Oven roasting is one of the easiest cooking methods available for beef because it doesn’t require complicated marinades, sauces, or procedures. Keeping a few important tips in mind is important; otherwise, the oven roast beef might be too dry or lacking in flavor. Choosing the best cuts, cooking the meat at the proper temperature, and allowing it to rest after cooking guarantees roast beef that will be flavorful and tender.
Cuts such as tri-tip, top sirloin butt, or rib roasts are excellent choices for the oven. Some of these cuts are available bone-in as well as boneless; whether the bone is present or not helps determine how long the roast must be cooked. A piece of beef that wears a fatty covering and is well marbled helps guarantee that the roast doesn’t dry out in the oven. Some cooks prefer to purchase meat from a butcher where they can select cuts that are darker red, indicating the roast has hung and seasoned well.
Roasting is a dry-heat method of cooking. This means that the best pan is shallow and has a low rack that allows the roast’s fat to drip off the meat. Roasting beef in a deeper casserole dish or pan will not allow the moisture to cook off, and the results are more of a braised beef. Roasts are not marinated before they go into the oven, and basting while cooking is not necessary; simply rubbing a little oil into the raw meat is sufficient.
The best results are obtained when the oven roast beef is allowed to come to room temperature before it is cooked. Putting a roast directly from the refrigerator into the oven can result in meat that cooks unevenly, particularly if the high heat roasting method is chosen. Some cooks believe the juiciest, most flavorful roasts are the result of initially cooking the meat at a very high heat for a few minutes and then lowering the heat considerably. This method allows the coating of fat to sear, which keeps the juices from escaping. Other cooks prefer to reverse this method, roasting the beef for a longer time at a very low heat, then raising it dramatically to create a delicious and beautiful crust.
Another approach is to cook the roast for a shorter period of time at very high heat. This method requires careful monitoring. Properly done, this technique results in roast beef that wears a glistening, nicely browned crust. Unfortunately, using high heat for the duration of cooking is most likely to produce meat that has become dry and tough or that is cooked on the outside and nearly raw on the inside.
A fourth method is to put the oven roast beef in the oven for an extended period of time at low heat. This method works best when the cook isn’t available to constantly monitor the oven roast beef. With the low-heat method, the meat cannot dry out or become overcooked, and the results will be delicious but less beautiful as low heat won’t develop a crust.
Regardless of cooking method, it’s important to allow the roast to sit before it is carved. Carving too soon allows flavorful juices to escape. Leaving the roast alone for a little while gives the juice a chance to become reabsorbed by the meat, resulting in an oven roast beef that is easier to carve, more tender, and bursting with flavor.