Since I didn't make this on the grill or in the smoker, I'm not sure if this is appropriate. I oven roasted two eye of round roasts and since I've learned so much from you guys, I thought I would share. This is from a blog post I made this morning.
If it's not appropriate, please let me know or remove it with my apologies.
With the extravagant Feast of Seven Fishes for Christmas Eve, one would think I would rest on my laurels and enjoy leftovers for Christmas Dinner. But Nooo! (In my best John Belushi voice.) I could have gone out for Chinese, (Fa ra ra ra ra ra … ra ra .. ra .. ra) But Nooo! I had to cook not one, but TWO roasts for Christmas dinner. That’s just how I roll.
I wanted something special, and I wanted something different, but I also wanted something that screamed traditional Christmas. What’s more traditional than a Christmas Roast Beast? (Minus the Hoo-Pudding.) If I were the adventurous type, I guess I would have tried a huge beef rib roast, rib-eye roast or pork crown roast, but I have really been wanting to discover a good technique for Deli Style Roast Beef. If I could master that, then I could justify the meat slicer I’ve been wanting to buy, right?
I have been researching the roast beef techniques for months. I would Google “Best Deli Style Roast Beef” and even tried to find the secret to Arby’s roast beef. (You don’t want to know what I found out.) Who knew there were so many ways to roast a hunk of meat? From low and slow to hot and fast, there are as many ways to roast beef as there are roasts at the supermarket.
I decided to try two different methods. I’ll go through this in the photos but here is a summery.
The first apparently comes from Americas Test Kitchen, according to comments on chow.com. It calls for dry brining over night, then pan searing and then placing it in a 225° oven until the internal temperature (IT) reaches 115°. Then, you turn off the oven and wait for the IT to come up to 125° for medium rare which is our preference. This method spoke to my “low and slow” train of thought and experience with tough cuts of meat like brisket. So I gave it a go. It took 2 hours to come to temperature after the sear.
Bottom line: I think I rushed a little because I turned off the oven at 110°. I still let it get up to 125°, and even wrapped it immediately and let it rest for more than a half hour. It came out very raw in the middle (see photo below). I may give this another try someday to test the tenderness.
The second method was the one I was going to try if I only had one roast. In this method, you salt and season the roast and place it in a 500° oven for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 300° until the IT reaches 125°. I dry brined this one too. The next day I rinsed it well, added a little salt and a lot of pepper and added slivers of fresh garlic into small slits cut all around the roast. I had to watch this one closely because my oven has a terrible thermostat, but I stayed close to the target temperatures in the oven and pulled the roast at exactly 125° IT. As with the first, I wrapped it well in aluminum foil and let it rest for 30 minutes. This one took less than an hour in the oven.
Bottom line: It came out perfect! Tender and juicy, the flavors of garlic, salt and pepper were robust without overpowering the beef. On the slices where you get a piece of garlic, you find yourself saying “oh my goodness, oh my goodness” as you chew. (Like Adam Richman would.) I will definitely be revisiting this method.
I guess I should mention that I used the Eye of Round for these roasts.
Salt all over with Kosher Salt
Not too much.
The next day, rinse well and season to taste. I just added black pepper before the sear.
I pan seared on a super hot cast iron grill just long enough to lightly brown the exterior.
Then into the oven at 225° and wait for an IT of 115°.
After it reaches 115°, turn off the oven and leave the door closed until the IT comes up to 225° (shooting for the rare side of medium).
There it is (above) when the IT got up to 225°. It took about 2 hours in the oven. I didn’t note how long with the oven off.
I cranked up the oven to full blast to get it up to 500°. My little oven tops out at 500°.
Method 2 - ready to go into the 500° oven.
Those little slivers of garlic added the WOW to this roast.
Once I parked this in the oven, I waited for 20 minutes and then turned it down to 300°. I had to watch the oven temperature very closely because it would swing from 250° to 350°. Crikey, I wish I could find some unglazed quarry tiles.
Then it was time to slice the first roast.
Raw in the middle. Well that didn’t work! No time to worry about this one, I wrapped it up and stuck it in the fridge.
The method 2 roast took a little less than an hour.
It looks so good! I wrapped it tightly in aluminum foil and turned to the sides.
Time to get started on the dinner.
Carrie sautéed some onions, sweet peppers and mushrooms.
I steamed some carrots. (Simple is better.)
Then we boiled some potatoes.
I wanted roasted potatoes with this meal because, well, I like potatoes with my beef. (grin) We boiled these until just tender, then drained them and put in a roasting dish, seasoned them a baked on 400 until brown.
They came out good, but next time I will be using a cookie sheet so that all of the potatoes are browned.
The steamed carrots tasted like steamed carrots with salt and pepper. That’s what I was going for.
So where’s the beef?
Tah-dah! Actually it was much more red than it appears in the picture. It was so juicy and tender and the flavors melded into the best roast beef I’ve had in a long time. This is something I will be making often.
Our Christmas Roast Beef Dinner! That puddle of white stuff is my homemade horse radish sauce that came out too thin, but very tasty.
