Why is it a whole beef roast might cost as little as $4 per pound but the same thing, sliced thin and called “cold cuts”, is suddenly at least $6 per pound? Is slicing it that hard?
Not really. Of course you have to roast it first. Which means you get a nice Sunday dinner out of it, and use the leftovers for sandwiches. Like you’re supposed to.
(Oh, and did I mention you get gravy this way? Can’t forget the gravy.)
Ingredients
5 pound beef round roast
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper
two large carrots or potatoes
2 tablespoons bacon fat or oil
Directions
Prep
The carrots — or potatoes — are just to hold the beef up off the bottom of the pan. Cut the stem and root ends off, and chop into one-inch pieces.
Put a generous coating of salt and pepper all the way around the roast. “Generous” doesn’t quite mean you can’t see the beef through the salt, but it might seem that way if you’ve been avoiding salt. (Which also means you’ve been avoiding flavor.) Let it rest for about 15 minutes to allow the salt to draw some juices to the top. This is what will caramelize, making lots of flavor for the gravy.
Notice the long fibers running from end to end. I’ll mention those again later.
Cook
Melt the bacon fat over high heat in a roasting pan.
Sear the roast for about a minute or two on each surface. Just long enough to brown it. Don’t worry about trying to “seal in the juices”. That doesn’t actually work. We’re just going for flavor here.
Put your carrots or potatoes in the center of the pan, and place the roast on top.
Insert the probe from your digital thermometer — you do have a digital thermometer
Set the thermometer for 100°. This will give you plenty of warning that the roast is nearly done so you can adjust the stove to finish when you want.
Put the roasting pan in the stove set to the lowest setting it will hold. Mine only goes down to 170°. You can see in the picture above that my roast started at 33°, and it was up to 68° within just over an hour. That was way too fast.
I turned the stove off but left it closed. After about an hour I turned it back on, but set the timer to shut off after a half-hour. I repeated this cycle several more times, shooting for an internal temperature of 140° when it hit the table at 5:00.
When I pulled it at 4:00, it was just under 130°. Always pull a large cut of meat well before it’s at the target temperature. It will keep rising for quite a while.
You could just let this rest and carve it, but it’s better with a crust. Turn the oven up to 500° and return the pan for about 10 minutes, until there is a nice crispy finish.
Gravy
Pour about a cup of water into the roasting pan while it’s still hot to break all the cooked-on juices loose from the bottom.
Take the beef out and set it on a cutting board to rest. Mine was at 137° now. Remove the carrots or potatoes and scrape up everything from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon or a whisk.
Mix about a tablespoon of cornstarch with cold water. It has to be cold or you’ll get lumps. Pour the starch mixture in slowly while whisking constantly over high heat.
Bring the gravy to a boil and add pepper.
This didn’t look like enough gravy for four people, so I added more water. Toss in a couple of teaspoons of cardamom.
Since I added more water, I added another round of cornstarch. Bring it back to a boil, whisking constantly. You need to boil for at least one or two minutes or it won’t thicken up when you remove it from the heat.
Serve
Now that the gravy is done, the temperature of the roast should have stabilized. Mine topped out at about 148°. A bit above what I wanted, but close enough.
Slice very thin slices across the grain. Remember up top when I pointed out the long fibers? If you leave them long, the meat will be chewy and stringy. You want to cut them into the shortest lengths possible.
Keep all the slices in line with the rest of the roast. Lift everything at one time onto your serving plate.
Bring it to the table with the un-sliced end on the platter. It makes for a nicer presentation.
Add mashed potatoes and corn, and that’s it.
Tomorrow I’m going to borrow the mini meat slicer from my father-in-law to turn the rest into cold cuts. I’ll try to remember to take some pictures.
