Pat the roast dry with paper towels then sprinkle the salt and pepper on all sides.

In a heavy bottomed pan such as a cast iron skillet or Dutch oven, over high heat, add the oil and once shimmering hot, add the beef and cook for 4-5 minutes on every side, top and bottom to sear.

Remove to a plate, add the Worcestershire sauce and then immediately pour in a few cups of the beef broth to deglaze the pan. Remove from heat and set aside.

In your 5-quart slow cooker, place the onions, celery, garlic, carrots, potatoes, thyme and bay leaves.

Place the roast over the vegetables and pour in the liquid from the skillet along with enough beef broth to come up about ¾ up the side of the meat, which should be the whole two quarts of stock or broth. If you don’t use all of the stock, save for the end when making the gravy.

Cover slow cooker and set timer for eight hours on low or four hours on high. If cooking on low, check at the eight-hour mark and cook up to four additional hours until the meat is tender. If cooking on high, check at four hours and cook for one or two hours if needed.

While the pot roast is cooking, melt the butter in a small sauce pan over medium low and once melted, stir in the flour and cook for four minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat and hold for later in this recipe.

After the meat and vegetables are removed, pour the liquid into a strainer over a sauce pan and discard the solids (pieces of celery, bay leave and thyme).

Add the butter flour mixture to the liquid and cook to thicken over medium heat. Taste and adjust seasonings. Add the gravy flavor color to the sauce to get your desired color. I liked ours to be golden, so ½ teaspoon was plenty.

To serve, remove large pieces of beef for serving that guests would then cut into bite sized pieces at the table. Serve with the potatoes, carrots, onions and the gravy. You could also slice the roast and serve slices but we like the large rustic pieces better.