For The Best Pot Roast, Here's How Much Fat You Should Be Trimming Off The Meat

A pot roast is a delicious, classic dinner that can be easy to make. Just throw together your chuck roast (the classic cut for this meal) with some veggies and spices in a slow cooker, and by dinnertime, you'll have a succulent, balanced meal that's perfect for a hungry family. But chuck roast, like many cuts of beef, comes with a not-insignificant amount of fat, and hardly anyone likes overly fatty meat. So, how much should you trim off?

Trimming the fat from a cut of meat can be a delicate balancing act. Take off too much, and the protein will be tough, tasteless, and dry. Don't remove enough, and it can come out greasy and chewy. The best policy is to only trim excess fat off of the outside of the meat, leaving the fat inside the meat (also called marbling) alone. Take a sharp knife and slice through the fat in an even motion to preserve as much meat as possible. Despite being among the more affordable cuts of steak, chuck roast can taste gourmet if you do it right, and you don't want to lose a bunch of it while trimming.

Once you're done trimming, you can throw the fat away or use it for other recipes. That fat can be made into beef tallow for things like fried potatoes, fried chicken, or even pie crust. You may be eating tallow already without knowing it. Many companies use beef fat in products, like in Hostess Twinkies.

The first step in trimming your chuck roast is knowing how much you need to take off. It is a pretty fatty cut ... sometimes, it can even come fully covered in fat. In all likelihood, you'll need to trim at least a bit before it goes in the slow cooker. That said, each cut of beef is best cooked in different ways, and all that fat is a big reason chuck roast is so good for slow cooking. Don't be afraid to leave a little bit on if you like your pot roast with an extra-unctuous character.

Once you know how much you're taking off, take your sharp knife and cut the meat smoothly and cleanly. A good method for cutting is to grip a piece of fat at the top, pulling it away from the meat while you slice at an angle in order to ensure a smooth, even cut that takes as little of the protein beneath as possible. Do not saw through it, or else you risk losing meat.

If you do it right, the resulting pot roast will be savory, tasty, and tender enough to melt in your mouth. Take notes on how much fat there was on the meat before it went in the slow cooker. If it ends up too dry or too greasy, adjust the amount you trim off in future pot roasts according to how the last one was.