Roast Beef done in the slow cooker, ala sous vide

I’ve been experimenting with this for a while, but last night’s attempt at cooking a roast sous vide was definitely a success. First, I took the roast and let it dry-age in the fridge for about 3 days, covered with a plastic microwave cooking cover that had holes conveniently punched around the sides to let steam (or in this use, the water vapor) escape. Once it had been dry-aged ala Alton Brown, I placed it in the FoodSaver bag and vacuum sealed it.

Then, I hooked up my slow cooker (which normally cooks food around 200 degrees on low), and hooked it up to a yummyness, and so there would be a nice fond at the bottom of the dish for gravy making.

After pulling the roast from the oven, I dissolved the fond in some cream, added the juices that came out when I sliced the roast, gave it a quick blender action to make sure it was smooth, and then added a tad bit more cream, Cognac, salt and pepper to taste, and then thickened it with just a touch of cornstarch. (One of these days I’ll have to try it with a roux, but I’m a bit weak in my classical French sauce making skills.)

The result? A very nicely browned crust on the outside, surrounding a vast expanse of perfectly cooked medium-rare cow. Very tasty, and extremely flexible in terms of cooking time.