Roast Beef

[Miss J]

Folks, I'm looking for a bit of guidance from your educated selves. I'm whipping up a nice trad roast beef lunch for six (with all the usual trimmings), but it's been so long since I roasted beef I'm not sure what cut I want.

I am going to order in advance from a good butcher (also yet to be decided), so most cuts can probably be accommodated as long as I can describe what I want clearly enough.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Edited February 11, 2003 by Miss J (log)

[SamanthaF]

Rib of beef - bone in (It cooks better)

The bigger the piece the better - beef sarnies all week wont hurt

[AdamLawrence]

Yes to bone-in rib, but you then need to invoke a house rule 'Them as cook don't carve' (ideally said in a deep Yorkshire accent ) because rib is a pig to carve elegantly.

Adam

[Miss J]

Heh - fortunately, that's turned out to be one of those unwritten rules in our flat. Mr J ALWAYS carves. And now that my parents have sent over a nice carving set, he can do it in style, too.

So rib of beef is looking like a strong contender. Anything I ought to know about cooking it? Time per 500g (oh okay, per pound if you're that way inclined - I can convert), minimum amount per person, favourite suppliers?

(This is great. It's like having a live edition of Larousse. )

[Jon Tseng]

So rib of beef is looking like a strong contender. Anything I ought to know about cooking it? Time per 500g (oh okay, per pound if you're that way inclined - I can convert), minimum amount per person, favourite suppliers?

(This is great. It's like having a live edition of Larousse.  )

Good excuse to buy that cooking themometer methinks

and unlike Larousse our recipes actually WORK

;-)

[SamanthaF]

Miss J -

I'd blast a 8-10lb rib in a very hot oven (Gas 9) for about 20 mins. Then cook it 10-15 mins per lb for the outside slices to be medium well for the wimps and the inside slices to be medium rare for the vampires.

As for supplier - I have had very good rib beef from Sainsburys and Waitrose lately.

[Vanessa]

Some years ago I roasted an enormous rib of beef very successfully for a party, never having done such a thing before. Largely due to the quality of the beef, acquired from Dove's on Northcote Road, Battersea.

v

[Vanessa]

Oh, I know this sounds like the other end of the world for you Miss J, but it is only a few minutes walk from Clapham Junction, which you can get to direct from Willesden Junction. And there are all sorts of other interesting food shops in the vicinity, like Stefano Cavallini's and the honey shop and Hamish Johnston's for cheese.

v

[Steve Plotnicki]

Ribs removed but then trimmed and tied to the roast. Too hard to carve if it is just on the bone. We make a big roast every Thanksgiving. Somewhere between 507 ribs. We melt some butter and paint the outside of the roast on all sides. Then we completely coat it with minced garlic and sea salt from Brittany. It's really yummy. I prefer the end cut which will be medium rare if you cook the middle to rare.

[Tonyfinch]

Having partaken of Sam's roast rib I can vouch for her method. However a bone out cut which really works is rolled sirloin.

[Jinmyo]

Somewhere between 507 ribs.

507 ribs.

Little cows are for tourists.

[Marlene]

Ribs removed but then trimmed and tied to the roast. Too hard to carve if it is just on the bone. We make a big roast every Thanksgiving. Somewhere between 507 ribs. We melt some butter and paint the outside of the roast on all sides. Then we completely coat it with minced garlic and sea salt from Brittany. It's really yummy. I prefer the end cut which will be medium rare if you cook the middle to rare.

I second this one. We always ask the butcher to do this to our roasts. I think Steve actually means 5-7 ribs, which is a very nice size roast. High heat for 20 minutes, then 15-18 mins per pound at 325. I'll cook a prime rib probably once a week.

edited to add: I've also found that if I stand the roast on one end to roast, one end gets med well to well for those who like it that way, while the rest is nicely med rare to rare in the middle.

Edited February 11, 2003 by Marlene (log)

[Steve Plotnicki]

No I actually meant 507 ribs. Here on the Upper East Side, we have very good butchers who have access to special meat. Seriously, isn't 7 ribs the max?

[Marlene]

No I actually meant 507 ribs. Here on the Upper East Side, we have very good butchers who have access to special meat. Seriously, isn't 7 ribs the max?

yes, to the best of my knowledge, 7 ribs is the max! I can't imagine the size of oven you'd need for a 507 rib roast! You could invite the whole country for dinner.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Actually we usually have 22 people. But there's a turkey as well and not everyone eats meat. So figure 14. If you do the math, a 507 rib roast only feeds a little more then 1000 people. That's probably just enough for the people who live on my block.

