Oven Roasting

[itch22]

On Sundays I cook for a large family composed of my inlaws and friends. To make things simple, I usually roast a large piece of meat (lamb, beek, pork, a bird, etc...). The meat 90% of the time turns out great, brown and crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.

My problem is, most of the time the jus burns or solids in the jus burn. No matter how I try and salvage it, I (and only I, it seems) can taste the burnt taste in the background of the gravy made from teh jus.

I don't use a rack, instead I set the meat on a couple of uncut carrots or its removed bones, something that will insulate the bottom of the pan and add flavour. I regulate the tempature so it is just hot enough to brown the outside. I do not add any liquid, however, to the pan for fear of steaming the meat instead of raosting it.

Any adivce?

[Marlene]

Several questions here.

What kind of roasting pan are you using?

Are you convection roasting or regular heat roasting?

What temperature do you set the oven at?

I don't ever add water to a roasting pan.

I use a stainless steel roasting pan and I roast at 300 degrees in a convection oven. For a regular oven, no higher than 325. I don't always use a rack, and if I'm roasting potatoes with the roast, I'll melt a little lard in the bottom of the pan first. I've never had pan drippings burn.

[itch22]

I use a stainless steel roasting pan and the oven is set anywhere from 350F to 400F depending on the cut or type of meat.

EDIT: And I use a conventional electric oven. I want a gas stove but I am waiting till we buy our house in a couple of years.

Edited November 18, 2003 by itch22 (log)

[Marlene]

Your oven is that high during the whole roasting process? I think that's your problem. To get the nice crispy crust outside with a conventional oven, try the following:

Brush the outside of the roast with oil and season. I use a little salt and garlic powder. Roast for 20 minutes at 450 then reduce heat to 300- 325 for the remainder of the time.

[itch22]

I'll try the lower temperature this Sunday. Thanks for the advice. I'd be lost without eGullet's forums.

[Marlene]

Let me know how it turns out! I roast a lot! At least once a week, sometimes two or three times.

Good luck

[fimbul]

Jus aside, I think Marlene's advice will help your roasts immensely. I roasted for years at high and middle temps, stubbornly ignoring all the advice to stick to lower temperatures. I got good enough results, I suppose, but when I (fairly recently) finally decided to try these fabled lower temperatures I'd heard so much about, my roasts became much better all around. The meat was more evenly done, juicier, and the brown bits left in the pan were, indeed, brown rather than black.

These days, I think the only things I roast at temperatures much higher than 325 or so are smallish fowl.

[fifi]

I second what fimbul said.

Personal experience... I was roasting along at 325 or so for years. Then I got Barbara Kafka's book Roasting. Gee... All of those years I had been misguided. I got new roasting pans and cranked the heat up. The only problem was, now I couldn't get a decent pan gravy but I did get screeching smoke alarms. I finally threw the book in the yard (a Southern thing) and went back to my old ways.

Roasting happlily ever after.

[col klink]

These days, I think the only things I roast at temperatures much higher than 325 or so are smallish fowl.

I second that.

[mikeycook]

Depending on the size of what you are roasting, I would put the veggies later. I use a roasting rack and used to put my vegetables in at the beginning, but they overcooked, burned, and left an unpleasant taste, particularly when doing a large turkey. Now I try to time the vegetables based on how long they have to cook at the given temperature. If you are also using the veggies to insulate the meat from the bottom of the pan, I would try a rack. You can also leave some liquid in the bottom of the pan more easily if the meat is not sitting in it. I also agree with Marlene's roasting approach.

Edited November 19, 2003 by mikeycook (log)

[jackal10]

Buy a digital thermometer, preferably one where the probe is seperated from the unit by a wire that can go though the oven door. Best investment you will make.

The object of cooking is to get the outside brown and crispy, and the inside to a uniform 60C/140F. Putting it in a 325F oven is a bad way to do both. Cooking at or about the temperature you are trying to achieve results in juicier, tastier meat.

You will have to make the gravey seperately from good stock, or bones, since the goodness that would otherwise be squeeezed out of the meat for the gravy stays where it should. Timing is not critical, the meat is uniformly cooked, and no need to rest it.

