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

Make sure the beef is well rested before carving and also be aware that a thermometer is good but that the internal temp of the joint will keep rising even after you have taken it out of the oven. I always take it out a few degrees lower as would rather it was on the rare side than accidentally well done.

Watching ...

that the internal temp of the joint will keep rising even after you have taken it out of the oven
For how long?!

Just your basic top rump or better yet, silverside. We have a mix of tastes here so DM and DF get the middle where it's lovely and pink, and my DH and kids get nearer the ends for the browned (but still juicy and melt in the mouth) meat is. Drizzle of oil if it's not a particularly fatty silverside and season with salt and cracked pepper before covering with foil. A lot of people use thermometers but I've never needed one. Sometimes in cooking you just... know. Like using more garlic until the spirits of your ancestors tap you on the shoulder and say, "That's enough now child"

Still can't do a sodding dippy egg though. I can follow instructions to the letter and even have my expert ma on the other end of the phone talking me through it all as she does the same at home but nope. Hard boiled every single time. Like you with roast beef, they're my enemy.

Last time I cooked a big piece of beef it was quite a few degrees 7-10 I was getting very anxious and put it in front of an open window to try and slow it down 🙄 it was still ok / pink but more like medium than rare. I haven't really mastered the art and obviously you don't want to cut into the joint to check for fear of all the juices running out.

A quick Google returned this

blog.thermoworks.com/beef/give-your-meat-a-rest/

But there must be a more exact scientific thing out there somewhere!

I know, right?! I went out for some bulb compost today and the garden centre was already full of Christmas tat

Another vote for rib of beef and a meat thermometer. You can get it as a rolled joint if you aren't up to carving with the bone in.

@MugginsOverEre have you tried one of the colour change egg timers that you put in the water with the eggs?

www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/306350612

So I did my practice silverside. For today I followed the instructions on the sainsburys packet, seared first then into oven 180 for 2.5 hours in a casserole with stock. Very tender but more briskety than roast beef normally is and no pink at all.
Think I will try the rib next as detailed above
what I am after is that wafer thin pink beef you get sometimes in the pub.

How disappointing... I was getting ready to rant about my rows with my in-laws at Christmas

And here was me thinking this would be a family arguments thread!

We had roast beef today. We use this Hawksmoor recipe thehawksmoor.com/news/the-best-roast-beef/

Meat thermometer mandatory

Are the times in that recipe per kg?

If you are happy to pay the price, the M&S shin of beef is absolutely amazing. Think it's only available at Christmas.

@chesirecat99 yep! And fancy timers specifically for soft boiled eggs. It's crazy. My mum makes soft boiled eggs perfectly every time and we've been doing the exact same actions together with her on FaceTime. I still got hard boiled and hers were perfect. We even had the same pan

I guess some things aren't meant to be. I'm a far better cook than her anyway. She only beats me at granny's dippy eggs.

Rib of beef (3 ribs) roasted not sat in liquid. It'll ruin it. Put it on a bed of onion a carrot for delicious gravy. Make sure the butcher has removed the cod fat (it's a layer of rubbery fat that will never cook down). If beef on the bone is too scary then ask the butcher to roll it for you. Keep the bones though and roast the joint on top of them.
There are great BBC GoodFood instructions if you Google it.

Not for Christmas but would be fine for it is a dish called beef of old England, it's slow cooked in a tomato and wine sauce which is spiced with christmassy spices

Following

Came on here expecting a conversation about familial fallings out on Xmas day - was disappointed to find you all talking about silverside and bone in ribs.

My first question would be how much do you want to spend?
I have done both fore rib and fillet.
I like it medium rare.
But for easy life I cook them sous vide at 56 °C overnight.
Fillet is finished in a very hot pan with a load of butter, prime rib with a herb crust in the oven at max temp

Money not a consideration.
I’m sorry I’ve let people down by this post actually just being about boring beef. But on the plus side we now all know more about beef.

@GettingStuffed that sounds nice but I want roast meat for Xmas day

😁

Rolled rib is my roasting joint of choice, and we like it on the rare side of pink. I do very hot to start with for 20 mins or so, or even sear the outside, then cook it slowly until the meat thermometer says it’s rare, then give it a good rest while the Yorkshire puds cook. (I was quite sneery about the thermometer but now I love it).

imho neither topside nor silverside are suitable for roasting. Fillet is a bit too good to roast (and too lean for me); rib on the bone is fab but a bit more fiddly with carving. Sirloin is great. It is expensive, but it’s a treat.

my mouth is watering.

If money is not a consideration then how about goose?

If no fixed budget I would get a sirloin or fillet from Donald Russell.

rib is v tasty but I struggle with the bones and fattiness. Silverside is a pot /slow roast only and has to be well done as a result. Rump can be ok but hit and miss.