heavy with meat juices For soul-satisfying cold-weather fare, it’s about as good as it gets Pot roast is essentially a large piece of braised meat Braising is the act of slowly cooking a piece of meat in a moist environment The moisture can come from submerging it in liquid (in which case, it’s technically called stewing) or by cooking it in a covered or partially covered vessel designed to trap moist air around the food As the meat cooks at a low temperature in a moist environment, just as when making stock, the connective tissue, primarily made up of the protein collagen, slowly converts into gelatin This is essential, because cooking also transforms meat in another important way: it drives out moisture—even if you cook it in a completely moist environment Indeed, because water is such a great conductor of heat, beef boiled in 212°F water will actually get hotter and lose moisture faster than beef roasted in 212°F oven! But there are other reasons to keep liquid in your pot First, it regulates the temperature, so that there’s no chance of anything ever getting hotter than the boiling point of water Second, it facilitates the transfer of flavors among different parts of the meat and the vegetables Finally, what good’s a pot roast without gravy? All good meat recipes start with the right cut For pot roast, any number of cuts high in connective tissue will do, but I prefer the chuck eye It’s beefy and has plenty of gelatin-rich connective tissue to keep it moist (see “Stewing Beef,” here) After browning the roast in a Dutch oven, I further bolster the flavor by adding a mirepoix of carrots, celery, and onion, browning them in the same pot (the moisture exuding from the vegetables will help deglaze the fond left behind by the browned beef) Time for the umami bombs: anchovies, Marmite, and soy make their way into pretty much every braised dish I make, for their savory glutamates While French-style braises may resort to rich reduced veal stocks to thicken the gravy, flour is the thickener of choice stateside Next up, a bottle of wine It’s not especially traditional in an American pot roast, but, just like anchovies, Marmite, and soy sauce, wine is rich in savory glutamates, adding meatiness to the broth, as well as complex aroma and hint of acidity Some chicken stock, a few peppercorns, and some sprigs of thyme and bay leaves round out my flavor profile After building my braising liquid, I put the beef back in, place a lid on the pot and set it in a 275°F oven to cook until tender, making sure to leave the lid slightly cracked Why, you may ask? Temperature regulation With a completely sealed lid, the water inside the pot rapidly reaches the boiling point—a temperature at which, given time, over 50 percent of the moisture in a piece of beef will be forced out By keeping the lid ajar, you can keep the contents of the pot at around 185°F, even in a 275°F oven! (For a more complete explanation, see “Experiment: Boiling Water Under Cover,” here, and “Stovetop Versus Oven,” here) This lower temperature allows the collagen to slowly break down while still maintaining a good level of moisture inside the meat ...moisture exuding from the vegetables will help deglaze the fond left behind by the browned beef) Time for the umami bombs: anchovies, Marmite, and soy make their way into pretty much every... sealed lid, the water inside the pot rapidly reaches the boiling point—a temperature at which, given time, over 50 percent of the moisture in a piece of beef will be forced out By keeping the lid ajar, you can keep the contents of the pot... After building my braising liquid, I put the beef back in, place a lid on the pot and set it in a 275°F oven to cook until tender, making sure to leave the lid slightly cracked Why, you may ask?