Saturday was our first ever Virtual Freezer Cooking Day via Facebook. I say first ever, because it was so much fun to cook with you all and it was so productive that I know I’ll want to do it again sometime.
I cooked 3 large pork roasts over night, plus an accidental ham. (I thought it was something else, and by the time I figured out it was ham, it was too late. It had to cook.) There was no way all of that was going to fit in my slow cooker.
Oven to the rescue!
To cook the meat, I put each roast in a separate pan, added 1/2-1 cup water and seasoned with salt and pepper. I covered each pan tightly with foil.
I did 2 roasts and the ham in the oven and the third roast went in the slow cooker. The meat was partially thawed. I preheated the oven to 350 degrees while I prepped the meats, then turned the oven back to 225 degrees.
The meat cooked from 10pm till about 8am. It all came out perfectly.
Later, I needed to turn half of the pork into Pulled Pork and half into Tamale Pork Sandwich meat. I added all the ingredients with each pan of meat and covered both pans tightly with foil. I cooked them both in the oven at 225 degrees for 5-6 hours, taking them out to stir a couple of times.
My slow cooker stayed busy cooking a whole chicken all day. Even the grill got in on the cooking. It was so pretty Saturday, I was able to grill 8 pounds of boneless chicken breasts. They are all sliced and frozen, ready to add to recipes. I also did 2 50s Prime Time Meatloaves, which I froze raw.
Do you ever use your oven for slow cooking?
And, if you’ve been filling your freezer I’d love to hear what you’ve been cooking! Leave a comment and let me know!
This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday at We Are That Family.
I really haven’t used my oven as a slow cooker, but it sounds like you got a LOT accomplished while you slept! How great is that???? It’s like adding hours to your day!
Semalee @ Nailing Jello to a Tree
I use the oven quite often as the crock-pot isn’t always big enough. I usually use it for brisket or ribs since I don’t have a smoker. A little liquid smoke and a few hours and voila, bar-b-que. 😀
I bet this was so satisfying. Nothing makes me feel quite as accomplished as a freezer full of good stuff!
This seems revolutionary to me, although it’s probably what our moms/grandmothers did in the days before slow cookers! This certainly makes filling a freezer with prepped meals much more do-able.
I have a recipe for pot roast that cooks all day very low that can be done either in the slow cooker or the oven.
Can I get that recipe? Thanks!
Can I get that recipe?
great idea to use the oven for slow cooking! You said you wanted to know what we are freezing, I just made amish casserole and froze the extra one….check out my new food blog and the recipe is listed on there, along with other meals that can be frozen
Holy moly! You must have a chest freezer, huh? Otherwise, how in the world do you store all that cooked food? I wish I could be this organized and ‘with it.’ 🙂
I do have a small chest freezer where I store the 1/2 hog we get each year. But I managed to fit all of what I cooked in the regular freezer. It didn’t take up as much space as I thought.
My Beef Vegetable Soup calls for a small (2lb) Chuck Roast cooked low for 10-12 hours in the oven!
It is my favorite soup–a real comfort food for winter. The meat comes out so tender and flavorful!
I double wrap it in foil and set it in my loaf pan. It does not require the addition of any liquids but produces a fairly generous amount of real beef broth to add to the soup base.
Renee, I would really like to have your full recipe for veg beef soup !
I’d like your recipe for veg beef soup!
A lot of times I use the oven with my enameled cast iron Dutch ovens and slow cook all day. It just gets a wonderful flavor and my pot roasts always turn out a little more tender this way than in the crock. Mmmm, now I’m hungry..
Have done this for years! Love doing roast for drop beef sandwiches! The key to great flavor is to season well and then brown on stovetop in s cast iron skillet before putting into a slow oven. Makes all the difference!