Want more like this? For more recipes like this, that you can hold right in your hands, and write on, take notes, tear pages out if you want (Gosh, you're tough on books, aren't you?) you might be interested in How To Cook Like Your Grandmother, 2nd edition, Illustrated. Or to learn your way around the kitchen, check out Starting From Scratch: The Owner's Manual for Your Kitchen.
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19 Comments
Beautiful, Drew! Sometimes everyone gets so caught up in the newest craze that we forget the oldies but goodies.
I just did a roast a couple of weeks ago and diced up the leftovers for chili. That worked out pretty well, too:)
Like your addition of cardamom to the gravy.
Jenni, my father-in-law gets the credit for the cardamom. Lou is the king of the spice cabinet. He’s never said this, but his cooking clearly shows that blandness is the only unforgivable flavor.
YUM! Just like my Meema used to make! Just a tip to help with cooking the roast too quickly: my Meema used to start with a frozen roast. Seriously. She would take it out of the freezer an hour before cooking, brown it, then roast it. Came out PERFECT every time! So perfect that I have yet to attempt it for fear of failure…
Lissa, wow, I’d be afraid to try that. I’m sure she came to that method after trial and error, and it depended on just how cold her freezer was and just how hot the oven. Too many variables for me. That’s why I swear by the thermometer. 140° is 140°, no matter whose oven it’s in.
i was going to ask where the meat slicer (before I finished the article). Cardamom rocks. I put it in the pot when I do pork roast in the crock pot. I also put it in my curry. Great flavor & aroma.
Drew,
I LOVE your recipes. As for the beef, was it a top round or a bottom round? i have made only eye rounds in and they are always too dry.
the finished plate looks delicious.
queenie
A truly beautiful piece of beef. I always have the hardest time getting that huge juicy pink zone.
Please use those slices right away – once sliced it’s difficult to keep them at peak flavor.
Secret Biscuit
Stephanie, how much do you have to use? I’ve tried adding it to the beef and the flavor is lost by the time it’s done. That’s why I only add it to the gravy.
Queenie, that was a top round.
Craig, the trick is the very low cooking temperature. The lower you cook it, the more ping you’ll get. Cook hot and you get a thick rind of medium-well with a tiny nugget of rare in the middle. That’s why I went to 140° on this one instead of the 120° I’d shoot for with a thinner cut and higher cooking temp.
This is an awesome recipe; it doesn’t require a lot of ingredients and its relatively simple.
I’ve always had something against the extra they charge us for the same meat. I don’t think deboned chicken is worth 3 dollars more per pound.
I just love that slow roast method at low temps. But I didn’t know about the crust part! We won’t have beef until this summer (sniff, sniff). I can’t wait to try this!
Andrew, I like having he bones and trimmings anyway to make stock.
Kristin, considering that’s going to be local beef I’m feeling more jealous than sympathetic.
Kybin, thanks. That might be a day trip with the girls when it gets warmer.
Drew,
We just ordered and picked up a side of beef. talk about the difference in meat, I can’t believe the tenderness and flavor. It is so much better then what is in the local stores or even at the westside market. I have been using your website to come up with great meals to use with all this meat.
If you are interested I can give you the website for the market we got the meat from they also have fresh produce.
Kybin, if you’re saying it’s an alternative to the West Side Market, that must mean you’re at least somewhat near me. So yes I absolutely want the name of the market.
Drew,
Yes, we are in Medina. Here is the website. I had them make the brisket into corned beef and when I picked it up they told me to keep it in the refrigerator for 2 weeks before I freeze it. talk about fresh!!
http://www.beriswillfarms.com/
About what Lissa mentioned, starting from frozen meat: That’s a traditional recipe in northern Sweden.
For those who can read Swedish: http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tjälknöl — not that that’s very many of you, I guess!
This is awesome. Thanks
Drew,
I only measure when I’m baking. Maybe 3 tablespoons.
How much cardamom do I use? About as much fits in my cupped hand.
Just have to add this old joke:
What’s the difference between roast beef and pea soup?
Anybody can roast beef.
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