The only thing I can think of was more liquid in the pan, more like a braise. And cook it for a shorter period of time. I like well-done roasts and sometimes they shred, rather than slice.

But wow does that ever look good to me!

I'm really curious about your 16.5" oven. Is that a countertop oven, or is that a whole stove?

I’m familiar with minute steaks but had not heard the term ”minute roast“ before. Looks like it’s a cut from the shoulder that requires slow braising. Sorry, I can’t account for your oven, but the meat should be ”fall apart” tender once cooked. Is that what you meant by ”loose?” I set my oven at 300-325 for braising something like pot roast (chuck). I doubt the toothpick was a mistake, although I can see the cranberry sauce factoring in with tenderizing. I don’t normally use a thermometer when I braise beef since I pretty much know it will be done after a certain time period. However, I always use a thermometer when I dry roast a rib roast, tenderloin, sirloin tip, etc. The exterior of your roast looks fairly charred but the sugar in the cranberry sauce likely contributed to that. You mentioned an aluminum pan and aluminum lid. A Dutch oven with a tight fitting lid works best for me when it comes to low, slow cooking.

Your meat does look plenty juicy!

I can't help with your roast, but I can tell you some basic non-medical things you can do for TMJ in the meantime, while you're waiting for the medical help. Feel free to message me.

I have never heard of a minute roast either but it appears from the recipes I just looked at that it needs to be cooled before slicing. Alternative would be to do what is called pressing where a weight is placed on top.

Other than Agga ranges and toaster ovens I have also never seen that small of an oven. When I did my usual search for things I have never seen or heard of 16 inch wide and Italy popped up as one of the alternates so I suspect it is a European stove of some type.

@maifleur03 I'm quite sure she's talking about the interior dimensions of a 24" oven.

Thanks all! Chloebud, what Dutch Oven with tight-lid works best for a Four-pound-roast inside an oven? By "loose" I meant "too loose to slice efficiently". Minute Roast is a double-sized london-broil - I.E. membrane unsevered. Petalique thanks for the input re: the marbling of fat which accounts for lubrication (or non-lubrication) of the individual strands. Though I still think I'll omit toothpicking in future, given the already-potent onion-cran-combo.

P.S. Regarding my stove, it's an early '50s Estate-brand similar to the following JPG, though no glass and less frills. But it's the same size. And my oven, likewise, has drawers at its left, set within the overall stove: https://d3h6k4kfl8m9p0.cloudfront.net/stories/RlujgwDk-uEJ6wHbVHVb-g.jpg

P.P.S. Re: TMJ, it's very-likely soft-tissue-TMJ, and i've tried ice-packs, motrin, tylenol. And i keep forgetting to smear on the also-prescribed Voltaren on my cheeks, which FWIW i doubt is permeating anyway, as my skin is oily and thick-skin.

So, do you know the look up and down, side to side trick? Moist heat on the muscles? Not trying to force anything on you. Just hate hearing that you're suffering...

For dental induced TML...massage at the joint helps me.

As for the roast...london broil is a "stringy" cut of beef. The ideal way to qook it is grill or stove top no more than medium rare and slice very thin. If you long braise it the fat cooks out (as you discovered) and you are left with just dry strings. not good. Choose another cut for your braise....I recommend a chuck or even an arm roast....avoid lean cust like center round. Then try your recipe again....or better yet try it with a pork shoulder roast.

Ohhhhh, I love your stove! I can see that the interior would be small.

I've had this little beauty saved in my folder just because I love the look.

I rented a house once with an oven-stove combo like that...it was AWESOME! Lucky you!

I agree about the roast, just not the right cut...not marbled enough and the wrong cut for slicing. I "used" to make roast beef au jus and shredded beef Mexican dishes. London broil was a less expensive cut, I liked it rare as a steak. (Not eating beef any more)

A couple things. Try using a smaller pan to help make sure your roast is better packed in and surrounded by your onions/sauce. Also consider using a heavier pan than the foil kind. You can still cover with foil. But the greater mass of a heavier pan gives more consistant and gentle braising.

Cut back your roasting time by an hour to make 6 hours. Then after you turn off the heat leave the roast in the oven for 30- 45 minutes after you turn off the heat.. Then take out, and let rest before taking the cover off and slicing. You are sort of tempering the meat down in temp with this to help give the meat strands a gentle time resting.

