Can you take a cooked roast and make it tender and moist?

Question

I roasted a top round roast low and slow and it still came out dry and tough. I know that this is a cheaper cut of meat but I was wondering if I put it in the crock pot with gravy or water, could I get the roast more tender?

Answer 1

I would dice it and make something else out of it -- roast beef hash comes to mind. The potatoes, onion, and whatever else you decide to toss in will overcome the dryness, and chopping it will overcome the toughness.

Answer 2

You may be able to get it tender, however it's still going to be dry as it has little fat in it, and what was there has been cooked out. You can try and fix it by braising it as @JoshieSimmons suggests and adding some fat to the sauce, maybe in the form of bacon.

Personally, with a top round roast I'd usually braise rather than roast it in the first place, it's much more forgiving. Plus, some meat sold as roasts has no business being given that title.

Answer 3

You should be able to braise the roast and tenderize it. It should break down further if exposed to a low and slow cook method; about 3-4 hours. I'd check it every hour or hour and a half just to gauge.

Answer 4

You used the wrong cut of meat for low and slow roasting. For a tender cut use a chuck cut. Chuck is only tender when it's cooked low and slow with moister, (beef broth) look up a recipe for pot roast. Rounds need to be rare or medium rare to be tender and moist.

Answer 5

Don't leave it up to chance and vacuum marinade/brine it in the fridge with salt and bromelain(from pineapples) extract.

The salt will give the meat a juicier sensation when eaten and also slightly tenderize and cure the meat, the bromelain will slowly dissolve the meat.

Give the vacuum packed meat a squeeze every day or so until the required tenderness has been reached. And before the bromelain turns your meat into pudding, cook it sous vide for a day or so.