How to cook Roast Beef: 3 tips to avoid mistakes

Roast beef is a typical dish of the English tradition and it is prepared with the sirloin cut leaving it well cooked on the outside and juicy on the inside, even if there can be different types of cooking.

1. Cut of meat to choose

For preparing the roast beef the favorite cuts are loin, sirloin or round steak (this one less used and less valuable).

If the chosen cut of meat seems too lean, you can cover it with slices of bacon or lard.

2.How to tie roast beef for a perfect cooking

The roast beef should be tied to give it a perfect shape also during cooking. You can choose a kitchen twine, an elastic net or silicone cords that are now easily available on the market.

3.How to cook roast beef

There can be various ways for cooking roast beef. The two main ones clash on browning it in a pan or not.

More generally, roast beef can be cooked both in the oven and in a pan, sometimes even on a spit.

The browning is used to create the famous maillard reaction which helps the meat to keep all the juices inside it. Those who do not opt ​​for double cooking, therefore first browning in a pan and only then baking in the oven, often apply two different cooking stages in the oven. A first phase at high temperature and subsequently a second phase at lower temperature.

Generally a first third of cooking at about 240 degrees C and the rest of the time at 180 degrees C.

Browning lasts a maximum of 10 minutes; while baking in the oven (at 200 degrees C) about 30 minutes per kilogram of roast.

How to serve roast beef

Whether roast beef is to be served hot or cold is not a question of which side to take. It depends on its use and when you will serve it, but you can also let yourself be guided by your taste. If we look at tradition, even in this case we find conflicting opinions. On one thing, however, almost everyone agrees; when served hot roast beef is brought to the table with its cooking sauce, vice versa, if the roast beef is served cold it tends to be seasoned with oil.

Tips for a perfect roast beef cooking and serving

after cooking, let the roast beef rest for at least 20 minutes before cutting it, so that the juices can be redistributed in the fibers;

to cut a roast beef in the best way, use an electric knife. The first time will not be easy, but soon you will learn how to make perfect slices.

Origins of the roast beef

Roast beef was exported in the first half of the 19th century thanks to the "pro-European" patriots, including Mazzini, who brought their foreign culinary experiences to Italy. When this meat delicacy reached Tuscany, in addition to taking the name of "Rosbiffe" like its pronunciation, it was modified in size and, in some cases, served with accompanying sauces already in use in Italian tradition.