Everything You Wanted to Know about Cooking Roast Beef

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Roast beef is easy to prepare, easy to cook, and so delicious

– it is definitely too good to save for just special occasions.

Here’s all you need to know to cook the perfect roast beef, the Perfect Roast Beef e-book

BUYING-KNOW-HOW

How much to buy?

For generous portions (and maybe even some yummy leftovers), buy 250 g (8 oz) boneless oven roast per person (raw).

For a roast that has bone, increase that to 375 g (12 oz) per person.

How do I cook up a big Oven Roast – one that weighs 4 to 5 kg (9 to 11 lb)?

You manage a large roast just as you would a smaller one. Visit our Cooking Know How section for more information. You can follow our expanded Cook Time Chart here for timing guidelines (based on our tested and true 2-temperature cooking method):

What to Buy?

Name Game
Each roast label has the name of the cut PLUS the basic cooking directions built right into the name – Top Sirloin Oven Roast, or Cross Rib Pot Roast for example.

What roast do I buy?

Keep in mind the type of meal you want to have. Then pick the roast to match:

Oven Roasts are served carved into thin slices – like the buffet prime rib you have at restaurants with gravy or au jus.
Pot Roasts are stew-y comfort food, cooked with some liquid in a pot with a lid. They are served with the sauce they cook in. Look for Cross Rib, Blade or Brisket.
The cue to know you right type of roast is in the name you see on the label. Look for ‘Pot Roast’ or ‘Oven Roast’ to know what type you are buying and how to cook it.

Oven Roast Options:

Cut from the sirloin, loin or rib these roasts are ever-tender and more of a splurge. Look for: Prime Rib, Rib, Rib-Eye, Strip Loin, Tenderloin and Top Sirloin.
Oven Roasts cut from the hip tend to be a leaner and typically are lower priced. Look for: Eye of Round, Inside Round, Outside Round and Sirloin Tip.

For information on cooking Pot Roasts, see Perfect Roast Beef.

COOKING KNOW-HOW

Get the Rack!

For the most even doneness for the roast, place the roast on a rack in the pan to help prevent the bottom of the roast from overcooking.

Go Topless!

For best browning don’t use a lid or cover with foil when cooking oven roast beef.

Ready? or Not?

Use a thermometer to cook Oven Roast Beef like a pro. Ideally use the type with a cabled probe to a digital read out to monitor the roasting progress without opening the oven door. Bonus: it sounds and alarm when the roast is done to the temperature you specify. Get one!

LOW AND SLOW

No matter what oven roast you’re cooking, low and slow is the way to go. For the most tender, juicy roast do the following:

Oven sear at 450 °F for 10 minutes to brown
Turn the head down to 250 °F to cook

SERVING KNOW-HOW

Roasts need to rest

After removing from the oven, cover loosely with foil and let the roast rest for at least 15 minutes and up to an hour for large roasts. This lets cooking finish and allows the juices settle before carving.

If you worry that your roast has cooled too much, pop it back into a hot oven for just 5 minutes to heat the surface and then carve to serve with piping hot gravy.

Andrea Buckett walks you through one of the most important steps that is quite often over looked.

Clever carving

A good knife is key. Use a sharp broad blade with a rounded tip (not a serrated knife.) Serrated knives will shred rather than slice.

To optimize tenderness carve roast beef across the grain (i.e. across the muscle fibres). The thinner the slice, the more tender the meat will seem.

Tip: Carving in the same direction as the butcher’s twine should be across the grain if your butcher did the cutting right.

Roast beef’s too rare for some? – now what?

Don’t panic. Slip a slice or two of the rare roast beef into a pan of simmering gravy for a second or two to finish them as you like.

Cracked Pepper and Horseradish Crusted Oven Roast with Gravy

Not enough juices for making gravy – now what?

If you don’t have a lot of juices in the bottom of your pan after roasting – that’s a good thing! That means that your roast will be extra juicy when you carve it AND that the drippings you have in the pan are super concentrated with flavour. For more gravy tips visit How to Make Gravy

The Gateway…now in stores, look for the QR code.

Scan the UPC/barcode on any beef package and visit the Gateway. You’ll find cooking and nutrition info, recipes with videos for 70+ cuts and more! Watch the video to learn more about the Gateway.