First attempt at roasting beef

Debt_Free_Chick

Oh dear - I missed this yesterday and it's my favourite topic! It's also too late, but perhaps helpful for others in the future.

For roast beef the two most important factors are the provenance of the meat and the cut. The provenance is the meat's "CV" - what breed, how was it reared, for how long it's been hung.

Certain breeds do not create good, tender, roasting joints - Holstein Freisian being the most common and notable example. These are the males from this dairy breed of cattle, which would be useless to a dairy farmer, so they're fattened and sold on as "beef". There's nothing inherently wrong with this - indeed, it's good economic sense for the farmer, but the breed does not produce tender, tasty beef. And all too often, you are charged a "premium beef" price for an inferior product.

Aberdeen (Angus), Hereford, South Devon, Shorthorn, Sussex and a whole host of other breeds produce far better beef - with an increasing number of continental breeds like Limousin & Charolais now being reared in this Country. Whilst Aberdeen is very highly regarded - and rightly so - there are many other British breeds that produce beef of an equal quality so, again, don't pay over the top for Aberdeen.

A useful guide to cattle breeds here.

I would also choose beef that's been "traditionally" reared - largely grass fed, outdoors during the better months and allowed to mature naturally, not fattened quickly on a mainly cereal based diet.

Beef is tenderised by the hanging process - in my view, at least 21 days hanging is necessary. Moisture evaporates during the hanging process, leaving a beautiful dry piece of meat, not a bloody, slimy mess. This moisture evaporation also intensifies the flavour - and the bonus is that you're not paying for water which will simply evaporate when you roast the meat, resulting in a shrunken dried-out piece of leather.

Now for the cuts - the King of roasting joints would be a forerib or sirloin. You can buy it on the bone or boned & rolled, but it's worth getting it on the bone as the bones make an excellent stock.

Topside can be roasted, but it needs lower temperatures and slower cooking. Silverside is not a roasting joint and like brisket needs long, slow cooking.

A good joint will have flecks (marbling) of creamy fat through it. This doesn't produce greasy meat - far from it. The fat melts during cooking and bastes the meat, keeping it tender and moist. No fat? The finished product will be tough, even if you add dripping, as the dripping will only coat the outside and not the middle of the joint.

With the right cut from the right breed, give the joint a blast of fierce heat for 20 mins then reduce the heat to around 160°C and cook for 10, 15 or 20 mins per 500g for rare, medium or well done meat.

If you need the temperature high for yorkie or roast spuds, remember they will cook whilst the meat is resting. As already mentioned by others, resting is important to allow the juices to seep back into the meat, keeping it tender.

You're unlikely to get good enough quality beef from a supermarket, not least as they sell topside as "a roasting joint"! But, in addition, the breed isn't identified - probably because the "beef" is from a dairy breed! Also, it's not hung - hence the need to sit it on what can only be described as "a sanitary towel" in the bottom of a tray :eek:

Find a decent butcher and ask him about the meat before you buy. If you're not confident about asking specific questions, just ask him "what can you tell me about this beef and why is it so good?" (but probably not on a busy Saturday afternoon ). If he can't tell you, don't buy from him as he's probably not a butcher at all - just someone who buys in bulk from the food wholesaler :mad:

Last night we had a boned, rolled sirloin joint from a Sussex, which had been reared approximately 4 miles away. I've probably seen them in the field earlier in the summer. It was sent for slaughter less than 10 miles away. Reduced travel = reduced stress, which is kinder to the animal and stressed cattle tend to produce tough meat. It had been hung for 28 days and was a ruby/mahoghany colour when raw, not bright "blood" red.

Absolutely delicious

The BBC Food site has an excellent guide to beef, under "Cook's Guide".

Debt_Free_Chick

butterfly72 wrote: »

Ok, so I need to rest the meat. How do I know its cooked and will it carry on cooking inside while its resting?

If you definitely want it cooked all through (well done) the only sure way to know it's cooked is to use a meat thermometer. If you don't mind it rare or even medium, then 20 mins at high heat and then 10-15 mins per 500g at about 160°C ought to do it.

It won't continue to cook once removed from the oven - well, maybe for a minute or two, but no longer. I wrap mine loosely in foil and tip all the juices into the gravy.

Also, do you cook it with the string still on and why?

Simply to hold it's shape - what you've got is a cut that was on the bone. The bone's been removed and the resulting piece of meat rolled up, with the string holding it together. Remove the string as you carve it - it shouldn't fall apart, once cooked.

Before you cook it, what cut did you buy in the end? We can be more specific with cooking guidelines if we know the cut.

HappyIdiotTalk

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

The BBC Food site has an excellent guide to beef, under "Cook's Guide".

There is a video on beef on the front page of that link, very much worth a look. Thanks Debt_Free_chick!

PS Will you marry me! :A

Debt_Free_Chick

HappyIdiotTalk wrote: »

PS Will you marry me! :A

Ooooooooo ...... you don-wanna-do-that :eek:

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

That's brightened up my day, thank you :j :T

needaspirin

DFC - I'm very impressed by your post #6. You've taught me an awful lot and I'm going to copy your post to a word document so that I don't lose it. Thanks

tracyk

needaspirin wrote: »

DFC - I'm very impressed by your post #6. You've taught me an awful lot and I'm going to copy your post to a word document so that I don't lose it. Thanks

Me too - infact I'm that impressed that I've nominated you for post of the month DFC :T

Debt_Free_Chick

tracyk wrote: »

Me too - infact I'm that impressed that I've nominated you for post of the month DFC :T

OOOOOH .... embarrassed now

Very flattered though - thank you :A

HappyIdiotTalk

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

That's brightened up my day, thank you :j :T

Pleasure!

needsaspirin wrote:

DFC - I'm very impressed by your post #6. You've taught me an awful lot and I'm going to copy your post to a word document so that I don't lose it. Thanks

needsaspirin, Google Notebook might be of use to you, its a free online web application specifically made for noting stuff (as you've no doubt already guessed). I use it loads for storing bits and pieces from the web and find it really useful. I've made my recipes one public and you can view it here:
http://www.google.co.uk/notebook/public/13360928823783253744/BDRQnSwoQlrjkqOEh?hl=en

To show you what I mean I've noted DFC's article which should appear first. If you want to give it a try, but aren't sure how to, PM me and I'll explain further.

[edited: Oops link was wrong!]

butterfly72

I just want to say thanks for all the replies. The roast was fantastic. I ended up with a sirloin boned joint which was a bit pricey... but hey ho! I cheated with the yorkies and got Aunt bessies?? but everything else was my own including the best gravy I've ever made!

I cooked the meat according to Delias suggestion from her website. When we took it out to rest the juices ran a bit red and I wasn't sure if it was cooked enough inside, but I was after resting for 30mins the roast was more like med to well done. It was yummy! Thanks again:T

fimonkey

Wow, even as a life long vegetarian I found DFC's post on meat VERY informative!