roast beef

[mrbigjas]

ok it's a small eye roast, slightly under 1.5 lbs. i throw it in the oven for a while at 400 with a probe thermometer in it set to go off at 125 F. the thermometer goes off and i pull it out, take it out of the pan and set it on a cutting board, uncovered, figuring it'll go up to 130 or so. so i tossed the salad and put the bearnaise in a dish, and by that time it had gone up to 136! I sliced it and it was a nice medium pink--definitely not as rare as i like roast beef.

so my question is: why did it go up that much?

is it the smallness of the piece of meat? i figured that would make it go up less, not more, because it wouldn't hold as much heat, but i could be convinced otherwise.

the fact that i cranked up the oven toward the end to brown the outside? so the outside was actually hotter than it would have been when i took it out, and that transferred to the inside?

thoughts, anyone?

[Carrot Top]

Small pieces of meat are difficult to roast well, I've found. I don't have a 'scientific' reason to give you....someone else probably can put it into words.

I would rather pan-roast a small piece of meat or grill it....

Sad, to have it overdone. My sympathies...

[chromedome]

the fact that i cranked up the oven toward the end to brown the outside?  so the outside was actually hotter than it would have been when i took it out, and that transferred to the inside?

thoughts, anyone?

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That's probably your culprit, right there.

You're right that you should get less carryover cooking with a smaller roast; it's got less mass and therefore holds less heat (basic physics). Cranking your oven right at the end would change the heat distribution, though, and probably put you a little further along than you'd like.

A better bet, next time, would be to brown up the roast before putting it in the oven. Sear it on all sides in a skillet to make it nice and brown and crusty; then deglaze the skillet with water or wine or whatever and pour the drippings over the roast. It surely doesn't "seal in the juices," but it does give you a nice flavour. Especially if your roast still has a bit of a fat cap on it.

[KatieLoeb]

I make a pretty mean roast beast if I do say so myself. My trick is to give it a rub with some roast pork seasoning and meat tenderizer, and place it on a rack in a roasting pan with a can of beef broth and 1 can of water below. I put the meat thermometer into the dead center of the thickest part of the roast. I put it into a blazing hot oven (about 475 or so) for about 15 minutes to sear the outside. Then I turn down the oven to 375 and leave it be until the thermometer registers RARE, basting occasionally with the pan juices below, and adding more water if necessary as the pan juices concentrate. Then I pull it out and let it rest while it gets to MED-RARE temperature and make gravy with the pan drippings in the meanwhile. Foolproof and works like a charm. Always juicy, always perfectly cooked.

[mrbigjas]

That's probably your culprit, right there. 

You're right that you should get less carryover cooking with a smaller roast; it's got less mass and therefore holds less heat (basic physics).  Cranking your oven right at the end would change the heat distribution, though, and probably put you a little further along than you'd like. 

i bet you're right. and now i'm thinking, because it was so small, throwing in a bunch of heat right at the end would obviously affect the whole thing more than if it were a big roast.

A better bet, next time, would be to brown up the roast before putting it in the oven.  Sear it on all sides in a skillet to make it nice and brown and crusty; then deglaze the skillet with water or wine or whatever and pour the drippings over the roast.  It surely doesn't "seal in the juices," but it does give you a nice flavour.  Especially if your roast still has a bit of a fat cap on it.

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and it did. that would have been a good idea, and it's how i cook thick steaks. i wonder why i didn't do that. usually i blast it in the oven right at the beginning like katie described in her reply, but last night i kinda lost track of time and didn't have time to heat the oven up enough. i barely got it warmed to just the temp i set it at before i had to put in the meat, which i don't consider preheating an oven, really.

Edited September 21, 2004 by mrbigjas (log)

[mrbigjas]

p.s. tonight we ate the leftovers. sliced really thinly, and then very very gently warmed in a demiglace that i made last week (diluted some) just till heated through, then served on a great baguette with 4-year aged butler's cheddar. kind of a french dip sandwich but so much better. i have to say it was freaking great.

[Chud62120798]

I too would sear it first in a heavy cast iron pan, season it, and most importantly, throw away the thermometer, and use a Taylor instant read, one that doesn't sit in the meat. Those ones are not reliable, and if you follow their "benchmarks" you will end up with overcooked everthing, every time. If you must use it, the moment the needle starts to move, pull it out, and try the instant read. If it hits 120F, pull it out and let it sit.

[Chud62120798]

BTW the second pull out meant the roast from the oven. I like to err on the side of rare. It's tragic to let a good cut of beef get away on you...as in over cooked.

[KatieLoeb]

I too would sear it first in a heavy cast iron pan, season it, and most importantly, throw away the thermometer, and use a Taylor instant read, one that doesn't sit in the meat. Those ones are not reliable, and if you follow their  "benchmarks" you will end up with overcooked everthing, every time. If you must use it, the moment the needle starts to move, pull it out,  and try the instant read. If it hits 120F, pull it out and let it sit.

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Really? Then I must have a fairly accurate non-instant read meat thermometer, 'cuz when it says MED-RARE, it is.

[Chud62120798]

You must... I have two, and they both are wingey. Gotta stay away from the dollar store equipment I guess.Hey, is there a chart somewhere on the net with pix of what constitutes rare, med rare and nuked? Meat porn...

[Marlene]

My sit in roast thermometer works great. It is always acurate. I have the Maverick remote thermometer.

[col klink]

It may be that your temp probe is out of whack. I've beaten the hell out of my Polder and now it doesn't even come close to reading correctly. Though what you described of the events doesn't necessarily point in that direction.

You can check your probe in a real use situation by putting setting your oven at 400 or 500 F and roasting water. If your probe is reading higher than boiling, you have a faulty probe.

But more than likely you'll need to pull your small roasts sooner than only 5 degrees before your idea temp. According to physics, a smaller thing will heat up more quickly than a larger thing of the same thing in the same temperature oven. Most recipes say to look out for up to 10 degrees of heating after pulling out of the oven. Now I've never seen that but I admit I've never roasted anything that small.

[mrbigjas]

ok, i haven't been able to read much over the last week and a half, so i haven't had a chance to respond.

my probe isn't out of whack; i tested it recently in boiling water. in fact it's kinda weird that you mention that because i did it for no reason one day.

i suspect you're right, klink, about pulling it out earlier.

edited to say: i mean, of course i need to pull it out earlier--that's what 'less done' means. i mean, conceptually, about adjusting my doneness temps down for smaller pieces of meat.

Edited September 25, 2004 by mrbigjas (log)

[schneich]

400 is muuuuch to high. because of the high temperature your meat

cooked quite some time after you pulled it from the oven.

my suggestion would be:

sear in pan until nice n brown, throw in the oven at 149F for 12 to 15 h ;-)

t.

[winesonoma]

I would do one like that at 350 for 1 hour and then check temp. I used to have an upscale butcher who would tie an extra layer of fat on top. You can always cook meat more well done than trying to get back to rare. I start rare and if the friends like more done there is the kitchen.