Poking with a toothpick before cooking isn't bad. In fact, you can poke it a bunch and then toss it into a marinade or brine for a few hours to overnight to help the roast suck in goodness. You can use your onion/sauce combo if you want since you would be cooking it along with the roast.

“Chloebud, what Dutch Oven with tight-lid works best for a Four-pound-roast inside an oven?”

The ones I use are enamel-coated cast iron from Le Creuset. They can be pricey but there are some affordable, quality brands. Take a look at Tramontina.

Just wanted to say ”London Broil” is actually a method of cooking, not a cut of meat. I know stores tend to label various cuts ”London Broil.” Most markets here do it with top round.

Cool stove!

Pillog, what is the up/down side/to/side method, and is it for soft-tissue injury?

Note, two doctors whom i've seen (one of them at E.R.) advised only cold. The E.R. guy said that "warm" would only be indicated for if I'd feel spasms in injured area. Otherwise he emphasized cold "for as long as I can stand it". But in any case I'm awaiting MRI appointment, after which I get the next visit with the pain guy. Frankly, it may just take time. I.E. many months to heal by itself, if at all. As to whether the pain guy can help speed up healing, or even help at all, remains to be seen.

Here is a thorough site https://tmj.org/living-with-tmj/basics/ which describes some of my situation. For example I have accompanying FMS, an autoimmune condition, and the site also includes that it can be dental-caused. Though I don't have clicking/locking/grating or tinnitus. Frankly, the few times i've in recent years felt ear-pain, it was from eating ultra-thinning foods such as citrus. What would then resolve my ear pain, would be neurontin and also to eat thickening and sticky/waxy foods of the sort which has always balanced my nasal-drip. I think that's the same reason why (unlike me) most people hear "popping" ear-noises on a plane. By comparison, my own ears would feel an uncomfortable stuffed up feeling which does not get "burped" out like those who have Wet earwax. Because I always tended toward Dry earWax which is an Oriental tendency. I wonder if they ever did research to see how many Dry-Earwax-Orientals compared to Wet-Earwax-Occidentals get ear infections? Or whether thick/sticky/waxy foods can help tinnitus? Probably zilch research was done, because most of them hardly think of these things. I have even more questions as topics of research, well-geared toward 23-And-Me or AncestryDNA, but they probably wouldn't bother either.

Back to the Dental-TMJ topic, it's unfortunate there don't seem to be statistics as to what percentage of TMJ may have all along been dental-caused? As if there's some protectionism going on here, as with the dental-mercury-thimerosal issue.

Thanks so much to Beesneeds and all of you, again, for your feedback!

Weirdly, I happen to have had good luck with 2nd-Cut Brisket. It's yummy even if a bit firm - and slices well - even IF some of it is at an angle.

nicole, since you say you experienced one of those types of stoves in your rental home, how did you cook different types of meat during that time? FYI, ever since both my sister AND my friend, each moved to respective new homes, they themselves experienced that their chicken/meat respectively didn't cook yummy anymore. But in my sister's case, get a load of this freak story: See, she'd insisted on transferring her old wall-oven to her new place, as she loved it so much despite its oldness. But the workers who were renovating were so brainless, that they actually entombed her precious wall-oven behind sheet-rock!

Chloebud, I see that type of Dutch Oven must be pricey, but one never knows! I might just find something like this conveniently in a local closeout place, though I've no idea what length and width it must be along the bottom and sides, and also what would be a good price for same - at a closeout store.

Another more practical factor, is that I don't know if it would fit inside my small sink for washing (I don't have a dishwasher).

Re: my Estate stove - trust me it's had so much wear and tear since before I was born that it's far from a beauty. Its nothing that any of you would desire, and as i said, it was one of their "less frills" offerings back then.

“…though I've no idea what length and width it must be along the bottom and sides…”

jally, the size will depend on your needs. A 5 or 6-quart Dutch oven is a fairly popular size. I have both oval and round and find myself using the ovals more. You might check Amazon. I don’t know your budget but you can likely find something good quality for maybe $50, such as the Tramontina I mentioned.

