Roast Recipes & Tips

Yup - that makes a difference - stick a skewer through it a couple of times to make sure that it isn't frozen, if it is frozen - then seal it in a plastic bag and put it in a sink of luke warm water for a bit to get it to thaw quickly. It is really important to get it up to room temperature before you try to cook it....don't roast straight from the fridge.

In order to get it to medium you want to get meat up to only 70 degrees, any more and it will become well done. The faster you cook it, the more unevenly it will cook as the outside will cook first - slower is best - I usually roast beef joints at 80-90 degrees for 6-7 hours.

For your joint - rub some cracked pepper into it then sear it in a frying pan with some hot oil to seal in the juices, then pop it in the oven at 160 degrees for about 70 minutes, then take it out of the oven, cover it with foil and let it sit for at least 15 minutes before you carve. It will keep cooking for this 15 minutes on it's residual heat.

If you have a meat or probe thermometer then you can check the core temperature of the beef and remove some of the guesswork.

Thanks TheBear. It sounds beautiful and my mouth is watering.

mmmmmm........cooking for 6-7 hours sounds soooooooo good! You have made me really hungy now!

If your oven is capable of it then you can drop it right down to 60 degrees, and cook it for 24 hours....this will leave the whole joint cooked to a perfect, uniform medium rare. I serve it with a compound butter made with anchovies and capers or fresh bearnaise sauce instead of gravy - the sharpness works really well with the beef.

If you are going to try doing it this way then:-
1. Don't trust your oven thermometer, they really don't work at low temperatures - you can get little thermometers to place in the oven so that you know exactly what temperature you are getting.
2. Sear the meat after it has been slow roasted, the caramelised outer surface adds a lot of flavour that you will miss out on otherwise.
3. Roast on the bone, the meat will be so tender that the bones can literally just be pulled out of the flesh.

how did you go dan?? was everyone impressed?

This is an invitation to all those fabulous roast chefs out there, to share with the rest of us novices, how to cook your favourite roast, be it chicken, turkey, pork, lamb, beef, goat, or whatever. Enquiring minds want to know! :)

I am endeavouring to begin Sunday roasts at our place, but am a bit of a dunce when it comes to the art. :redface: I have cookbooks with roasts in them, but I think this would be interesting to know how others do it. If you don't mind sharing with the rest of us that is...

If possible, tell us how you prepare the meat, what veges (if any) you include, how its cooked (oven/rotisserie/bbq/etc), do you make pan juice gravy..... You know... all that!

I would love to know aswell especially the slow cooker ones as My parents have a convection oven and cook beautiful roast in that!

Ok I've just merged a few threads for some extra inspiration ;) I'll be back to post more later!

I make my lamb in the slow cooker.
I get a leg that will fit in and rub it with a bit of salt and then sprinkle some rosemary over it. Sometimes i use garlic too.
The cooking time depends on whether I chuck it in from frozen and also if I have it on high or low. I tend to just play it by instinct - if it looks like it's cooking too fast I turn it down and if it seems too slow I turn it up.
For my veges I start by buying a potatoe variety that roasts well and I parboil it just a tiny bit then I chuck them in with the rest of my veges with lots of olive oil at about 180 and give it an extra zap at a higher temp right at the end to crisp the potatoes up.
I find that SC juices make extra yummy gravy.

Thanks Cai, that's terrific! Better than people having to type out what they may have already in the past!

Now I'll have to go and read it all! For those that use electric frypans, do you prefer the non-stick or stainless steel ones? Does it make a difference (aside from the cleaning aspect)? I don't have one, and am thinking of getting one to keep the kitchen cooler, and also to keep the littlies away from the hot oven door.

I'm trying to become a Domestic Goddess, and I want the Sunday Roast to be a part of my repertoire.