koko

Hi folks.. sry no pictures but it did turn out well.. nice and crusty outside and medium to medium rare inside.. My roast was a 19lb-er with ribs... I opted to go with the high and low method so started it off at 450 for about 25-30 min then cranked it down to about 300 for most of the rest of the way. The kitchen I was using had a convection oven (yay!!) and I found that the 18 min / lb of meat cooking time estimate was way off.. I was prepped to have it cook for about 6 hrs but it only took about 3-4 hrs (~9:30am - 1-ish) for it to reach 120, at which point I lowered the oven to 200-225 and fired up the grill outside to 225 and moved it out there to free up the oven and held it for another hour or two, with the internal temperature never getting any higher then about 137 either when rested .. a nice juicy pinkish inside.. gorgeous meat! Confounded me a little but I was glad for the shoter time either way.. was this just a factor of the convection oven I wonder or would I have had a similar experience in a regular oven I wonder... I'll need to cook another large roast in my home oven now just to see if that'll take 6 hours or not..

2 hours passed before I realized something about what you said Jackal10.. theoretically (not saying I'll do this but it's nice to know).. if I cut the 7 ribber in half.. say 4 and 3 ribs and roast them together in the same oven, they should cook slightly faster then having the entire roast in one piece then.. since width-wise they would be of a shorter thickness.. even taking into consideration that there would be multiple items in the oven which slows cooking time but hrmm...

I'm with you there.. I grew up on cold leftovers... but sadly (or not so) my 'clients' would like hot/warm food and a presentation piece.. so I'll be doing what I can the day of..

Thx Dano1.. I'm already stocked on half-dozen half sheet pans... though I may go pick up a few extra just incase.. but I like the tip about the non-white linens.. didn't even think about that... hehe.. *picturing bloody looking towels strewn everywhere*

Wow.. lots of info.. thx folks!! Well, I guess part of the problem is that I'm cooking at a location I'm not familiar with (and too far to go to for a casual look see), so I don't know the arrangement of the cooking area, etc.. I've been told it only has one oven and that the grill that I'd have access to is a Weber A series. Looking at the A series, I can see that it only has 2 burners and isn't that large so I'm not so sure that indirect heat cooking in the grill would even be possible (though it does have a built-in thermo). So it looks like the oven it will have to be, unless I get there and am pleasantly surprised otherwise, in which case I'll try the grill... and yes, I have a Polder probe so thatll remove the guesswork on my part. I understand the whole 41-140 range.. went to culinary school and am doing catering on a low key part-time basis... I've done parties like this but the first time I've had to deal with HD, grilled items AND a roast.. the roast is obviously throwing me off.. I was going to buy a bone-in roast, and then just remove the bones prior to service (keeping them for my lil treat)... WAH LA!! Boneless roast... served in slices with optional sides of a wild rice stuffing (w/ craisins, golden raisins and pine nuts) and a mango/jicama/cucumber salad with citrus vinaigrette... something to keep it all lite, and prob the option of Au Jus or a horseradish cream sauce on the side for people who want.. This isn't meant to feed everyone, I'm hoping for it to feed 25-30 people at about 1/2 lb a slice.. considering that for 4 hours before that, they will also be feasting on 8 different Hor D'oeurves (HD) (all with some starch involved). The rest of the party can feast on grilled salmon (pre-marked, held in fridge and finished in the oven) and the host is buying several pre-done peruvian rotisserie chickens. But I think I understand my choices now... a) if I have access to a grill that I can use indirect heat on, then use that... If no indirect heat is possible, I can consider inverting one sheet pan and then placing another one w/ a rack on top and put the roast on that? (assuming the roast even fits into it the grill) b) Perhaps use the grill at high heat to reheat my HD's instead and use the oven to slow roast the sucker.. I have a feeling I won't be able to bring it down to a temp of 150, lets say 200-225 is more likely.. should I expect something like 22m/lb? So for a 18lber.. 6.5 hours roughly.. Any other options? The overnite can't be done since I won't be there until early early morning.. Thanx guys (and gals!)!! I've been reading this board and searching through it for ages and love it.. first time I'm posting and I love all the serious answers.

Hi folks.. well my previous post no longer applies and we are no longer doing multiple roasts.. instead we're are gonna get a massive 18lb-er 7 ribs and just feed as many people as possible (figuring about 1/2 lb per person).. but I'm trying to figure out the logistics here... I have one oven and it'll be available from 9am-ish~ 1:30pm ...which at that point I need the oven for other things until about 4pm.. then I can have it back from 4pm till dinner time which is scheduled for 6pm-ish. So my question is.. obviously with a roast this large, I don't think the slow and steady method will work since the total cooking time will probably take WAY too long.. soo.. Can I cook the roast with the high heat (say 425-450 for 15-20 min) then back it down to 325-350 for the rest of the way? I'm figuring that if I start around 9ish, I should be maybe done by 1ish.. maybe, for MR. But then what? Can anyone recommend anything? Whats the best way to hold it for awhile before I can park it back into the oven to keep warm? As an extra, there MAY be a gas grill on hand that I can use but I don't want to grill the whole roast on there.. mostly cause I'm afraid of ruining such a expensive piece of meat and my grilling skills aren't the best.. but can I use that to hold it warm for several hours? Anyone have recommendations? I'll take every suggestion/idea you experts have got! Thanks!!

Hi folks.. I have a large party I'm having on a sunday (about 60 people) and we are serving rib roasts.. obviously we'll have multiple roasts. We are also having about 7-8 hor d'oeurves earlier in the day. My problem is this.. with one oven and the need to reheat and serve hor d'oeurves as well, can I pre/par-cook the roast the a day or two in advance and bring to temp without any significant loss in quality? I was thinking about precooking it up to about 110 (rare-mr) and then reheating it the next day at the same oven temp (say about 300-350) back to 110 or 115. Can I get some thoughts on this? Thanks..