Cooking roast beef

[pambrack]

My biggest fear is ruining the roast beef! Our budget doesn't allow us to buy the top cuts so I am wondering if there is a trick to cooking roast beef to medium rare and having it come out juicy and flavorful and hopefully not making it tough. My biggest wish is for it to not be tough, but I know I am asking alot out of a whole eye of the round roast.

I posted this on "Other stuff" by mistake so sorry for the duplication.

[sneezles]

This is the recipe I have used with great success. Sounds a bit off but you must follow it(!!!) the aroma will tempt you and your curiousty, too, but don't open the door!!

500°F Eye-of-Round Roast
The easiest roast you'll ever cook.

Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 2-1/2 - 3 hours
Servings: Serves 4-6


1 eye of round roast (2-3 pounds)


Preheat oven to 500°F.
Season roast as desired; place on rack in shallow roasting pan. Do not add water or cover.
Place roast in the preheated oven and lower temperature to 475°F. Roast at 475°F for 7 minutes per pound.
Turn oven off and let roast sit in oven 2-1/2 hours. DO NOT OPEN OVEN DOOR DURING THIS 2-1/2 HOUR TIME PERIOD.
Remove roast and slice thinly.

[pambrack]

Sounds perfect. Looking in the window with the light on is okay with me!

[Little Bit]

I think if I let my oven get to 500F, the smoke detectors would go off, just on principle, but I'm intrigued by sneezles recipe just the same.


I don't really have a recipe that's very precise.

I use Penzey's English Prime Rib Rub, and put it all over the meat. I find it's important to measure the seasoning, and to use as much as Penzey's recommends per pound. (Just sprinkling some on the outside of the meat doesn't quite do the trick.) I think it calls for a teaspoon per pound, which seems like a lot, but as you put it on the meat, it doesn't seem quite so excessive.

I do heat the oven pretty hot, maybe 450F? but only cook the meat at that temperature for maybe 15 minutes, then turn the heat down to 325 without opening the oven again, and cook it until the meat thermometer tells me that it's almost at the temperature on the thermometer for the level of doneness I want. (The meat will continue cooking after you take it out of the oven, the temperature will rise several degrees, so it's important to take it out of the oven early.)

After that, I put it on a carving board, and cover it with foil to rest a while before I cut it.

Re-reading sneezles recipe reminds me that I always a) line the broiling pan with foil, b) always put some water in the pan so the drippings don't burn and smoke, c) put the meat on a rack, so it's above the level of the water.

HTH!

[pattiarl]

Not to hijack this thread, but I am looking for a recipe that I can put on little rolls for sandwiches for an open house. Would these recipes fill this need? I had some little sandwiches tonight at a reception and they were quite yummy but I am unsure how to duplicate.

My mother makes a Sunday pot roast but it is far from moist so I know her way is the wrong way

TIA

Patti O.

[waltnj]

My family has always cooked Roast Beef pretty much the same way sneezles posted.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees (this usually takes a while)
Season meat as desired (we usually just do Salt & Pepper, but I have some penzey's Prime Rib rub so I might try that)
Place meat in V rack over large roasting pan
Oven at 500 for 5 minutes per pound, turn the oven off and DO NOT OPEN the oven door for 2 hours.
After 2 hours pass, remove roast from oven, move to cutting board & cover with foil.
Use pan drippings to make gravy.

Warning, you will want to clean your oven both before and after doing this. If you don't your house will be smokey (and when you clean it after it may smoke up a bit too).

The meat alway cooks perfectly.

Waltnj

[pattiarl]

And what cut of meat do you guys use? Is it always eye of round?

Patti

[sneezles]

Originally posted by pattiarl
And what cut of meat do you guys use? Is it always eye of round?

Patti

For this recipe, yes, it's for an eye of round roast. Other cuts are roasted differently. When I saw your request above the cut that I would use is tenderloin...

[waltnj]

I have cooked meat, but I usually call my Mom from the grocery store & ask her a million questions about the cut. I asked my Mom about this the other night and she always gets her holiday roast from BJs warehouse club. She buys the big hunk of sirloin & has their butcher cut it into the size roast she wants and the rest into steaks to go in the freezer.

CI just did an article recently about buying beef from the wholesale clubs and found them to be very good too. They were looking at the tenderloin though.

I hope this helps, I am still learning about cuts of meat myself. Good luck.
Waltnj

[Tizzylish]

I have to chime in, the 500 degree eye round roast is so easy and it comes out perfect everytime.

