No need to be nervous about cooking a small roast beef – you can produce a perfect one! Roast beef is the traditional meat for Christmas dinner in my family, and some years it’s a big one but sometimes it’s a small one to serve just 4 to 6 people. Whichever size it is, my cooking method remains the same, with the cooking time differing according to the size of the roast. This recipe for an English-style boned, rolled and tied rib roast couldn’t be easier and always produces reliable results for a roast that has a nice flavorful crust with a juicy, tender interior. How much to serve per person? Four ounces is a good guideline, and more for serious beef lovers.
If you can’t find a rolled roast in the meat case, ask the butcher to cut, bone and roll one for you. Buy the size you need, but a minimum of 2#’s produces the best results. Happy Holidays, let’s eat!
Ingredients for Roast Beef Rub: (enough for a 2# roast, multiply for larger ones)
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2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and mined
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1 tsp. dried thyme
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1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (the salt will bring some of the juices to the surface and help produce a nice crust on the roast but it is not enough to dry the roast out at all!)
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1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
How to roast the beef:
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Preheat an oven to 425°.
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Bring your roast to room temperature (70°).
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Mix all of the rub ingredients together on a large cutting board and run a large knife through several times, cutting down and mixing everything together thoroughly.
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Rub the rub all over the roast and let sit for 5 minutes. Keep the string tied onto the roast!
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Put the beef on a shallow roasting pan and put into the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
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Reduce the heat to 350° and continue roasting the beef for 35 to 40 minutes for a small 2 # roast (about 20 minutes per pound after initial 15 minutes), until a digital thermometor inserted in the center of the roasts registers the temperature you need for desired doneness. We like it pretty rare so I cook to an internal temperature of 125° and plan on the resting time to raise it to 130°. Here’s a handy chart of doneness/temperatures as a guide:
Beef Temperature Chart
A guide to doneness using the internal temperature (Farenheit) of cooked beef.
Rare 120 to 125 degrees Pink along the edges to bright red in the center.
Medium Rare 130 to 135 degrees Very pink throughout with slightly brown edges.
Medium 140 to 145 degrees Light pink throughout with brown edges
Medium Well 150 to 155 degrees No pink, light brown with darker edges.
Well Done 160 and higher degrees Brown throughout.
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Allow the roast to rest for 15 minutes, and plan on the internal temperature rising by a few degrees. Use any pan drippings for a gravy or pur back over the roast.
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Cut the strings, slice with a very sharp carving knife and enjoy!
Timeless Gourmet
YUM! I love roast beef and this looks just scrumptious. Next time I have a beef , I am going to try it this way. Thanks.
This is a great recipe!
But, your table that describes doneness of the meat isn’t quite right. You need to shift everything down one row. Rare meat is cool in the center, not red.
This is very, very important! Cooking meat all the way through to a red center and serving it to someone who is expecting it to actually be “rare” will result in a very unhappy guest!
Sorry I couldn’t publish your link to the reference chart of which you speak……anyone reading this may want to refer to wikapedia. I am most definitely one of those that want rare….and I mean rare! I never go wrong following my chart, and as a restaurant owner and also Sous-Chef in someone else’s restaurant I never got anything sent back following these guidelines – though here in the States you have to be careful about the whole Black and Blue thing when serving the public. The resting time is crucial for sure, and if you are a home cook, and have followed all food safety processes in advance of cooking and serving your guests, it’s a simple matter of a conversation about what the prefereces are. Love the comment, and thank you, because ‘rare’ is a temperamental thing!
I have not tried it yet but I LOVE RIB ROASTS, with or without the bone.
This recipe sounds like the best one I’ve ever tried.