[Duncan]

So rib of beef is looking like a strong contender. Anything I ought to know about cooking it? Time per 500g (oh okay, per pound if you're that way inclined - I can convert), minimum amount per person, favourite suppliers?

I have had good results following Heston Blumenthal's recipe which is online at Guardian Unlimited

You do need a digital thermometer. The weight of the joint doesn't matter much: I find it takes about 5 hours rather than the 4 1/2 he suggests, but then I also go for about 1C higher temperature (to be sure I haven't missed any cooler bits). Also the time it takes will depend on how long before cooking you took the joint out of the fridge.

I then put the joint back in the oven at a high temperature for a few minutes to brown: no way do I have a pan large enough for browning as he suggests. I believe you can also brown the meat with a blowtorch should you feel that way inclined.

The result is a joint that is completely evenly pink throughout.

I haven't done his accompanying sauce though. That looks a bit too much like work.

[Marlene]

Actually we usually have 22 people. But there's a turkey as well and not everyone eats meat. So figure 14. If you do the math, a 507 rib roast only feeds a little more then 1000 people. That's probably just enough for the people who live on my block.

I don't do math I keep telling everyone that's why I married an accountant. Besides, I figure the leftovers from that size would be enough for me!

[Charlene Leonard]

I like to get what is basically a very thick t-bone steak from The Ginger Pig (I think this is different from a rib of beef?). Get him to chine it for you and when it is cooked I take the fillet off and cut this seperately and then remove the sirloin from the bone and slice into thick slices.

[Miss J]

I believe you can also brown the meat with a blowtorch should you feel that way inclined.

You have no idea how tempted I am to get a blow torch just for this purpose. Performance art and Sunday lunch, all in one glorious package. (I think the pinny-and-welder's-mask look is a winner.)

On the 507-rib cow - I had an image pop into my mind of something that looked a bit like a bovine centipede. Spooky. But if it can feed an entire city block...

[Lord Michael Lewis]

The cut you choose will depend on how many people you are serving, but for +/-6 try bone on sirloin (never roast without the bone). When it's done and rested take the meat off the bone in one piece and then carve it.

One point about beef (any cut; steak, roast) which is to be served evenly pink/red is that it should be at room temperature before cooking, otherwise you are cremating the outside while the interior remains stone cold, as a result the cooking time is far too over-extended and the end result is dry and multi-hued. With bigger cuts this means leaving it out for eight or so hours.

[laura]

My favorite cut for roast beef is the shell roast. It is basically the shell steak that is not cut into steaks but left whole I have roasted both boned and left on the bone. Both versions are good and what I like about it is the flavor,not as fatty as a rib roast and even less than stellar meat tastes good this way.I

usually insert cloves of garlic, salt, pepper and sometimes a mix of soy and mustard rub.

[SamanthaF]

My favorite cut for roast beef is the shell roast.

Can anyone offer a translation for what a 'shell' roast is please.

[Jinmyo]

My favorite cut for roast beef is the shell roast.

Can anyone offer a translation for what a 'shell' roast is please.

top loin steak = strip steak = New York steak = New York sirloin steak = Kansas City steak = contrefilet = strip loin steak =  New York strip steak = Kansas City strip steak = hotel steak = hotel cut strip steak = ambassador steak = club sirloin steak = strip sirloin steak    Notes: Think of these as Porterhouse or T-bone steaks that have been stripped of the choice tenderloin portion.  They're flavorful and fairly expensive cuts.  A boneless top loin steak is called a shell steak, and a very thick shell steak is sometimes called a shell roast. Substitutes:  club steak OR sirloin steak OR T-bone steak OR Porterhouse steak

Cook's Thesaurus

[SamanthaF]

Thanks Jin - You STAR

[jackal10]

Wing Rib is the cut you want. 2 bones for 6 people.

Ribeye if you must, but with the bones looks nicer and tastes better.

The supermarkets do surpringly good beef - Tesco's from the in-store butchers is excellent.

One trick is to buy it one week and they will hold it in their coldroom to hang for the following week.

A meat thermometer is essential, preferably a digital one with a long ovenproof wire to the probe, such as sold by http://www.meilleurduchef.com/

Either use Heston's slow cooking method, or blast for an hour of so in a 200C oven. Roast an onion in the pan with the meat for the sake of the gravy. Optionally rub the fat beforehand with pepper, salt, mild chile. The lowest (plate warming) oven of a 4 oven AGA is ideal for the slow cooking method.

The hot method has some advantages since there are always some heathens that like their beef gray, and they can have the outside. If you use the slow method you will need to ostentatiously microwave the heathen's portion for 2 mins on high. Hot cooking also gives better gravy.

Let it stand for half an hour while the Yorkshire pudding cooks.

Have we had the horseradish vs mustard debate?