On Nov 3, 12:23?pm, (Steve Pope) wrote:
> I followed basically Marcella Hazan's recipe for Beef Barolo,
> with a 3.5 lb grass-fed rump roast. Her instructions were
> that the braising liquid come up 2/3 the way the sides of the
> roast, and I chose a 300 degree oven for 4 hours. (Her
> recipe said 350 for 3 hours, so I figure that's about the same).
> At the 3-hour point it was starting to look a little done so I
> reduced heat slightly.
>
> The result was good, fork-tender, but (to me) too dry. (Some
> of the diners declared it perfect.) In my esitmate, the free-range
> meat cooked a little faster than typical, and so while it got
> tender and everything, most of the gelatin had leached out of
> the meat into the surrounding liquid and was lost so there was
> no squishy tenderness, just flaked meat.
>
> Or perhaps this grass-fed free-range rump was low on connective
> tissue to begin with?
>
> In any case it was not a disaster, but I'd like to perfect the
> technique for next time. I'm thinking less total cooking time,
> and a smaller dutch oven (Le Cruset) so that more of the
> liquid is confined into the roast.
>
> Steve

There is no such animal/designation as free range beef because all
beef is free range... I've never heard of steers raised in a cage,
maybe Japanese beef. Perhaps you should try a different cut, like
chuck, rump is not the best choice for braising if what you want is
moist meat. Chuck contains more connective tissue but it tends to
break up when slicing... rump is more solid and tends to slice easily,
unless over cooked, then you have sawdust.