Roast Rib of Beef

Posted By Kerri

Like most people, tomorrow we go back to work (I actually start a new job) after the Christmas and New Year Holiday. As a final fling before the inevitable new-year guilt kicks in, we chose a rib of beef for lunch today, served with roast potatoes, roast parsnips, Yorkshire pudding and vegetables.

We followed Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s method for cooking the beef: cook on high (230C) for 20 minutes before reducing the heat to 160C and cooking for a further 22 minutes* then resting for 30 minutes. This produced a slightly less rare meat than we were hoping for but the intense flavour of the well-hung meat came through regardless. It smelt faintly cheesy to me and reminded me of the difference in flavour between mutton and lamb.

The potatoes suffered a little from all the temperature changes but they were still pretty good. The Yorkshire pudding was the best we’ve achieved in the new oven, a perfect balance between doughy insides and crispy edges.

The vegetables looked pretty.

* These vary depending on the weight of the joint obviously, but the main idea was to give it an initial “sizzle” at high temperature before turning it down. For smallish (under 2kg) joints, it’s 20 minutes at 210C to 230C and then 10 minutes per 500g at 160C. He also suggests using a meat thermometer to keep exact track of it if you want to, and getting the temperature to 50C for rare beef. Ours went a bit over that due to inattention, probably 55C, which is likely why it wasn’t quite rare. It’s still less than the 60C that our meat thermometer suggests for rare beef though – Hugh says that the long resting time keeps it heating through for a while longer.

Jan 3rd, 2010

10 Comments to 'Roast Rib of Beef'

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  1. Jules said,

    Ooooh this is making me hungry. We’ve got roast lamb in the oven now. Good luck with the job tomorrow and Happy New Year to you both.

  2. Baby Bro said,

    Good luck with the new job

  3. Lizzie said,

    Mmmm it looks great! Congratulations on the new job.
    Lizzie´s last blog ..Goat & Spinach Curry My ComLuv Profile

  4. Good luck with the new job – what are the X and X minutes? Elaboration may be needed!
    gourmet chick´s last blog ..Roasted winter vegetable salad My ComLuv Profile

  5. Caroline said,

    That looks a lovely meal for the last day of the Christmas holidays, Kerri. Best of luck with your new job.

  6. Stephen said,

    Gourmet Chick I’ve updated the post with the timings and added a bit of blurb at the bottom!

  7. Kerri said,

    Thanks, Jules. Roast lamb would have been a good option too.

    Thanks, BB and Lizzie.

    Thanks for the heads up, GC. Stephen ate so much he fell asleep soon after lunch and I couldn’t remember the timings and didn’t want to wake him!

    Thanks Caroline.

  8. Hey not a bad looking roast. BTW, what does “well hung meat” mean? I know what it means in another context, but how is it related to a beef roast?
    Nate @ House of Annie´s last blog ..Rambutans, plus a Grow Your Own Announcement My ComLuv Profile

  9. Kerri said,

    Well hung just means hung (matured) for a long time, Nate. To deepen the flavour. It may well do something to the texture too but I don’t know for sure.

  10. Jeanne said,

    Rib of beef is a cut I’ve never cooked – clearly an oversight as yours looks fabulous!
    Jeanne´s last blog ..Playing catch-up My ComLuv Profile

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