2.5kg of silverside beef to cook for christmas - slow cook?

[Monkeyun]

Help! I've bought a 2.5 kg joint of silverside beef instead of turkey for christmas lunch, but every recipe I look at suggests slow cooking rather than roasting. I've reserved a slow cooker at Argos to collect later, but have no idea what to do with either! How long do I cook the joint for, what else can I put in with it, does it need fluid. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Why would you slow cook it. That sounds odd to me. I'd roast it quick and high for a lovely pink middle.

That was my original plan. I wanted to try something a little more original for Christmas so looked up some recipes. Most of them suggest that silverside is not good for normal roasting and it should be slow roasted.

i'm not good on meat cuts, but if the recipes say slow cook it sounds like this is one of the tougher ones. if you want to slow cook it then you can bung the whole thing in and add some wine, or stock and some flavourings like onions, herbs, maybe garlic clove...depending on what you like. i would then use the liquid to make gravy ....i'm no good at gravy so i just add gravy granules to thicken. this is a big joint though and will need a long time in slow cooker..... an all day job.

i'm a big fan of slow cookers as i'm lazy and a cheapskate...but i wouldn't try a new one on christmas day. i'd be inclined to try it out tomorrow first or use the oven.

If it's good quality and you treat it right, it'll be fine oven-roasted rather than pot-roasted. Put a good layer of fat over the top then, depending on how pink you like it, give it 20 mins at the highest heat possible and then turn it down to a 180C for a further 15 - 20 mins per lb, basting frequently.

Pot roasting is just as lovely, of course but I've no idea what to do with a slow-cooker... I just place the joint on a bed of root veggies and a small amount of liquid in a heavy casserole, pop on the lid and come back a few hours later!

Thanks all. I think I'll give the slow cooker a whirl tonight with something else and then go for it on Christmas day. Appreciate all your comments and help.
Merry Christmas!

They mean you can roast it, at a lower temp than some other cuts.

A slow roast is about mark 5 (190C) instead of mark 7 (220C) and the meat will come out more tender. Assuming the silverside is rolled, as this lowere temp it will need about 33 minutes per pound plus 33 minutes. I like pot-roast, but you need a tough gristly piece like brisket to get the best taste. Silverside will be fine on a slow roast.

I find silver side can taste a bit boring and chewy if cooked like a usual joint (one half to two half hours), brown it in pan with onions and then put it in your slow cooker with liquid or stock all afternoon if serving in evening, your slowcooker should come with a cook book, so have a quick look and see if it mentions joints of meat. Btw i roasted a rib of beef last sunday fast and hot and it was gorgeous.

Bwahahahahahaha! You don't need a slow cooker to cook something slowly!!

20 minutes on 230 degrees C then 2 hours at 120 degrees C in a roasting tin well covered in foil. Make sure there's plenty of juices in the tin to keep it moist.

Apologies for laughing, it's more of a reaction to our modern reliance on technology than trying to take the mickey out of you

purple, would you take the foil off and turn up the heat to dry out the top at the end?

Yes pot roast silverside slowly in a small amount of stock. You can put some veggies in the pot (carrots, celery, onions, mushrooms) which come out lovely and soft and tasty. Then when all coked take out the meat and veg and thicken the cooking liquid to make tasty gravy.

I do it in a big flame proof casserole dish (although 2.5 kg is mighty big for your average casserole dish!) in oven for 3 hours at Gas Mark 1 (start off on top, fry meat to seal it and fry veg too, get the stock simmering before putting in oven). It's what we're having for Christmas dinner - it requires relatively little work on the day (I have 2 ovens so can do roast potatoes and Yorkshires at the same time).

Probably not, Piglet, but I would let it "rest" for 20-30 minutes.

Jellycat, I'm not sure I cold fit that much beef in a frying pan - we're having rib for Christmas dinner, it's the size of a toddler - which is why I'll be doing mine in a hot oven first then turn the heat down shamelessly stolen from my Mum's Robert Carrier book

I'm doing a brisket pot-roast for Xmas lunch. If you do a slow cook, you need to really season it to death, otherwise it tastes like nothing when you serve it. Seasoning seems to disappear in a slow cooked dish.

Salt & pepper before sealing it in the frying pan, then I put in the casserole dish 1/2 litre of beef stock, at least 4 cloves garlic, teaspoon each of paprika, all spice, rosemary, oregano, thyme, big glug of red wine.

Makes fantastic gravy. Am so happy not to be doing turkey, I could do a little dance.

Step away from the slow cooker - slow death to a good piece of beef. Slow cook in the oven instead.

Slow cook it (all my beef joints in a slow cooker have been lovely, tender and pink), some onions at bottom, herbs and a splash of red wine will give you a base of a lovely gravy.

My slow cooker is a round one, not big enough for a joint, so I've not tried it. I do a pot roast in the oven - 150c for 4 hrs. I would think you'd have to reduce the liquid a lot more for gravy if you used a slow cooker.

VirgoGrr, I like your spices, I may have to steal that

We've cheated and bought posh gravy in a jar from the naice butcher who sold us the meat - which DP walked to to buy. The vegetables came from the market, also walking distance

Is it possible to be middle class and live in a flat over a shop?

Steal away Purple.
Do you live above Cath Kidston? That's defo MC maisonetting.

Sadly, no. The shop immediately below used to be a camping shop and is now empty

I couldn't remember anything except the paprika but it turned out yummy anyway