So long as your stove works to cook your food, it's a good stove. :) You're probably okay with any cast iron pot that fits with the better part of an inch air space all around. I second the recommendation. Cast iron is a poor conductor, which is good for cooking. It takes awhile to heat up, but it holds temperature well, and tends to even out oven temperatures, making it ideal for less than perfect ovens. The big difference between cheap and expensive cast iron is the quality of the metallurgy. Expensive is lighter/thinner. Both work. There also could be a difference in the quality of the finish. Cheap and plain often can be improved by sanding the inner surface, since they save labor by not doing that and leave the casting texture, but you should know what you're doing before taking power tools to your pots.

If it's cheap and enamelled, there might be small marks or flaws in the finish, which don't affect function, but you have to be careful of the colors. The rich, beautiful enamel colors often have heavy metals in them, which is fine on the outside, but you don't want it cooking the food, especially anything acidic. Sometimes there's textured black enamel which is supposed to kind of mimic the cast texture, and others there's a smooth cream or beige. Those are all fine. White may not be so make sure what it's colored with. Anything with bright colors on the inside is for decor not cooking or culinary plants. Anything under $100 is a good buy, and under $50 is very good, for enamel. The fancy French stuff goes for several hundreds at full retail. Look for specials and sales on the French stuff online or in stores at Zwilling (Staub) or Le Creuset Outlet. The latter also sometimes has huge discounts on flawed exterior enamel.

Re the TMJ, of course go by what your practitioner has instructed about the temperature. Re the exercise, I can describe it here. It's gentle and just basically looses things up, which should help with the pain. Sit up straight but comfortably, body properly aligned, head in a neutral position, neck extended but not stretched, shoulders down but relaxed, jaw relaxed and mouth slightly open in your least stressed position.

Look forward with your face relaxed. Lower your eyes (look down without moving your head) and open your mouth, lowering your jaw/chin. Return to neutral. Raise your eyes (look up without moving your head) and close your mouth/raise your jaw. Shift your eyes to look right and move your jaw/chin to the right. Return to neutral. Shift your eyes to the left and move your jaw/chin to the left. Return to neutral. Do several sets of this.

Now, raise your eyes and lower your jaw. Return to neutral. Lower your eyes and raise your jaw. Return to neutral. Shift your eyes right and your jaw left. Return to neutral. Shift your eyes left and your jaw right. Return to neutral. Do several sets.

Don't pull doing any of these motions; it's not supposed to be a stretch. The point is just to confuse the muscles enough that they loosen up.

Again, not seeking to countermand your practitioners, and not knowing how this would apply to your case, but cranio-sacral therapy could potentially help, which is physical manipulation, rather than medical intervention. Good luck with all of it.

JC

Thank you both for the cookware input! Those TMJ exercises are interesting - I tried one round just now. BTW many years ago I went to an osteopath who cranio-sacral-massaged the back of my neck. It felt SO relaxing. Interestingly, I don't feel pain when eating and chewing (and even yawning!!). Rather just when I have to open my mouth such as for as for a sandwich, or drinking from water bottle. So it's weird, because you'd think yawning would also bother me. As for smiling, I've had pain with prolonged smiling since I was a kid. So what I have now is actually no different than before. In other words, smiling is no problem. It's just prolonged smiling which is the problem - but that's not dental-caused as its been for practically a lifetime.

Please note I found in my basement one of those vintage enamel navy-blue (with white-speckles) roasters, and its about the same size as the specs listed on the Walmart Cuisinart i'm attaching below (which appears to be highly rated). Would my vintage roaster work OK for 4-pound roasts and brisket even if not cast iron?

Your speckled roaster is probably enamelled steel, and likely Graniteware brand. They're still available. I have a couple, including a huge rectangular one which I use for braising whole (10 lb.) briskets. The difference is that the steel is thin so doesn't hold heat very well, and doesn't even out the oven heat. Still, it's a nice covered roaster, and if it fits in your oven, that's half the battle won. Certainly try it before you spend. If your oven really is that uneven, just turn the pan in it every 30-45 minutes, for a braise.

That dark speckled one is just what I was thinking of suggesting! I have three different sizes and they make wonderful roasts, and gravy. Largest somehow browns a turkey even with the cover on. Surely give it a try.

That's nice to know - thanks for the info!