, green or red peppers - or both, seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, cumin, add some salsa, hot sauce, add in the the shredded beef, a little bit of the liquid from cooking the roast, simmer for a short while, flour tortillas, cheese, sour cream and diced green chilies ... and oh my. It's an outstanding way of using/cooking "pot roasts" if you like mexican food.