Slow Cooker Steak with Gravy - Recipes That Crock! (2024)

FAQs

What steak is best for slow cooker? ›

Yes, you can add raw steak to a slow cooker to cook it to your desired doneness level. Slow cooking steak is a convenient way to cook steak over several hours, tenderizing it and adding exceptional flavor along the way.

While it WILL make things just as tender, it takes a lot longer and usually dries your meat out a bit more. It is possible to overcook beef stew in a slow cooker.

Choose the right cut: Chuck roasts, short ribs, pork shoulders and lamb shanks (think fatty and tougher meats) become meltingly tender with the moist, low heat of a slow cooker.

Cut down your prep time

It can be nice to cook the onions beforehand, as the flavour is different to when you put them in raw, but experiment both ways as you may find you prefer one. It can also be good to brown meat to give it some colour, but again, this is not essential.

Chuck roast and top round roast are good choices for the slow cooker, which allows them to tenderize over time.

If you cook meat at too high of a temperature in your slow cooker, you're likely to overcook it. When you cook your food slowly at a lower temperature, you unlock the magic of slow cooking.

Cook Low and Slow

Each slow cooker meal's cooking time differs depending on the meat and its weight. The low setting is important so you don't overcook it, potentially leaving you with a dry or tough meal.

The meat was overcooked: Slow cookers are known for their ability to tenderize meat, but if the meat is cooked for too long, it can become overcooked and tough. It's important to follow the recommended cooking time for your recipe to ensure that the meat is cooked to the correct doneness.

Gravy beef is a relatively lean cut of meat, which means it can be tough if overcooked. It is typically cooked low and slow for several hours until it becomes tender and flavorful.

Is 4 hours on high the same as 8 hours on low? ›

The difference between "High" and "Low" on slow cookers seems to differ with every brand and model. One thing that is consistent, though, is that food takes seven to eight hours to reach a simmer point (around 210°) on low; versus three to four hours on high.

Slow cooker recipes have (obviously) long cook times, and it's the meat—not the carrots—that benefit from it. By placing the protein at the bottom (closest to the heating element), and vegetables at the top, you can keep your plant parts a little more toothsome, while ensuring your meat is fall-apart tender.

Foods take different times to cook depending upon the setting used. Certainly, foods will cook faster on high than on low. However, for all-day cooking or for less-tender cuts, you may want to use the low setting.

The most common beef used for stew is chuck steak, also known as gravy beef or braising steak. Beef chuck comes from the forequarter of the animal consisting of parts of the neck, shoulder blade and upper arm. It is easy to find and it's affordable, making it a great choice for your stew.

Under blade steak maintains its shape even when slow-cooked

But unlike most steak cuts, the under blade takes just as well to slow-cooking — this cut will maintain its integrity through the low and slow cooking process, per The Spruce Eats. Also known as a chuck flat, according to Beef.

When it comes to beef, the best candidates for pan-searing are boneless, quick-cooking cuts between one and one-and-a-half inches thick, such as NY Strip, rib eye or filet mignon.

It's More Tender and Flavorful

Aside from being juicier, slow-cooking makes meat a lot more tender and flavorful. The extra juices help to accomplish this but it's mainly the long-cooking time that brings out the richness of the meat.