Roast Beef
In the days of open fires for cooking purposes, the roasting of a large joint of meat meant frequent turning on the spit to allow all the outside to come in contact with the intense heat. The nearest approach to this method of roasting, since the advent of improved coal and gas ranges, is to put the meat into an oven hot enough to quickly cook the outside, and so confine the juices while the cooking process is completed, which must also be done quickly, leaving the inside juicy and rare. This rich juiciness can better be obtained by using a roasting-rack or trivet than by simply baking with the meat resting on the bottom of the pan. If, however, the latter way is more convenient, have only sufficient water in the pan to prevent burning, not enough to steam the meat.
In roasting a sirloin of 6 or 8 pounds, cut off the greater part of the flank, it will make a stew or soup stock. Wipe the meat, or rinse quickly in cold water, and immediately wipe it dry. Trim off any superfluous pieces of fat, and, if necessary, skewer it.
Lay it on the roasting-rack with the skin side up, and dust first with flour, then with salt and pepper. Put a few pieces of fat or 2 spoonfuls of drippings in the bottom of the pan, and put it in the hot oven. When the outside has become well seared, baste with the drippings and dredge again with salted and peppered flour. A little of the flour will go into the pan; when this has browned pour in a little boiling water, keeping just sufficient water in the pan to prevent the fat and flour from burning.
If the oven does not roast evenly enough to cook all sides alike, turn the pan around or turn the meat over.
Allow from ten to fifteen minutes to each pound of beef for cooking, in proportion to the degree of rareness liked. If cooked very rare, a large roast may be reheated on the second day, by putting it in the pan with a little drippings and putting in a moderately hot oven just long enough to become thoroughly heated through, basting and taking care that it does not cook enough to make it dry.
When the roast is done remove it to a hot platter, and if a gravy is to be made, carefully pour off as much as possible of the clear fat in the pan, add a cupful of boiling water, and stir well to mix in all the browned juice and flour; scrape this into a saucepan, add more water if needed, or some good soup stock, and if the flour in the pan does not thicken it sufficiently, pour 2 spoonfuls of the fat into the baking-pan; when hot stir in flour to thicken, stirring until smooth and brown; add this to the gravy, stir briskly. Season with salt and pepper, and simmer five minutes. It should be smooth if made carefully, but if not, strain before serving.
A method piece rather than a list of ingredients: sear hard, keep the meat above the pan juices, and finish fast. The technique holds up, but the doneness judgment should now be made with a thermometer rather than by minutes per pound.
- Oven temperature"A hot oven" in books of this period is usually taken as somewhere around 425-450F, hot enough to sear the surface quickly; the text gives no figure. It is common now to sear at that heat and then drop to 325-350F for the remainder.
- Use a thermometerTen to fifteen minutes per pound is a rough guide only. Pull the meat at 120-125F internal for rare, 130-135F for medium rare; it will climb another 5-10 degrees while it rests.
- Rest before carvingThe recipe sends the roast straight to a hot platter. Give it 15-20 minutes loosely tented before carving, or the juices the whole method is designed to preserve will run out on the board.
- "Spoonfuls"Unqualified spoonfuls in books of this period generally mean tablespoons. Two tablespoons of drippings in the pan, and two tablespoons of fat for the thickening, are sensible readings.
- The flour dredgeDusting with flour before salt and pepper is what builds the browned residue the gravy depends on. Keep the water in the pan to a shallow film and top it up as it evaporates; a pan that runs dry burns the flour bitter, and one with an inch of water in it steams the underside of the roast.
- Rack versus panThe recipe prefers a roasting rack or trivet, though it allows the meat to sit in the pan if that is more convenient. Meat sitting in liquid does not develop a crust on the underside.
- The trimmed flankOn a modern sirloin roast this is the thin tail of meat and fat that hangs off one side. Cut it away, freeze it, and use it for stock or a braise as directed; left on, it overcooks long before the eye of the roast is ready.
- Reheating the cold roastReheating a very rare roast the next day works, but bring the reheated portion to at least 165F throughout rather than merely "thoroughly heated," and refrigerate the cold roast promptly after the first meal rather than leaving it standing.
- YieldA 6 to 8 pound sirloin roast serves roughly eight to twelve, with enough left for the second-day reheating the recipe anticipates.