[Little Bit]

Sorry to sound stupid, but the '500 degree' roast stays in the oven for 2 hours, and still comes out medium rare? Even with the heat turned off after a while, wouldn't the residual heat cook the roast more than that??

[AvrilH]

I am anxious about ruining an expensive cut of beef too! But I invested in a digital thermometer (being a good little Alton Brown disciple) and used the garlic and horseradish rubbed beef recipe on the recipe finder just last weekend. Using the thermometer, it was absolutely PERFECT.

I had always been cheap about the thermometer, but realized it cost about the same as two expensive roasts. Thought it was good insurance. Now I can't wait for the Thanksgiving turkey!

[Aubergine]

this is all interesting because eye round is a very lean cut that can be very tough if not oven cooked properly, i.e., to medium rare at most. (it softens in a crockpot.)

as an aside, for those who are justifiably worried about "ruining" a more expensive cut, take some time before your next occasion to check out Alton Brown's directions for ageing a good piece of rib roast at home in the fridge. he is very specific about what cut to buy (so you need a willing-to-listen butcher), and, although it goes against a lot of what we're taught, the roast sits in the fridge, basically unwrapped, for 4-5 (?) days. i tried this 2 years ago and it was dazzlingly tender.

another thing you may consider is networking to find a connection with a restaurant you frequent who will sell you (or put you in contact with a seller for) the USDA Prime quality beef that is not sold in supermarkets. it's not nearly as costly as you might expect, and that, plus ageing, is why butter-soft "prime rib" is such a pricey item on many restaurant menus.

i wanted to learn how to do this for SO's birthday. i talked to everyone and got hooked up with a butcher, etc.

[Tizzylish]

Originally posted by Little Bit
Sorry to sound stupid, but the '500 degree' roast stays in the oven for 2 hours, and still comes out medium rare? Even with the heat turned off after a while, wouldn't the residual heat cook the roast more than that??

Your only roasting it for 7 minutes per pound, I usually make an eye round that is about 4 pounds, 28 minutes of roasting, then 2 - 2 1/2 hours in the oven with the heat turned off {I've taken it out at 2 hours and it was still perfect}, that residual heat is what is cooking the roast. The first part is giving it a nice sear. By the time you open your oven its barely warm in there.


Aubergine, I used Pam Anderson's method of dry aging in the frig, it really does make a prime rib so tender and flavorful!

[Little Bit]

Oh, cool, thanks for the extra feedback.

[pambrack]

I wanted to report that I tried out the recommendation for cooking the eye of the round roastbeef on Friday night with rave reviews. I was torn between the 5 or 7 minutes per pound so I went with 6 originally, and then at the last minute left it an addition 6 as it was a 6 pounds roast. I had to force myself to not open the oven for the 2.5 hours afterwards. The house smelled wonderful, there was no smoke before or after it cooked. I took it out a half hour before we were going to cut it to let it rest and I had other uses for the oven at that point. It was cooked to perfection! The meat was medium, it was juicy and as tender as an eye of the found can be. I won't say it melted in your mouth, but it was not too chewy and everyone enjoyed it. I have another one in the freezer as I got them at a great deal so I am not looking forward to cooking the second one with this great new technique. Thank you for all your advice.

[sneezles]

Yeah! It's always great to have another convert!! I just did one Thursday night. Served half that night and then sliced the other half deli thin for sandwiches and made some au jus for dipping. DH had it for lunch yesterday and loved it!!

[sfarler]

I just wanted to say thanks to all who posted on this thread. I had printed it off a few weeks ago and finally fixed an Eye of Round Roast this weekend. It turned out perfect and delicious. Wow, I'm so glad that I came across this thread. I have never made an Eye of Round this good. We had the leftovers yesterday as cold roast beef sandwiches. I just sliced the beef really thinly and put it on buns with some horseradish sauce. Pefect. I think that the beef really did melt in your mouth.

[VegasDramaQueen]

[COLOR=darkred]How large is the eye of round you're roasting at 500 degrees? I have never made an eye of round but I do Prime Rib the same way. The PR has a bone in it so the roasting time may be different. The PR comes out perfect - medium rare- and now I'm wondering if the eye of round will come out the same way but how big a roast would it take to come out perfect at 500 degress then off for 2 1/2 hours. I'd like to make this one. COLOR]

[sfarler]

I made a Prime Rib a few weeks ago using the same method. It too was delicious. But Prime Rib is so pricey I wanted to try the Eye of Round. I bought a 2-pound roast.

