Looking to cook a beef stew or pot roast in a crock pot

Got ya, I will give it a look.

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1 packet lipton onion soup and your vegetables. Use 1/4 the water required on the packet. Stuff it with garlic and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Enjoy.

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I do the same thing but I sub beef broth for the water and I put in about a cup of it.

I hear brown the meat often. I've done it both ways and can't tell a difference. What is supposed to be better about it?

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I do the same thing but I sub beef broth for the water and I put in about a cup of it.

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A good dark ale works well here also.

Browning adds a nice flavor element but only if you're in the mood to do more dishes. Part of the charm of a crock pot is to sometimes simply dump the ingredients in and turn it on.

I hear brown the meat often. I've done it both ways and can't tell a difference. What is supposed to be better about it?

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Flavor and color. Browning creates a richer flavor. Of course, it might be less detectable if you are dumping stuff like soup and soup mix in with your roast.

Edit: my recipe is...
Season and refrigerate the night before. I like salt/pepper on a beef roast, and garlic/cayenne on a pork roast, just the way I was taught.

The next morning, brown the shite out of it on all sides in lard, bacon fat or coconut oil. Remove from pot and put in crockpot. Toss a bunch or onions or trinity in the pot and sweat them to deglaze the pan. You can add a bit of liquid if you need to, but I usually don't.
Then you scrape all of that into the crock pot, put it on low and go to work. You will come home to a house full of smell goodness that is ready to eat.

My go to for pot roast. Grass fed beef stays firmer and slices cleaner, so I always use grass fed beef.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon cornstarch
8 medium carrots, cut into thirds
2 medium onions, each cut into 8 wedges
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 grass fed, beef chuck roast (3 pounds), trimmed of excess fat
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Directions
1.In slow cooker, stir together cornstarch and 2 tablespoons cold water until smooth. Add carrots and onions; season with salt and pepper, and toss.
2.Sprinkle roast with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; place on top of vegetables, and drizzle with Worcestershire. Cover; cook on high, 6 hours (or on low, 10 hours).
3.Transfer roast to a cutting board; thinly slice against the grain. Place vegetables in a serving dish; pour pan juices through a fine-mesh sieve, if desired. Serve roast with vegetables and pan juices.