Roast Beef
Cooking the perfect roast can be a bit tricky due to variation between ovens. I find this method gives great results but you may need to adapt temperatures and times for your oven. To calculate times for different roast sizes I use the 'Roast Meat Cooking Time Calculator' - its a handy tool.
Cooking the perfect roast can be a bit tricky due to variation between ovens. I find this method gives great results but you may need to adapt temperatures and times for your oven. To calculate times for different roast sizes I use the 'Roast Meat Cooking Time Calculator' - its a handy tool.
- Carbohydrate 7.34713208333333 g
- Cholesterol 121.5 mg
- Fat 12.2127826785152 g
- Fiber 1.22721250367165 g
- Protein 41.1250526785714 g
- Saturated Fat 4.06046676784938 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (328g)
- Sodium 2102.022240625 mg
- Sugar 6.11991957966169 g
- Trans Fat 8.06701756696276 g
- Calories 325 calories
Step-by-step
- Take the beef out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking. Preheat oven to 220°C (Allow about 30 minutes for preheating)
- Wash and roughly chop the vegetables. Separate the garlic into cloves but leave unpeeled. Pile the vegetables and herbs into the centre of a roasting tray and drizzle with a small amount of oil.
- Rub the beef all over with oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on top of the vegetables.
- (Note: The purpose of the vegetables underneath the meat is to elevate and flavour the roast while cooking and to absorb the juices. After the cooking it can be used to make a flavoursome gravy)
- Place the roasting tray in the preheated oven and cook for 30 minutes at 220°C. (Note: If you are planning to roast vegetables to accompany the beef now is the time to start preparing them - see linked recipe)
- Reduce heat to 160°C and cook for a further 1 hour and 45 minutes. The beef may be basted with juices halfway through cooking if desired and a little water can be added to the tray if the vegetables look like they might burn.
- Remove the roasting tray from the oven, transfer the beef to a board, cover with foil and a teatowel and allow it to rest for around 20 minutes.
- To use the vegetables and pan juices for gravy tilt the tray to allow the juices to drain to one side. Stand for a while (5-10 minutes) then carefully spoon off the separated oil and discard. Blend about a tablespoon of plain flour with a little red wine or stock. Place the tray over low heat on the stove and mix the flour mixture into the pan juices and vegetables. Add more red wine and/or stock as required and ensure you scrape everything from the bottom of the pan while cooking. When the gravy thickens pour it through a sieve into a jug to serve with the roast meat.
- After the beef has had time to rest slice it very thinly and serve.
Topside of beef relies entirely on rigorous temperature management to prevent the lean muscle from drying out during extended cooking. Removing the joint from refrigeration thirty minutes prior to roasting allows the dense center to relax, preventing the exterior from overcooking before the heat penetrates the middle. Ovens vary wildly in calibration, making initial searing at 220 degrees Celsius essential for setting the protein surface before dropping the ambient heat down to 160 degrees for the duration. Combining this dual-stage thermal application with a proper rest of twenty minutes ensures internal moisture redistributes evenly throughout the fibers rather than pooling on the carving board. Coarse sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper applied directly to the oiled surface create a savory crust through high-heat Maillard reactions, laying down the foundational savory notes required for a deep pan sauce. Unpeeled garlic cloves and rough-chopped aromatic vegetables placed beneath the meat do double duty, elevating the cut above boiling condensation while rendering sugars into the dripping fat. As the roasting process unfolds, these underlying vegetables caramelize deeply, releasing natural starches and glutamates that meld with the rendered beef fat to form an intensely flavorful base. Skimming excess oil from the roasting pan before introducing flour and red wine prevents the resulting gravy from breaking or tasting greasy. Whisking this mixture directly over low heat while aggressively scraping the fond from the pan bottom incorporates all those concentrated browned proteins into a smooth, glossy sauce. Straining the finished liquid through a fine sieve removes spent vegetable solids while retaining every ounce of extracted flavor.
