Slow-Cooked Beef problems, diagnosed

Use a fork before you add more hours. If the beef still resists the fork and stays in a dense cohesive chunk, a collagen-rich cut may simply need more effective time at a gentle braise. If it already shreds easily but the strands are dry, stringy and chewy, more cooking is the wrong move: the muscle fibers have already lost moisture. If a lean hindquarter cut such as bottom round or rump stays stubborn, the cut itself may not have enough connective tissue to give the fall-apart result you expected. And if the roast is fork-tender but chewy only when sliced, check whether you cut across the grain.