Can you talk me through your Christmas beef?

[FlamingoSocks]

I’m a good cook but really no good at beef. Tends to come out chewy and leathery. However I am determined NOT to do turkey this year, chicken is too small, we don’t eat pork and DH is weird about lamb as too many tubes apparently. We will be 9 for dinner and I will do a small turkey crown.

So if you do a delicious Christmas/roast beef please talk me through it? I need advice on cuts and method and any signposting to recipes very appreciated. Nigella’s is a forerib which seems a bit advanced for a beef beginner. Bought a silverside to practise with today but it seems to need long slow cooking in stock which I just don’t feel is very Christmassy?
Thanks

we always buy the Aldi rib of beef which is utterly delicious, my husband simply books to their instructions and it is always perfect

Typo - cooks!

Find a good local butcher and ask their advice.

rib of beef in the slow cooker on low overnight with loads of stock. Its always gorgeous.

Methods of cooking depend on the cut of meat you have as well as the size of it and this also applies to some extent to resting the meat.

sadly with beef unless you are cooking something like braised shin or blade then you will also have to cater for the possibility that not everyone likes beef pink
you can mitigate this to some extent by giving the heathens the cuts further away from them middle

how many are you cooking for?

My Christmas beef is that shops are already stocking decorations.

A rolled sirloin if you are prepared to pay for for it. Even tastes ok when my mother in law over cooks it.

Do you have a meat thermometer? We have one called 'meat-er' which connects to the i-pad and sounds an alarm when the inside is at just the right temperature. I don't use it - my DP is the cook in this house - but it seems to be fail-safe. For really tender pieces of meat, he has his own sous-vide and vacuum packer and that makes things delicious - you part cook them in there and then finish in the oven/pan. It wasn't very expensive. DP does love a gadget.

I thought this was going to be a thread about family disputes at Christmas 😂
As you were…

I’ve been doing a rib of Beef for Christmas for a few years now. I usually get at least 2 ribs. It’s a butchers so I ask for one with fat on, failing that some beef fat to put on as it cooks.

I think the breakthrough with us is using a meat thermometer and cooking to 50 degree Celsius. That makes it pink inside which we all like. I use Hugh Fearnley Whittingstalls book Meat. For some reason a lot of recipes call for a higher temperature, but 50 works for us.

I normally do rib of beef but last year I just picked up a specially selected aldi joint. I do onion and carrot roughly chopped to sit the beef on then add stock and red wine to the tin, which makes a delicious gravy and then added a layer of mustard over the beef, salt and pepper and thyme.

I always use the bbc roast calculator and a meat thermometer and it turns out perfect

www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/roast-calculator

I always add a dollop of cranberry to the gravy and maybe a splash of port

Depends very much on the cut. Christmas is the one time the year I go all out and spend £70 on a joint of fillet beef from the butcher, i sear it in a pan on all sides then roast it under foil, taking off the foil for the last 20-30 mins of cooking, it is always perfect and tastes divine.

Like above I think I'll do a rib and a thermometer is essential. I only did it once before and it was pretty easy.

@Sugarcube84 exactly this, this is how you do beef and gravy that will be amazing every time!!

Chewy beef is cooked too fast. That's it. It's not the type of beef or the preparation.
My SM cooked a beef for the family once and she genuinely thought it was great. Sadly the time she saved by cooking quickly, I made up for by needing to chew each bite for 10 full minutes and eventually just spitting it into a napkin or swallowing the whole chunk and risking choking.

Beef is low and slow, every time. And our Christmas Day smells like roast beef (put on high for 15-30 mins to start) all day long. When it comes to serving time, it just falls apart and melts in the mouth.

So a rib of beef is this sort of thing?
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/herb-scented-slowroasted-rib-beef/amp

@MugginsOverEre that is good information thank you. What cut/cooking times do you use?

Splash out in the best joint you can afford. - it REALLY makes a difference with beef. Lovely rib or rolled sirloin as other have suggested!

Thanks everyone for your advice. We are 9 for dinner, everyone happy with pink. And if not they can have a bit of dry turkey crown.
got a meat thermometer so that’s good
Think fillet is out so I guess it’s rib or sirloin.

You definitely need a meat thermometer to cook roast beef unless you are my mother and have been cooking for 60+ years in a wonky aga and just know these things.

And smearing the joint in a mixture of coarse grain mustard, garlic purée and olive oil before searing in a mega hot oven for the first 25 mins is another must for me. I turn it down after that and enjoy the aroma 😋

Silverside roasts very well. Give it a go. A charcoal Weber gives the bestest results, but.

Surely slow cooking a decent rib of beef just ruins it?
Just whack it in a very hot oven, as hot as it’ll go, for 15 minutes then down to 160 for 12/15 minutes (rare / medium rare) per 500g. Then rest for as long as it was in the oven. Delicious :)

Use an internal thermometer and cook by the temperature the inside of the beef has reached rather than by time. Then you can be sure the beef to as rare or well cooking as you want.

I am another who cannot do beef right. There is too much faffing around with timings and thermometers and who likes what inner colour and "doneness" I couldn't be bothered anymore.

I roast a very nice joint of ham with a honey and mustard glaze, can't go wrong with it really. And a Turkey crown too. All easy peasy and delish.

Sorry I see you don't eat pork, is that all pig meat or just roast pork?

Back to the beef for you so!

Another alternative I do when catering for a small group is salmon side. Needs watching a bit in case it's overdone, but with a creamy sauce is also very nice and different.