1. Sear the meat all round on the stovetop, or with a blowtorch, That's the brown and crispy bit.

2. Insert thermometer

3. Cook in 65C/!50F oven until internal temperature is 60C/140F for medium rare or a bit more for well done, about 4 hours.

4. Make gravy, roast spuds yorkshire puds seperately...

Carve and marvel...

[Marlene]

I agree with the digital thermometer part! I use a remote wireless one that I can't live without now.

I've never roasted at that low a temp though. And besides the lowest my oven goes is 170F

[itch22]

jackal10,

I want to try that method some time, simply because it will give me an excuse to buy and use a blow torch!

[jackal10]

I agree with the digital thermometer part! I use a remote wireless one that I can't live without now.

I've never roasted at that low a temp though. And besides the lowest my oven goes is 170F

170F will do it!

I'm jelous of your wireless themometer. Does it work through the metal of the oven? Where did you get it? I want one!

[WHT]

I'm jelous of your wireless themometer. Does it work through the metal of the oven? Where did you get it? I want one!

Radio Shack for less than $40.00!

[Marlene]

I guess I shouldn't have said wireless. I did mean remote. The the probe has a wire leading to the base unit which sits outside the oven. And the Remote comes with me wherever I go in the house.

I got mine at Wiliam Sonoma it's made by Maverick and it looks like this

[snowangel]

Paula Wolfert, in her Slow Mediterranian Kitchen book also advocates the oven temperature at the temp you want the meat to be at the end of cooking, and says that she has followed "some of the precepts of the late Adelle Davis, a food authority of the sixties." Paul cautions that you should use whole cuts, don't stuff them, don't puncture the meat with anything other than your clean thermometer. She also advocates a short blast of high heat in the beginning to kill any bacteria. Your thoughts on these cautionary notes, jackal?

[itch22]

Marlene,

I tried the lower temp and it provided a great jus which I blended into the apple cider/mustard gravy I made. It went over very well. I added the potatos too late so they could have cooked longer.

I purchased an oven thermometer, and then found out the oven I was using was an additional 50F higher than the dial. (So all this time I was acctually roasting at 450F.)

Over the course of the next week I am shopping around for a blow torch.

[Cusina]

I cooked our Sunday roast beast at 150 this week. It did come out well, though a bit more done than I usually like and the outside was dry and not crisp, despite searing it stovetop. Next time 15 minutes less in the oven. I need to invest in one of those wireless gadgets.

Thanks for the good advice.

[Jonathan Day]

Don't bother with a "cooking blowtorch", by the way -- go down to the local DIY (hardware store) and get yourself a proper carpenter's model. It's great fun to attack a slab of meat with one of these and watch it brown before your eyes.

Last Saturday I did a leg of mutton -- boned, blowtorched, seasoned, slow-roasted. Delicious. I'm still trying to get a Smeg electric oven to maintain a reliable 70C, though. It takes too much attention, as the temperature constantly veers above 100C and then falls back. And the Aga cooker's oven is too hot, even the "plate warming" oven.

[fifi]

My new stove (if I ever get there) is going to be a GE Monogram. The small oven can be set to proof bread or make yogurt. That is actually what sold me on it. I have never thought of roasting meat at those low temperatures. I can't wait to try it.

And boy does that blow torch sound fun. YE HA!

[Marlene]

Marlene,

I tried the lower temp and it provided a great jus which I blended into the apple cider/mustard gravy I made. It went over very well. I added the potatos too late so they could have cooked longer.

I purchased an oven thermometer, and then found out the oven I was using was an additional 50F higher than the dial. (So all this time I was acctually roasting at 450F.)

Over the course of the next week I am shopping around for a blow torch.

I'm glad it worked out. I still wouldn't roast at 150. That's great for ribs and less prime cuts, but I still think it would dry the meat out a bit.

[itch22]

Don't bother with a "cooking blowtorch", by the way -- go down to the local DIY (hardware store) and get yourself a proper carpenter's model.

I was thinking nothing less. If Kitchen AId or Cusinart made it, it'd be far too expensive. I learned along time ago as a photographer/film maker, anything made for a specific industry that is "trendy" is outragously priced. A horrific example would be a camera saddle used to steady a camera. In Canada they go for over $500 a piece and yet all they are is large bean bag. Anyone who can use a sowing machine can make one.