How to cook this beef please?

[alrightfella]

1.3kg top rump roasting joint. I have little success in cooking beef but dh likes roast beef so I thought I would do it as a treat for Father's Day.

I often find it comes out tough and I'm honestly not a bad cook but roast beef defeats me

How do you prepare it? You have to marinade! For a rump cut, you want to marinade for 2 two days, at least 1.

My favourite marinade is 1/2 cup olive oil, 3 tablespoons dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon garlic, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, good hit of black pepper.

Marinade into a resealable bag, then the beef, seal the bag. Massage it in, then into the fridge. Flip the beef every 12 hours or so.

When it's time to roast, make sure you take the beef out of the fridge for 90 minutes before cooking - on the kitchen bench is fine. Then preheat the oven to 220 degrees celsius. Roast goes in for 15 minutes, then drop the heat to 190 degrees celsius. Roast for 20 minutes per 500 grams for medium rare - medium rare is internal temperate 65-70°C. Because of the marinade best to check the temperate.

Once cooked, out of the oven and onto a wooden chopping board to rest for 20 minutes (at least). Use foil to tent to keep in the heat.

Take it out of the fridge 30 mins before cooking to bring to room temperature. Season with good quality sea salt just before cooking. Put it fat side up in a deep tray. I always an onion beside your joint of beef - it will caramelise and add colour and flavour to the gravy. You could even add celery, a carrot plus a bay leaf, sprig of thyme and a few black peppercorns. Roast at 220 for 20 minutes. Turn the oven down to 170°C and continue to roast for:
Rare – 35 mins
Medium– 45 mins
Well done– 65 mins
Leave to one side for at least 30 mins to allow the juice to return to the centre of thebeef. You’ll be left with very tender and very tasty meat. Don’t worry about it getting cold, covering it well and serving with gravy will sort it out.

I have no time to marinade. I need to cook for dinner tonight. Does it have to be marinaded?

No it doesn’t need marinading! @Fivemoreminutes1 gives excellent instructions! The letting it come to room temperature is key as is letting it rest. I wouldn’t be tempted to try for well done even if you think you might prefer it!

As suggested, add onion snd carrot to the tin under the beef. While the beef is resting, add a little flour to the oil snd veg left in the roasting tin, fry it to cook though then add a splash of wine if you have it snd beef stock. Use a whisk to make sure there are no lumps and just add stock to the consistency you like gravy.

I've just cooked a joint of silverside in a large casserole, with chopped onions, carrots, celery, garlic parsley, a stock cube and half a pint of stout. 3 and a half hours on about gas mark 3, 140 fan, turning the meat over half way through.

Op, I could have written your post! I'm a good cook and can do all manner of meals, but for years my two problem dishes were today beef and pavlova. No matter how often I tried them they never worked! My beef was always tough and dried out.

But I have failsafe recipes for both now.

I do my beef in the slow cooker. Chuck it in, no water or other liquids as it will release enough juice as it cooks.

Depending on how much time I have I would do it on low if possible, but have done it in high when pushed for time. You would have enough time if you put it in now. Do you have a slow cooker?

*roast beef, not today beef!

No need to marinate at all

Follow @Fivemoreminutes1's instructions and it should be perfect.

I agree with @petitdonkey don't go for well done, it'll ruin it.

Personally I prefer marinaded beef - and this one gets rave reviews. Maybe try it next time, it completely changes the meat texture (especially given you've had issues with it being tough!).

I still recommend doing one - you won't get the tenderising benefit but you'll still get the flavour, and the second benefit if you make a gravy.

I've always found these instructions spot on: (scroll down to find Top Rump Roasting).

www.waitrose.com/content/waitrose/en/home/recipes/food_glossary/beef.html#:~:text=Weigh%20the%20joint%20(with%20any,per%20450g%20plus%2030%20minutes.

Agree with others - no marinading required. The secret is allowing the meat (especially with a large, roasting cut) to rest.

If you have the ingredients, I would make a mix of mustard, herbs (such as a mix of rosemary, thyme etc chopped fresh or dried), crushed garlic, salt and freshly ground pepper. Smear this all over the joint just before cooking and, as PP have said, plonk it onto your roasting tin atop some carrots/onion to allow the hot air to circulate. If you can't be bothered with the full paste, just season the beef.

Your top rump joint probably has very little to no fat within, so is best initially blasted at a high temperature for a shorter length of time (say 220deg for 15-20mins) and then reducing the temp to 170deg for 30-40mins, and then give that equivalent time (30-40mins) to rest, so that the meat can relax and juices can reabsorb.

Remember that your hot gravy will 'heat' the meat back up, so you can afford to serve the well-rested joint at room temperature and rare/medium, to give a juicier result.

Have a lovely Sunday lunch! Am sure it will be delicious

@Fivemoreminutes1 perfect instructions!

@SnoopsCaliforniaRoll, a paste is a type of marinate

Right thank you. Taken it all on board. I'll be back later tonight with the verdict! Keep your fingers crossed!

[quote YellowMonday]@SnoopsCaliforniaRoll, a paste is a type of marinate [/quote]
Indeed it is. But this way it won't require preparing many eg. 12 hours in advance, given time is of the essence...

@Fivemoreminutes1

Take it out of the fridge 30 mins before cooking to bring to room temperature. Season with good quality sea salt just before cooking. Put it fat side up in a deep tray. I always an onion beside your joint of beef - it will caramelise and add colour and flavour to the gravy. You could even add celery, a carrot plus a bay leaf, sprig of thyme and a few black peppercorns. Roast at 220 for 20 minutes. Turn the oven down to 170°C and continue to roast for: Rare – 35 mins Medium– 45 mins Well done– 65 mins Leave to one side for at least 30 mins to allow the juice to return to the centre of thebeef. You’ll be left with very tender and very tasty meat. Don’t worry about it getting cold, covering it well and serving with gravy will sort it out.

Can you clarify if those timings at 170 are total cooking time or per lb?

I always muck up roast beef and have a good sized joint to cook tomorrow.

@SaveloyDip
Those times are in addition to the 20 mins at high heat. And I did them with a 1.3kg joint in mind, as that’s what the OP has. How heavy is yours?

1.25kg @fivemoreminutes1

I'm not a bad cook at most things but roast beef - Ive had some tough old failures.
A rib is the only one I roast in the traditional way now.
Everything else is slow cooker. I put mine in today at 11am, browned first, seasoned and lots of water for the gravy. It will be falling to pieces at 6.30.

Ok so it certainly wasn't the worst beef I've ever cooked but it still wasn't amazing. Am going to try the slow cooker next time.

Or maybe I just won't cook beef again

My slow cooker beef was divine
It wouldn't suit purists because it's not roasted and is not pink but it's falling apart tender and the liquid makes loads of good gravy. (We all like lots of gravy).

@Hax how much water do you put in?

Enough to almost cover the meat. Plus seasoning and beef stock cubes. No onion or veg though, I don't want stew.

Try to marinate next time

Or, try a different cut of beef. Beef brisket is very forgiving, just needs to be roasted low and slow in some stock, onion, carrot, herbs, then browned off at the end. Falls apart for serving and it incredibly rich with coking down the fat.