Amy in Miller is roasting round steaks in mushroom soup in electric roasters for 85 people. How hot should she set the roasters? And how long should she roast them?

Whether using an electric roaster or an oven, roasting meat in liquid is a technique called braising. You may be making a stew, or preparing a creamy gravy for the meat. It’s always a good way to go, especially if you need to feed a big crowd.

You may want to brown the meat in a saute pan before putting it in the soup. It will give you a more complex and pleasing flavor. Try dredging the meat in flour first, to seal in the juices, assist in carmelization, and to thicken the sauce. Your round steak will cook quickly if it is cut thin, and may be halfway done when you brown it. Remove the browned meat from the pan and deglaze the pan by adding the moist ingredients and scraping the pan with a spatula to loosen the carmelized morsels left behind by the meat.

Set your roaster to 300F. You will want at least a cup of liquid for every pound of meat. Roast it for 3-4 hours, or at least until the thickest part of the meat reaches 165F. Bon appetit!

Have as much fun cooking as your guests are going to have eating!