I did as Sneezles said and roasted my roast for 7 minutes per pound (or 14 minutes) at 475 degrees. And then turned off the oven and let it sit for 2 and one-half hours in the oven. It was done as a nice medium-rare. I also used one of those thermomitors that sits outside the oven with the probe in the roast. It cooked to about an internal 145 degrees.

[pambrack]

From what I understand it doesn't matter how big the roast is if you time it to 5-7 minutes per pound and then wait the 2.5 hours no matter how big it is. I did two over the holidays and they were both perfect and one was 5 pounds and one was 7 pounts. I used 500 degrees. Delicious.

[VegasDramaQueen]

DUH! You're right Pambrack, I guess I just wasn't reading or wasn't thinking or both. LOL.

[JackieO]

Our grocery didn't have an eye of round roast today, but the meat counter guy was re-stocking the case so I explained the what I was attempting to do and he recommended the round rump roast (which happened to be on sale -- so even if this is a train wreck, I won't be out a lot of $$$). Anyway, he was very helpful and took me over to a package of a flat cut of beef and showed me what piece was the "eye" of the round, and then pointed next door and said that was the rump. The eye being a little more tender than the rump, but he thought the technique would work. We'll see....I love the food education I get from all of you!

Oh, and I'm making pureed cauliflower from this current EW using roasted garlic. My kitchen is giving off an incredible aroma this afternoon! Perfect with all the snow outdoors, too. I'll post back and let you know how it goes.

[vbak]

Jackie, how did the rump roast turn out? I usually pot roast a rump .

[annagins]

Okay, I know this is a dumb question but I have to ask. I make roast beef all the time for my husband. I usually soak it in buttermilk to tenderize it a bit, rinse it, season it with whatever I feel like it and then cook it at 325 for about and hour (depending on size).

My question is, does it taste better cooked with this high heat/sit? method? What's the difference in taste/texture? I'm thinking of doing the 500 degree method tonight, but I just want to know the advantage.

Thanks!

[JackieO]

Originally posted by vbak
Jackie, how did the rump roast turn out? I usually pot roast a rump .

(In my best Lucy Ricardo voice) Wellllll........

I wouldn't go so far as to call it a train wreck, but derailment would be close.

The roast smelled wonderful and looked great when I took it out of the oven, but it was pretty tough and blood-red inside. No one in my family, including me, can handle rare beef. I'm going to go back to doing cuts of beef in the crockpot; I really have much better results doing that!

And the pureed cauliflower wasn't much better, despite having a whole head of roast garlic added to it! :mad:

[Curleytop]

This is the way I make Roast Beef:
I get either a rump or Xrib roast. Season with S&P. Place on rack in roaster, fat side up. Preheat oven to 325° (convection).
(Insert a thermometer into the thickest part of the roast.)
20-25 min per pound Rare Internal temp 140
25-30 Medium Internal temp 160
I also use my instant read thermometer.

These are the directions from my Jennair electric oven.

These directions my be oldfashioned, but they have worked for me for 60 Years, yes, that is how long I have been married!

[vbak]

How disappointing I invited the kids over for dinner today,and I was going to use this method with a 5# eye of round until DS called to ask if I would also roast a rack of lamb that we had gotten him as part of his birthday present. So, next time.

Curleytop, that is how I usually do roasts,too, and for the last 37 years! Congrats on 60years.

[sneezles]

Originally posted by annagins
My question is, does it taste better cooked with this high heat/sit? method? What's the difference in taste/texture? I'm thinking of doing the 500 degree method tonight, but I just want to know the advantage.

Thanks!

This method works for very lean cuts of beef, not a rump roast. There isn't much difference in taste but the texture would be more tender for an eye of round as it doesn't dry out with the method that Curleytop posted. I wouldn't use this method for a rump and if you want it medium well then you would just increase the cooking time to maybe 8 minutes per pound but eye of round really isn't good well done because of the lean factor.

[Curleytop]

All this talk about Roast Beef, got me in the mood to make it for Sunday dinner. Since there are only the 2 of us, I got a 1¾ # Xrib Roast, very lean. Did it @ 325° for a skant hour (internal 140°) turned out great. Even had 3 or 4 drops of drippings in the pan.
Put the pan on the gas burner, added a little water, stirred vigously to loosen the drops, and actually had enough for gravy. I usually pour this into a small saucepan, bring to a boil, add a little cornstarch dissolved in cold water, stir and it made a nice little gravy. Enough for leftovers from this roast for tomorrow!
HE will slice it with the meat slicer to have nice thin pieces. Hate thick leftover slices!