I haven't found very many recipes that I like from a crock pot. Takes longer than just coking it on the stove or oven and as you pointed out, tough meat. My sil used to do her roasts in the crock pot all the time. They were tough.
>>>They were tough.
Then she’s not doin’ it right. I take about a 4 pound pork shoulder, put some dry rub on it - then put it in the crock with some carrot, celery, and onion under it - and dump in a can of cola - and let it go for 8+ hours... couldn’t slice it if I wanted to because it falls apart.
Is it possible that those roasts that turned out tough may have been put into the crock pot frozen? Methinks meat should be fresh or completely thawed if it had been frozen, before putting them in contact with salt, spices, etc., or applying heat. FWIW
I have a roast cooking in the electric frypan right now!
The problem I have with the crock pot is that it takes forever and a day to actually start cooking. If I have 12 hours to kill, that’s fine. But it usually takes about 6 hours for the doggone thing to get to an almost-simmer. Just a little more heat and a warmup mode would be great.