Carrie and I had a wonderful Christmas as I posted earlier. We enjoyed some great food and though we didn’t exchange presents this year, we thoroughly enjoyed each other presence over a few good meals.
If it's not appropriate, please let me know or remove it with my apologies.
With the extravagant Feast of Seven Fishes for Christmas Eve, one would think I would rest on my laurels and enjoy leftovers for Christmas Dinner. But Nooo! (In my best John Belushi voice.) I could have gone out for Chinese, (Fa ra ra ra ra ra … ra ra .. ra .. ra) But Nooo! I had to cook not one, but TWO roasts for Christmas dinner. That’s just how I roll.
I wanted something special, and I wanted something different, but I also wanted something that screamed traditional Christmas. What’s more traditional than a Christmas Roast Beast? (Minus the Hoo-Pudding.) If I were the adventurous type, I guess I would have tried a huge beef rib roast, rib-eye roast or pork crown roast, but I have really been wanting to discover a good technique for Deli Style Roast Beef. If I could master that, then I could justify the meat slicer I’ve been wanting to buy, right?
I have been researching the roast beef techniques for months. I would Google “Best Deli Style Roast Beef” and even tried to find the secret to Arby’s roast beef. (You don’t want to know what I found out.) Who knew there were so many ways to roast a hunk of meat? From low and slow to hot and fast, there are as many ways to roast beef as there are roasts at the supermarket.
I decided to try two different methods. I’ll go through this in the photos but here is a summery.
The first apparently comes from Americas Test Kitchen, according to comments on chow.com. It calls for dry brining over night, then pan searing and then placing it in a 225° oven until the internal temperature (IT) reaches 115°. Then, you turn off the oven and wait for the IT to come up to 125° for medium rare which is our preference. This method spoke to my “low and slow” train of thought and experience with tough cuts of meat like brisket. So I gave it a go. It took 2 hours to come to temperature after the sear.
Bottom line: I think I rushed a little because I turned off the oven at 110°. I still let it get up to 125°, and even wrapped it immediately and let it rest for more than a half hour. It came out very raw in the middle (see photo below). I may give this another try someday to test the tenderness.
The second method was the one I was going to try if I only had one roast. In this method, you salt and season the roast and place it in a 500° oven for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 300° until the IT reaches 125°. I dry brined this one too. The next day I rinsed it well, added a little salt and a lot of pepper and added slivers of fresh garlic into small slits cut all around the roast. I had to watch this one closely because my oven has a terrible thermostat, but I stayed close to the target temperatures in the oven and pulled the roast at exactly 125° IT. As with the first, I wrapped it well in aluminum foil and let it rest for 30 minutes. This one took less than an hour in the oven.
Bottom line: It came out perfect! Tender and juicy, the flavors of garlic, salt and pepper were robust without overpowering the beef. On the slices where you get a piece of garlic, you find yourself saying “oh my goodness, oh my goodness” as you chew. (Like Adam Richman would.) I will definitely be revisiting this method.
I guess I should mention that I used the Eye of Round for these roasts.
Salt all over with Kosher Salt
Not too much.
The next day, rinse well and season to taste. I just added black pepper before the sear.
I pan seared on a super hot cast iron grill just long enough to lightly brown the exterior.
Then into the oven at 225° and wait for an IT of 115°.
After it reaches 115°, turn off the oven and leave the door closed until the IT comes up to 225° (shooting for the rare side of medium).
There it is (above) when the IT got up to 225°. It took about 2 hours in the oven. I didn’t note how long with the oven off.
I cranked up the oven to full blast to get it up to 500°. My little oven tops out at 500°.
Method 2 - ready to go into the 500° oven.
Those little slivers of garlic added the WOW to this roast.
Once I parked this in the oven, I waited for 20 minutes and then turned it down to 300°. I had to watch the oven temperature very closely because it would swing from 250° to 350°. Crikey, I wish I could find some unglazed quarry tiles.
Then it was time to slice the first roast.
Raw in the middle. Well that didn’t work! No time to worry about this one, I wrapped it up and stuck it in the fridge.
The method 2 roast took a little less than an hour.
It looks so good! I wrapped it tightly in aluminum foil and turned to the sides.
Time to get started on the dinner.
Carrie sautéed some onions, sweet peppers and mushrooms.
I steamed some carrots. (Simple is better.)
Then we boiled some potatoes.
I wanted roasted potatoes with this meal because, well, I like potatoes with my beef. (grin) We boiled these until just tender, then drained them and put in a roasting dish, seasoned them a baked on 400 until brown.
They came out good, but next time I will be using a cookie sheet so that all of the potatoes are browned.
The steamed carrots tasted like steamed carrots with salt and pepper. That’s what I was going for.
So where’s the beef?
Tah-dah! Actually it was much more red than it appears in the picture. It was so juicy and tender and the flavors melded into the best roast beef I’ve had in a long time. This is something I will be making often.
Our Christmas Roast Beef Dinner! That puddle of white stuff is my homemade horse radish sauce that came out too thin, but very tasty.
Carrie and I had a wonderful Christmas as I posted earlier. We enjoyed some great food and though we didn’t exchange presents this year, we thoroughly enjoyed each other presence over a few good meals.
