Cooking Beef - Tips required

[Paul_HDLover]

Hey All,

Im cooking what will hopefully be a really nice beef for tomorrows dinner. Im thinking a piece of silverside or whatever is best.

Anyway, im loking to gague how you would cook this so that its is extremely tasty. Obviously the basics i know i.e. putting in caserole dish covered in silver paper and at sporadic points cover it in its own juices. What im looking to know is anything else that you would do to make it maximumly excellent.

Cheers
Paul

[fizl]

Dont leave the foil on all the way through, let it out for a while so that you get that tasty crusty end from the gravy coming out.

If you like it with a herby flavour, put a herb crust on the outside.

Most important bit - let it rest for at least 15 minutes before you cut it, it will be chewy otherwise

Shaz

[MrSossidge]

For the best (IMO) beef, you need a Rib of Beef.

Go to a butcher (not pre-packed supermarket). Tell him how many for and ask how long to cook it and he will tell you.

It is the best joint you will get. It doesn't go too dry and it's nice tender meat. Once tried, you won't go back.

honest.

[Pecker]

Originally Posted by Paul_HDLover

Hey All,

Im cooking what will hopefully be a really nice beef for tomorrows dinner. Im thinking a piece of silverside or whatever is best.

Anyway, im loking to gague how you would cook this so that its is extremely tasty. Obviously the basics i know i.e. putting in caserole dish covered in silver paper and at sporadic points cover it in its own juices. What im looking to know is anything else that you would do to make it maximumly excellent.

Cheers
Paul

Well, there are two ways of going about this, either roasting or pot roasting.

Roasting is done in a roasting tin with no liquid (other than a bit of fat, maybe), whilst pot roasting is done in a caserole dish, covered with a lid (or loosly with foil) and with a little liquid.

The best way to do it depends on the cut used. For roasting use either fillet, sirloin or rib (sometimes called crop). For pot roasting use any of the other cuts.

Best value for money, in my opinion, is rib. Roast it first at a high temperature for c.20 minutes (220-ish, or oven on full) to crisp up the outside, then lower the temperature to 180-ish and cook for 15 minutes per pound for rare + 15 for medium + 15 more for well done. An alternative to the first part is to fry the rib to crisp it up.

For pot roasting a 2 or 3 lb joint should do at 140 degrees for 2-4 hours in some beef stock, which doubles as gravy later on.

And yes, leave it to rest before carving.

Steve W

[Miyazaki]

All you need to do is rub some mustard powder into the outside with a bit of salt and brush lightly with olive oil.

I would never cover with foil and the rest as pecker says above.

Make sure you rest the meat and get a decent cut.

Fillet is very nice but also will cost you £30-£50 for a joint!

[Pecker]

Just got back from my local farm shop. I've bought a rib for today, and it was cheaper than silverside - £6.49/lb rather than £7.29/lb.

I know which I'd rather have.

Steve W

[Phil57]

Rib of beef, without a doubt is the biz.

[sniffer66]

Originally Posted by Phil57

Rib of beef, without a doubt is the biz.

Agreed, we rarely buy anything else for roasting. A boneless rib is good for easy carving but on the bone tastes better

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by sniffer66

A boneless rib is good for easy carving but on the bone tastes much better

You missed a word out which I've filled in for you

[mad_matt]

Originally Posted by MrSossidge

For the best (IMO) beef, you need a Rib of Beef.

Go to a butcher (not pre-packed supermarket). Tell him how many for and ask how long to cook it and he will tell you.

It is the best joint you will get. It doesn't go too dry and it's nice tender meat. Once tried, you won't go back.

honest.

Yep this is the best beef out there. I usually cook this very slowly (at least 3 hours at around 160 C). If you can sear it first then its even better. IMO

[tony brazao]

I've never cooked roast beef before, (the Mrs always does the roasts).

Reading this has inspired me to give it a whirl, this Friday may be roast beef day!

I like my roast beef to be red/pink but with little blood. I would be grateful if some one could give me the best method of cooking to get the result I'm after?

Many thanks,

[Paul_HDLover]

Thanks for the tips everyone. I popped up to Wairrose yesterday and stock was rather limited with it being a popular day for roasts. I picked up 1.7kg of Topside. A lovely piece of meat.

Anyway I hot fried it for 4 minutes to seal the juices in then put it in a roasting tray sitting on silver foil paper. I wrapped the silver foil lightly around it and placed in the oven. Guide said 25 minutes for each 500g and then add another 20 minutes for a medium finish. all in all was in there for about 1.45mins. I occasionally took it out of the oven and covered it in its own juices and a couple of table spoons of cold water (An old granny tip). End result after a 15-20 minute rest, was absolutely perfect piece of meat. When i cut it, it was really juicy on the inside. It erred on the medium to rare side in that it was slightly pinky in the middle, but it was amazing. Worst thing in the world is a well done piece of meat (Unless you like it that way ofcourse).

Everyone really enjoyed it. The side of Veg, Roast potatoes, yorkshire pudings, parsnips went down a treat aswell. Best meal i have had in a long long time. Probably best home cooked meal i have ever had come to think of it.

[Urien Rheged]

A Rib of Beef is expensive.
Try Brisket. Pot roast it in a pint of beef stock, 3 squirts of tomato puree & 2 bay leaves for 3 hours at 155 degrees in a cast iron pot (a le cressuet if possible).

Once cooked, remove the meat and unroll the brisket. Remove the bay leaves, add some corn flour or beef gravy granules to the cooking liquid to make the best gravy you have ever tasted. Carve the meat lengthways with an electric carving nife (it'll fall apart otherwise). The meat will absolutely melt in your mouth and is the moistest beef you will have ever tasted. Serve with the gravy.

Brisket is dirt cheap and has the best flavour, like a lot of the cheap cuts (try shoulder of pork or belly pork as well). You just need to know how to cook it properly.

[sniffer66]

Originally Posted by R1PLEY

A Rib of Beef is expensive.
Try Brisket. Pot roast it in a pint of beef stock, 3 squirts of tomato puree & 2 bay leaves for 3 hours at 155 degrees in a cast iron pot (a le cressuet if possible).

Once cooked, remove the meat and unroll the brisket. Remove the bay leaves, add some corn flour or beef gravy granules to the cooking liquid to make the best gravy you have ever tasted. Carve the meat lengthways with an electric carving nife (it'll fall apart otherwise). The meat will absolutely melt in your mouth and is the moistest beef you will have ever tasted. Serve with the gravy.

Brisket is dirt cheap and has the best flavour, like a lot of the cheap cuts (try shoulder of pork or belly pork as well). You just need to know how to cook it properly.

I normally just straight roast rib but your post has persuaded me to give a pot roast a go - I've always meant to.
Will a stainless stock pot in the oven work OK ?
Cheap cuts slow roasted always taste good. I made a beef stew at the weekend with suet dumplings, slow cooked it for about 3 and a half hours. The flavours were superb, the trick I find with dishes like that is really good stock

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by sniffer66

I normally just straight roast rib but your post has persuaded me to give a pot roast a go

I wouldn't pot roast a nice piece of rib as it would be a waste. Try a decent piece of brisket instead and cook it together with all of the root vegetables - carrots, swede, celery and onions in the same pot