Recipe: BBQ Beef Sandwiches and BBQ Burgers (crock pot)

BBQ Beef Sandwiches and BBQ Burgers
rec.food.cooking/Judy and Dave G/2003

Coming from the mouth of the grandma who makes fried bologna sandwiches for grandchildren for dinner ;o}:

Buy a boneless chuck roast, or a lot of boneless chuck roasts. Sear them in a not non-stick pan, roaster, large stockpot, something that the roasts and water to cover will fit. When it boils it will need a couple inches to not boil over. After searing, add a little water to clean the good stuff off the bottom of the pot. Chop up some onions, pretty small because they will probably make it to the final product, and add to the beef with just a little water and cook til onions are transparent. Add enough water to cover all roasts. You can add any kind of beef seasoning, bbq seasoning, chef prudhomme's, emeril's, doesn't matter. But you want a good flavor in the meat, not just the water. Now boil that meat forever. Now, usually I start it in the morning about 11 and it is finished and ready to eat at dinnertime or 6, so we are talking a minimum of 6 hours. Keep the water in a good boil, not just a simmer. And don't go away because the water will boil away and will need to be replaced as it disappears.

By the time you make it to the end of the boil, the meat is gonna be falling apart. So you need not worry about the shredding. If you need to shred it, it isn't tender enough.

(You can accomplish this same tenderness with a long, slow, cooking on the grill, or in the oven. But I prefer the boiling because if you happen to have a more than usual tough piece of meat it can only get better. And when you are serving others, you need to be sure.)

OK, now you are gonna scoop/drain that meat out of the pot. Just put the chunks into a bowl and you can pretty much use 2 forks to break them the rest of the way apart. Remember to remove any fat globs, you have already used it for flavor and don't need it any more, so pitch it or give it to the outside dogs. Set the bowl(s) aside and start the sauce. You probably want to save the beef stock for any other uses, or even to freeze.

SAUCE

1 bottle of your favorite barbeque sauce
1 (12 oz) can tomato paste
1 (12 oz) can water
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar (dark is better)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper

Saute onions and green peppers til soft and transparent. Add remaining ingredients and simmer 15 minutes.

Put the shredded beef back into the pot, layering with the sauce. Add water if your sauce gets too thick. You can put into one of those major electric roasters, or crock pot or on the stove at very low heat. Now cook/slow cook/simmer for at least an hour. It will keep in the pot as long as you keep track of the moisture.

Crockpot Burgers
Now the above recipe is the sauce for crockpot burgers also. Here's the burger recipe. I can recommend these for a day long picnic also.

3 pounds ground beef
1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats (not cooked)
3 eggs
3 tablespoons dry onion
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons worcestershire
salt & pepper

Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Form into 30 balls (about 1/4 cup size). Place on cookie sheet with sides and flatten slightly. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

When cooked, layer into crockpot with the sauce. Cook all day on low. Watch the liquid content it will get really thick. How thick depends on your taste. Keep it thinned with water til close to friends arriving. Those couple hours that it sits just keeping warm will thicken up the sauce.

These also taste really good cooked one day and then heated up the next day.

When serving either of these, burgers or BBQ, I like to get the smaller potato rolls from the grocery store. Especially if there is gonna be side dishes. If not, you will want larger buns.