[cromag]

Not much to tell. The brand I use, Cento, has a very spicy "hot peppery" brine. I use a 1.5 to 2.5 pound piece of chuck roast. I'm pretty ruthless about trimming all visible fat, which usually leaves me with several pieces of roast. I cover beef pieces with the brine from two 32 ounce jars and cook on high for five hours or so. (Eight to ten hours on low would work fine, too, but I'm slow starter.) When it's done, take the meat out and let it "rest" for 10 minutes or so to firm up -- but it will still shred when you try to cut it. It slices well after a night in the fridge.

The "pepper brine" penetrates the meat and gives it a good, but not too hot kick. And it smells great while it's cooking!

If you don't intend to use the giardiniera on its own, you can get by with one 32 ounce jar and empty the entire contents into the crock pot. After cooking the vegetables will be very, very salty but won't taste like much otherwise.

BTW, this has a lot of sodium in it, so if you have any health concerns about sodium, this probably isn't for you!