Slowwwwwwwwwww Roast Beef

[Tom Gengo]

Happy Holidays fellow e-gulleters.

I am preparing a roast beef for my children for Christmas and am intrigued by the idea of cooking it in a low heat oven. However, I am perplexed at calculating the time.

To me it makes much sense to slow roast the beef for several reasons. 1. As the beef slowly comes up to temp the enzymes in the meat will have much more time to break down the proteins into amino acids ie flavor, similar to dry aging a beef. 2. It will eliminate the grey ring on the outside circumference of the meat where it is med to well done. 3. There, in theory, will be less contraction of the muscle fibers due to the moderate heating resulting in a juicier beef. 4.Less importantly, it is much more difficult (but not impossible) to overcook. The compromise here seems to be that there will not be an appreciable amount of drippings limiting the preparation of au jus, Yorkshire pudding, etc.

I have read where some chefs will cook the beef at 130 for up to 24 hours. My oven only goes down to 170 faren., so I hope someone out there has some ideas on cook times. I am planning to use my convection feature which will affect the cook time and I will sear the outside of the meat: either a 500 f oven, blow torch or a roasting pan heated over high heat to sterilize the exterior then place in the oven. This additionally and supposedly will aid in the rendering of fat during roasting. Another suggestion I have researched is to remove the meat at 120f to allow carry over to 125f for med rare beef. I am a bit skeptical that there will be sufficient heat to elevate the meat to this temperature... opinions, please. Another method is to remove the meat to rest and raise the oven temperature to 500f and "caramelize" the meat for about 10 minutes. Guess I will have to play it by ear to see how it looks.

So, @ 170 farenheit convection, I am looking for recommendations. 3 hours per pound? Remove @ 120 farenheit? I am thinking that if I start it about 18 hours prior to service time I can always remove it when I hit my target and let it rest and just pop it in a 500 oven for a short time just prior to service... thoughts on this contingency?

[Mjx]

I recently read about slow-roasting prime rib in Cook's Illustrated (November & December 2011), where they describe searing the exterior on the stovetop over high heat, then roasting in at 200F, until the interior reaches 110F (3 to 4 hours), at which point the oven is shut off, and roast is left in to finish in the residual heat until it reaches 120-125F, half an hour to an hour and a half longer.

For roast beef I do something simliar, but less complex: Stovetop sear, roast at 250F for about 45 minutes to an hour, to an internal temperature of 110F, then finish for 10 to 15 minutes at 450F, until internal temperature is 130F. Very pink and juicy interior, just a tiny bit bloody.

[Pierogi]

I consistently rely on the America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated method of the hard sear in cast iron, then into a slow oven (I think it's 200° or 225°F) then oven off, then pull, tent with foil and rest. It's a spot-on method, I've used it on rib roasts, eyes of round (which I never thought would dry roast well), sirloins, and even tenderloins. It's now the only way I dry roast beef. Rubbing in some seasonings the day before (salt & pepper, maybe some granulated garlic, rosemary, etc.) only makes it better, as does bringing the meat to room temp before the sear.

The only thing I'd say is you must, MUST have a remote probe thermometer to monitor the internal temperature. So many variables will affect the length of time the meat takes in the low oven....how hot your stove-top was for the sear and how long you let it go, the temperature of the roast when you started, how hot your oven runs, the size of your roast, bone-in or boneless, there's no real way to quantitate the time. You need the in-dwelling probe to tell you what's what.

I'll be doing this again with a standing rib roast on Sunday....

[Keith_W]

As Pierogi said, cook to temperature, not to time.

These days, every time I cook a thick chunk of meat I do it via a two stage method:

- low and slow to set the proteins. This can be via a slow roast (or more commonly for me these days, via sous-vide). For beef, you want a temp of 50C (rare), 55C (medium rare), 60C (medium) or 65C (well done). I tend to go for 52C. If you decide to slow roast, set your oven as low as possible and remove when you reach the target temp.

- high heat to brown the exterior. Always allow your meat to cool a little before applying the high heat method, otherwise it will cause the temp to easily overshoot your target. High heat can be: blowtorch, panfry, or grill. I prefer the grill.

[jamesglu]

I'm going to be trying Heston Blumenthal's slow rib roast recipe on Christmas day (the beef is already dry-aging in my chiller), and I'll happily post my findings afterwards; does anyone have any pointers to share before I undertake this task?

[&roid]

Here's a tip, don't do what this couple did!

(link to the first of 5 parts as EG won't let me post them all in one go)

went to all the trouble of cooking it for 24 hours to a perfect medium rare... then sliced it into steaks and cooked them to death!

Edited December 21, 2011 by &roid (log)

[Paul Bacino]

I have been playing around with the " slow low " method, with a home oven. I'm not in the restaurant business , but the individuals I have talked to, use a moisture control oven for " low and slow Prime rib roasts ". I have yet to use a beef rib roast, but I did do a pork tenderloin, in a dutch oven with some liquids added. I think " DCarch "had made that suggestion. My oven will do 130 and I cooked the roast to 135 @ 155 or so. I then rested and seared with decent results.

I probably missed the finish temp just a bit but the loin was juicy!! Here I used the clay cooker..

[Marlene]

How big is your roast? When I do this, I roast at 200 convection. I do not sear it first. An 8-9 lb roast should take about 4.5 hours. Smaller roast, say 5 lbs, should take a little over 3 and a half. But do use a meat thermometer and roast to temp. I take mine out when the thermometer hits 135 (for rare) and let it sit for 25 minutes or so while I do the yorkies.

[olicollett]

Here's a tip, don't do what this couple did!

(link to the first of 5 parts as EG won't let me post them all in one go)

went to all the trouble of cooking it for 24 hours to a perfect medium rare... then sliced it into steaks and cooked them to death!

I think some people mis-understood that recipe for the perfect steak - the 50C for 24hrs was supposed to accelerate ageing, it wasn't supposed to cook the steak.

I'd say the key thing as people have pointed out is temperature. It's a shame your oven won't go down to 55-60C though, as any higher temperature will mean you are likely to still end up with the outside ring unless you have a fairly rare centre

Edited December 21, 2011 by olicollett (log)