Alton Brown's Saurbraten
Recipe By: 
Recipe type: Main, Beef, Venison
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: serves 6
 
Ingredients
  • FOR THE MARINADE
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup cider vinegar
  • 1 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 large carrot, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt, additional for seasoning meat
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 6 whole cloves
  • 12 juniper berries
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1 (3½ to 4-pound) bottom round (can use beef, venison, elk or goat all are delicious)
    FOR THE SAUCE
  • ⅓ cup sugar
  • 18 dark old-fashioned gingersnaps (about 5 ounces), crushed
Preparation Instructions
  1. Combine all the ingredients for the marinade in a saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil for 10 minutes, remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature (I usually place it in the fridge to hurry it along).
  2. Once it is cool, brown your meat on all sides in a hot pan, using a bit of oil if necessary to keep from sticking.
  3. Once browned, place in the marinade (I like to put it all in a ziptop bag) and then put it in the fridge and marinade for 3 days. Turn over once a day.
  4. When you are ready to cook it, preheat your oven to 325˚.
  5. Add the sugar to the bag and mix around. Place the meat and liquid in a roasting dish or dutch oven, add about 1 cup more water.
  6. Cover the dish and cook until the meat is falling apart, tender, about 4 hours.
  7. Once cooked strain the liquid of any veggies and stuff (real technical there) into a saucepan.
  8. Place the liquid over medium heat until simmering then add the gingersnaps and whisk until smooth. If you don't have enough liquid left and it is super thick you can add some beef stock until it is a good loose consistency, this does dumb down the flavor quite a bit but it is still delicious.
  9. Shred up the meat and serve hot with the sauce.
Recipe by Foods of Our Lives at https://www.foodsofourlives.com/2015/10/alton-browns-saurbraten/