Tips for a Great Roast Beef

As a family-run butcher, we know how to cook beef. Roast beef is one of those things where by following just a few simple steps, it can come out as a beautifully cooked, family centre piece. If done badly though – it’s a terrible, rubbery meal.

These are our fail-safe tricks to get that roast beef perfectly cooked:

1.     Choosing your cut

Choosing your cut is the key to a great roast beef. Firstly, the quality of the beef makes a huge difference to the flavour, tenderness, and health of the meal. Supermarket joints, unfortunately, are often limited in variety and of poor quality.

In terms of joints, there are a few options depending on your preference.

Topside – long, lean inner muscle; but still very tender when roasted

Sirloin – a classic, the best of both worlds

Rib-eye – a fatty cut which makes it all the more juicy, especially when served on the bone

Fillet – the king of roasts! Lean, tender, and delicate

2.     Prep your beef

Most people put their beef straight into the oven from the fridge, which we don’t recommend. Make sure that it is at room temperature, and well-seasoned depending on the flavour that you’re going for (it can be as easy as sea salt and some olive oil). One of our favourites is garlic, salt, and rosemary.

3.     Cooking times and temperatures

We often get asked what the right amount of cook-time is on a joint of beef, and at what temperature. Our go-to for simplicity is a good sear to caramelise the outside, and oven cooking at 180 degrees. 20 minutes per 450 g, plus 20 minutes. This keeps it quite rare, add five or ten minutes per section if you wanted medium-rare or medium.

Our fail-safe way to test the cook on the roast is using a meat thermometer. The internal temperatures should be 49 degrees celsius for rare, 54C for medium-rare, 57C for medium, and 63C for medium-well. We don't recommend going above this!

4.     Leave it to rest

A simple one, but lots of us get over-excited when taking out our beef roast from the oven. Leaving it to rest will ensure that it finishes cooking, and retains all those lovely juices when you begin to serve.