The Perfect Sunday Roast - How do you cook yours?

LISA · Post by **LISA** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 8:01 pm

Please help!
I would like some 'fool proof' tips on how to cook a really good beef roast.This is something I have never perfected yet.I have read Nigella,Jamie,Gordon and Hugh,but still can't get it right!
It would be interesting to get differant opinions on 'the best'joint and the best means of cooking it.Thankyou!
Best Wishes Lisa (a wanna be Nigella but my husband is singing the Butterflies theme tune every Sunday lunch at the moment!)

pudser · Post by **pudser** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 1:33 pm

Make sure you leave it on the bone but get butcher to remove chime thus making it easier to carve .The start it at 200C for 15 minute reduce to 180C and 15 min to lb thereafter.Bones will pull out afterwards.

Make sure you allow to sit for at least 20 minutes when you take it out of oven under tin foil and tea towel.

This give rare meat increase accoringly or let sit for longer for medium etc

Louisa Gidney · Post by **Louisa Gidney** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 1:43 pm

I just bung it in the oven at 180C, then go away & walk dog, feed catle etc. Come back, have a look at it & depending on how hungry I am, it's done!

domsmith · Post by **domsmith** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 8:59 pm

Any roasting joint from a dexter is superb. a rib is ideal if you can spare one. but topside silverside or sirloin are just as good.

silverside i pot roast with black galloway stout and onions for a couple of hours then thicken the sauce with flour and butter fantatsic!!

other roasts i now cook in a moderate oven 150-180 until they read 65C on a probe thermometer. that will be medium rare. if you are doing a rib roast i brown it in a large pan first to get the flavours going. but a moderate oven helps keep the moisture in. its ready when its ready.

you must let it rest whilst the yorkshire puds cooks.

have your butcher keep all the fat and render it down to make your own dripping, makes good chips and roast tatties!!

dom

wagra dexters · Post by **wagra dexters** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:30 am

Wing rib roast is my favourite, second is bolar blade. Bolar needs slow cooking because it is a hard working muscle but is more succulent and flavoursome than topside.

No roasts here at present, I got up at 3am to cook some sausages & steak so that the kitchen could cool down again by morning and the meat eaten cold or in a quick stir-fry.

The bitumen here in our little town is soft & gooey, and train services have been disrupted in Melbourne & Adelaide due to rails buckling.

Margaret.

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welshdexterboy · Post by **welshdexterboy** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 11:56 am

Seems to me Margaret it would be just as good if you put the sausages etc out on the cill in the afternoon and save on electric by the sounds of your weather!!!

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 7:58 am

Ingredients make the meal as much as the cooking I think. My preference is for a well-hung and marbled dexter rib joint with a good outer fat layer, cooked as said above, but first make sure it was either fresh and left to stand in the fridge for a few days before cooking, or if frozen thoroughly defrosted and then left to stand for a few days. When you waft your hand over it, the meat when raw should have that wonderful well-hung aroma and the cooking just makes it even better. But if you start off without that aroma, it's never quite the same I feel.

Like Heston Blumenthal does. He puts as much effort into getting the meat ready BEFORE cooking, and then the cooking itself can be very simple.

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ann · Post by **ann** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 11:09 pm

From the producer and the cooks point of view, so much effort goes into producing that wonderful piece of meat

and in a few minutes its gone.

Louise Badcock · Post by **Louise Badcock** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 9:14 pm

The best joint is a rib of beef. I like to make a mixture of flour, mustard powder and pepper. I brown the flour mix in the frying pan then pat it on the joint. I put a lump of fat on this and cook it very hot for 15 min, then 15 min to the pound. It will be rare by then so you can add time if you like it better done.
this is from an old Robert Carrier book from the 60's.
Cheers Louise

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 8:43 am

Hi, this is Caroline not Clive, the system won't let me post anything with my own user name (Cal), so I'm using Clive's for the moment. If there's anything that can be done to sort that Mark, that would be appreciated.

My "foolproof" recipe for roast beef is one I've used with repeated success by Rick Stein. It's worked with rib and topside. Brush the beef with oil and season. Start with a very hot oven for half an hour, then turn down to 160 C or gas 3, allow 12 minutes per 500g for rare; 15 mins for medium, 20 mins for well done. Cooking at a lower temperature reduces moisture loss. Rest the cooked meat for 15 to 30 mins afterwards and cut the meat off the rib before carving.

Of course a roast beef dinner is only as good as the yorkshire pudding, crispy roast potatoes and cauliflower cheese that you serve it with!

Caroline Taylor

carole · Post by **carole** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 10:49 am

O.K now I'm really hungry

LISA · Post by **LISA** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 1:18 pm

Thankyou very much everyone for your helpful hints,yesterdays roast was marginally better (my husband sang the butterflies theme tune slightly quieter this week)
Caroline,thankyou for your help as well.Unfortunatly my Yorkshire puddings,Roast potatoes etc are all equally dismal.I am more 'little chef' than 'Master Chef'!I do cook a mean Fishfinger though.
Best Wishes Lisa