How to use an arm roast

No, not an arm rest, an arm roast. A chuck arm roast, to be exact, and one of the cuts of Grazier's Organic Beef from Josh's and my first beef order. I figured I should ease up on the rationing a bit and use some of the non-hamburger beef while it was still only a month or two old.

So, unsure of whether I'd ever used an arm roast before (I don't think I had), I decided to go with the Old Faithful of cooking techniques: my crockpot. But, the problem is, in the summer, you don't really WANT pot roast, do you? All those onions and carrots and potatoes just taste heavy and make you think about sweaters. So, what's a good summer alternative? BBQ!

The recipe couldn't be simpler:

1 chuck arm roast (preferably from a happy, ethically-raised cow)
4-5 cloves garlic, smashed
1 yellow onion, sliced
Salt & pepper
Your favorite BBQ sauce, to taste (I used some from Gates BBQ)

Put the meat in the crockpot, seasoned with salt and pepper and add in just a small amount of water (probably 1/4 cup?). My roast wasn't even fully thawed, thus is part of the beauty of a slow cooker. Let it cook for a few hours, then add in the garlic and onions. Let cook until an hour or so before you want to eat it. Pull the roast out of the crockpot and discard the onion/garlic/water broth. Using two forks, shred the roast, discard any fatty bits and give the slice of arm bone to your dog, who will make sweet, sweet mouth love to it in the backyard for almost an hour. Put the shredded meat back into the crockpot and mix it with as much BBQ sauce as you want. Put the cover back on and let it warm through for an hour or so.

I ate it as a sandwich on a whole-wheat hamburger bun with mustard and accompanied by some of Grammie's Cucumber Salad and a beer. Ahhh, delish!