How to Make Roast Beef in the Oven

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• published: 11 Apr 2013
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How to Make Roast Beef Growing up it was on Sundays we would enjoy a Roast Beef. As an adult, I make these on longer weekends during the cooler months. There is just something about having a marvellous hearty roast to serve for dinner. These are actually quite uncomplicated to make. Often I have put these in a crock pot, but there is something about a slow roasted roast beef that is so hard to resist. Meat Selection You can use most any cut of meat when making a roast beef. I have used anything from a rib eye roast, to a rump roast, a sirloin roast, or even a chuck roast. All of these cuts taste quite good. Often my choice depends solely upon what is available for sale. This last week it happened to be that rib eye roasts were on sale. These are also known as standing rib roasts when the bone is left in the roast. Meat Grades So years ago I was a co-manager at a Kroger store. During my training, we received a fair amount of training within the store. I spent a month working in the butcher shop. It was there I learned about different grades of meat. Typically in the grocery stores you will see three different grades of meat, those are select, choice, and prime. Prime grade beef is the beef that is the highest of quality. The fat marbling is through out the meat. Prime beef has a lot of marbling through out the meat, less than 5% of all meat is graded prime beef. The next best grade of beef is choice, it has less marbling than Prime but more than Select. What I honestly like to do is to watch when meat goes on sale is to look at what grade of beef it is. I like to compare the price of Prime and Choice grade beef, if the difference is small, I will choose the Prime beef. It is the fat that gives you the flavor as well as the ability to make gravy and Yorkshire pudding. Seasoning the roast There is a lot of discussion around how to season a roast. If you want to marinate your roast, you need to do it a couple of days in advance. It takes times for the flavors to penetrate past the outside surface area of the meat. If you are going to take the meat from the package, and cook it your options are more limited. The flavors you add aren't going to make it all of the way through the meat. The old standbys of salt and pepper will do the job for you. You can always serve your roast with beef gravy, au Jus, or a wine reduction sauce. There is no need to worry about getting a specific seasoning together, I promise salt and pepper will do the job quite well. Cooking the roast Ideally you should cook the roast low and slow. This has some advantages over cooking the meat as quickly as it can be cooked. By cooking it at a lower temperature the juices within the meat are retained, your final result will be more tender and retain more of the juices. Cooking slower means that the meat will cook more evenly, roasts are not always evenly shaped you don't want portions of the meat to be over cooked. So by slow cooking the roast, you ensure that it will cook more evenly. Wait before you Carve the Roast So you have cooked your roast perfectly, what should you do now? Wait, wait 15 to 30 minutes. Why should you wait? This will give the meat a chance to rest. What does it mean to rest a roast? It means that the juices within the roast will get a chance to redistribute over the roast. This has a few advantages you can prepare the gravy, set the table, or even make some Yorkshire pudding while the meat is resting. You can cut it immediately when you remove it from the oven, but if you wait a few minutes, it will pay off. So when you pull the roast out of the oven cover it with foil and let it rest before carving it up. Other optional steps Trussing Why would you truss a roast, you can truss a roast to help force it into a more even shape? This will help cook the roast evenly evening. It also can make the roast easier to slice when it comes time to slice the beef. Did you know that often you can ask the butcher to truss the roast for you? You can also truss the roast yourself with some butchers string that is sold in most grocery stores. Searing before cooking You can sear the roast before you cook the roast. What this does is to help brown the roast and seal in the juices. You could stick your roast in an extremely hot oven and then turn the oven down, but this can dry out your roast. If you sear it you will sear the edges of the beef quickly, so it retains the juice. Personally I like to sear cuts such as chuck and sirloin when I cook roast, these cuts are leaner and do not self baste like a roast with more marbling.