I'm rubbish at cooking beef - advice please!

[EastMids2]

I can roast a decent large piece of meat, i.e. rib of beef but rubbish with other cuts, especially if they are smaller. We've been given a piece of topside (enough to feed 3) and I'm not sure how to do it justice. Any tried and tested methods please for an electric fan-assist oven?

Topside:

Weigh the joint and make sure it's out of the fridge a couple of hours in advance so it's room temperature when cooked. Roughly chop a couple of onions and carrots, some celery if you have some, and put it in the bottom of a good heavy roasting pan. Preheat the oven to 170C.

Mix a tablespoon of flour with a tablespoon of mustard powder and rub it all over the joint. Dust with a bit of salt and pepper and sit the meat on top of the veggies. Cook it for 12 minutes per pound if you want rare, 15 minutes per pound for medium or 20 minutes per pound if you're a fucking heathen you want it well done. Allow enough time for the meat to rest for at least 30 minutes once cooked.

When you're happy with how cooked it is, lift the meat onto a dish or carving tray, cover it with a double layer of foil and then some tea towels or a folded hand towel to keep it hot while it rests. While it's resting you can use the veg and juices in the pan to make the gravy, then tip in the juices from the resting tray before carving.

Thanks for that comprehensive instruction Mum - no mention of any oil etc - there's not much fat on the joint, won't it dry out?

I keep mine in foil for the whole cooking time. Stops it getting dried out.

Archbishop - doesn't that mean it stays sort of pale looking and no crispy fat at all? I like the browned, burnt'ish outside bits and flavoursome crispy fat from a bone-in rib joint!

If it doesn't have a good layer of fat on the top, chuck in a few tablespoons of olive oil and baste the joint now and then once it's got a good colour on it. To be honest I find resting the meat well makes more difference than the fat.

I always seal the beef in hot fat on top of the hob before roasting. If it's a small joint, you could do it in a large frying pan. If it's too big, heat the roasting pan first in the oven and put on the hob. Just enough to colour the beef. I flour the joint first. With a small joint, it's easy to overcook. Keep an eye on it and test for 'give' with your fingers as you would a steak.

Do you have a slow cooker? That's how I cook mine. Put in the crockpot, cover with stock, add salt and pepper and cook on low for 6.5 to 7 hours. The meat is really tender and the gravy is fab. You can also sit the joint on a bed of veg

Thanks again for the tips - looking forward to a full roast beef and homemade Yorkshire puddings a bit later. Blue - I have done small joints of beef this way (and very tasty too) but, given the addition of liquid and way this is retained in the lidded pot, it's not really a "roast" in technical terms - and it's a roast beef dinner I'm wanting