Never cooked roast beef before!!

[nappyaddict]

It's a 2lb joint and I like my meat rare. This website reckons 30 minutes cooking at 220 degrees celcius, then 9 minutes per pound at 160 degrees celcius after that. So a total cooking time of 48 minutes. Is that enough? It doesn't seem very long.

I do Nigellas timings of 15 mins per lb at 210. Make sure you seal it before you put it in the oven.

What do you mean by seal? I have wrapped it in foil ... is that what you mean?

Heat up some oil im the roasting pan on the hob and then brown the meat all over, keeps it juicy, don't cook it in foil and when you take the meat out of the oven leave it for w hile to rest as it relaxes the meat and keeps it tender. I did an 8lb rib last week and at 2 hours it was slightly overcooked but tender.

So do I heat the oil until it is bubbling, then just pour it over the joint and put it in the oven?

Have you got a link to nigella's timings so I can come back to it at a later date?

I found this but it says to cook for 15 mins at 220, then 15 minutes per pound at 190 for medium beef.

Half an hour at 220c. Then 15 mins per 500g at 160c. Then rest out of the oven loosely covered in foil for half an hour. The rest is crucial.

Heat the oil until hot and the put the beef in it turning until brown all over so you are essentially sealing in the juices and then bung in the oven.

These are the timings from her How to Eat cookbook for rare meat cook beef at highest temp for 15 mins and then turn down to 180 and cook for 15 mins per lb or cook at 210 for 15 mins per pound for the entire time.

Fivegomadindorset Thanks - it turned out lovely. Actually not quite as rare as I would have liked so I needn't have worried about 30 mins not being long enough!

Hi
Just to say that the first few times I cooked beef I overcooked it as I didn't believe the cooking times

In France, where they eat their beef very rare, 30 minutes is considered the norm.

What temperature do they cook it at in France? I did 30 mins at 210 and it wasn't rare enough for me.

About 180 / 190, but much higher the first 10 minutes (I just turn it up to max). They don't seal beforehand. They put it on a bed of chopped onions and stick garlic right inside the meat. Then they cook with the herbs they like (I go for rosemary like my ex-MIL who taught me most of my cooking but my current MIL uses thyme).

Will try it at the lower temperature next time :)

Do they cook it open or wrapped in foil?

Open but they add water several times during cooking to ensure it doesn't dry out.

Oh, I'm talking about thiskind of cut by the way.

Just looked up a recipe and it says 10-15 minutes per kilo at 200. It's ready when the internal temperature of the beef is 63°

That's just a normal joint of beef isn't it? Not one on the bone?

This recipe says to seal by placing the joint fat side down on the hob to release some of the fat and then turning the beef in it to seal and brown for about 5 mins. This one says to cook at 200 for 10-15 mins per pound. I think I will try that instead of oil as well and then the French method of not sealing and adding water so it doesn't dry out. Do they just put the water over the beef, is it hot or cold and how often? The joint I had yesterday was 900g, so would I just cook it for 10 mins at 200 the French way?

The 'sealing' thing is a myth. The point of the initial high heat treatment - whether faffing with hot oil or the much simpler method of 15 mins at 220 - is to improve the flavour by causing the Maillard reaction

(that's 15 mins at 220 followed by the remaining time at ~180 of course)

Don't try slow cooking it, I bought a slow roasting joint this weekend by mistake, it wasn't until I was looking to see how long it would need that I realised (it said 1 and a half to 2 hours per 500g, so for a 1.5 kg joint that would be about 5 hours!) I got in in quick, following the instructions and when I took it out (admittedly I perhaps should have checked it a bit more often) it was hard and just crumbled when we tried to carve, it has been converted to pasties today! After years of roasts, I have never had one go so wrong. Thankfully it was only DH and me and kids so we could laugh. I basically go 20mins per lb for a med so 15min for a rare sounds good.

I think you can either seal the meat first, or blast it with heat, then turn the oven down a bit. I usually follow Delia. I find her times are pretty accurate, and the gravy is delicious.

Delia's roasting times.

No they aren't on the bone. Some of them are fillet, some are just usual joints. I'd guess that 10 minutes is not enough I'd go for 20 minutes - 10 minutes at full temp and then 10 at 190 (I'd have to have a look at the cut of beef I don't usually follow a recipe just play by ear) . As far as oil is concerned we use oil to grease the pot and add some water to the bottom too (not much the onions don't need to swim).

Then the meat itself has chunks of butter on it. If it looks like drying out add water to the pot.

I agree - the sealing thing is pretty much a myth. Hot temp for a good ten mins then reduce.

Oh, when I said 10-15 mins per kilo I meant after the first 10/15 mins at high temp IYSWIM

15 minutes per lb and 15 minutes over. Then rest for 15 minutes. Seal first, and cover with foil part of the way through if it gets too crusty.
As learned at catering college.