Roasting a rib of beef

[997s]

Hi all,

We're having a 10kg roast of rib beef tomorrow (Xmas day) the roasting time is approx 10 hours.

Mrs 997s, just came up with the idea that if we cut it in half, the roasting time will be half.

But, is this the case? Surely, the beef is going to need the same energy to cook, so will this save any time at all?

[Sporky]

If you cut it in half then it's half as thick, so it's easier for the heat to penetrate.

For a lot of meats the roasting time is x minutes plus y minutes per z mass. You can't change the first bit, but cutting it in half will reduce the latter. Assuming you put them far enough apart that the heat can circulate.

[AndyTR]

I think if you roast that for 10 hrs it will be massively overcooked. You can either roast high for 20 mins and then turn the heat down or reverse the process. I prefer to reverse sear and baste it in the rendered fat. Get it out of the fridge to come up to room temp 4 hrs before cooking and rub liberally with a course to medium grain salt.

20 mins on high - 230C

30-40 mins per kilo at 140C

Should be 7 hrs - internal temp 54C for medium rare, 58C for medium.

If you cut it in half it should cook in half the time, plus the 20 mins to sear...but won't look as grand on the table.

[997s]

Yeah that's the thought process, but 25min per Kilo is the cooking time, but there's still 10kg in total in the oven.. So how much difference will cutting it in half really make?

[Flat6er]

Don't forget that the bones conduct heat so it will continue to cook through for a while once its been removed from oven. If you are using a meat thermometer. Bring it out at 5 degrees lower than your final planned temp.

I'd not cut it in half. Otherwise you'll have lots of dry edges and not enough juicy rare inside.

Also it will look less appealing if reassembled as a split rib.

[Sporky]

997s said:

Yeah that's the thought process, but 25min per Kilo is the cooking time, but there's still 10kg in total in the oven.. So how much difference will cutting it in half really make?

You're roasting each piece of meat.

If they went in the oven on different days, they'd each take a shorter time.

It's the thickness of the meat that determines the cooking time, but that's generally gauged by the mass.

[997s]

But I will be cooking them at the same time, in the same oven. 🤔

[Sporky]

It's still per piece.

Again, it's because it takes longer for the heat to penetrate a bigger lump of meat .

[pteron]

If you were making muffins would you expect one muffin to cook faster than 6 muffins?

You're thinking in terms of total energy, but an oven is a very inefficient way to transfer energy to the meat, there is plenty of excess energy to be transferred to each of the two pieces. It would be different if the oven was directly transferring energy into the meat, but if that wa possible it would take minutes to heat the meat to temperature - think microwave.

Edited by pteron on Wednesday 24th December 15:16

[AndyTR]

997s said:

But I will be cooking them at the same time, in the same oven. ?

You're very brave doing a full rib of beef with little (or no?) experience. My advice would be, very carefully work out your timings, use a temp probe and temp separately on a regular basis, last couple of hrs. If you're cooking at 140C uplift on the joint whilst resting will be 4C, cooking at 170C will likely be 8C.

Cook it one piece, why spend that kind of cash on the best joint of roasting beef and then cut it up.

[miniman]

pteron said:

If you were making muffins would you expect one muffin to cook faster than 6 muffins?

Depends if it’s one giant muffin with the same amount of mix as the 6 small ones doesn’t it?

Anyway, get a MEATER.

[oddman]

AndyTR said:

You're very brave doing a full rib of beef with little (or no?) experience. My advice would be, very carefully work out your timings, use a temp probe and temp separately on a regular basis, last couple of hrs. If you're cooking at 140C uplift on the joint whilst resting will be 4C, cooking at 170C will likely be 8C.

Cook it one piece, why spend that kind of cash on the best joint of roasting beef and then cut it up.

Good advice. I think it would be counterproductive for OP to cut it in half as it's still going to take up the same space in the oven and it certainly won't reduce the cooking time by half. If OP is going all Billy Big Balls with a 10kg beef rib it slightly undermines the spectacle if he cuts it up.

I'm a fan of HFWs half hour sizzle at a very high temperature to get the maillard going and then reduce to IIRC160 for the balance of the cooking time. 25minutes per kg sounds about right. I've found HFWs timings very good but meat thermometer will take out the guesswork. Even if you can leave a probe in the meat whilst it's cooking, I'd insert the probe in 2 or 3 places along the joint starting about an hour from the end of the calculated time and then 15 or 30 minutes depending on how close you are 15 minutes if within 10 degrees. Taing it in and out of the oven won't substantially cool the oven or mess up the timings

OP make sure you season the outside very generously with salt and pepper. I like powdered English mustard and flour as well.

One advantage of cooking a massive piece of meat is you can take it out, put foil on it and then a blanket and you have plenty of time to sort out roast veg, yorkshires and gravy. It'll stay hot for ages and even if it isn't, on super hot plates and with hot gravy no one will notice.

[997s]

Thanks for the advice guys, all much appreciated. I'm going to go balls deep and do it in one lump.

I just need to get up early tomorrow to get the oven on.

Have a great Xmas all.

[PRO5T]

Fallow put this one up last weekend-it's how I'll be cooking mine

[otolith]

My somewhat smaller lump of dry aged rib went in the sous vide at 54C an hour ago, but I don’t think I could fit 10kg in there!

Given the shape of a rib of beef, I would be wary of multiplying up the cooking time by a weight factor meant for a much smaller joint - maybe start it as if you are going to cook it that long, but check the temperature and take it out when it’s done - foiled and wrapped in something insulating like towels it will keep warm for a long time.

[pteron]

miniman said:

pteron said:

If you were making muffins would you expect one muffin to cook faster than 6 muffins?

Depends if it s one giant muffin with the same amount of mix as the 6 small ones doesn t it?

Anyway, get a MEATER.

The problem with using a meater is it tells you when the joint is done, not when it will be done. (Yes I know it has an estimator but I can estimate how long the joint will take from its weight).

[PRO5T]

pteron said:

miniman said:

pteron said:

If you were making muffins would you expect one muffin to cook faster than 6 muffins?

Depends if it s one giant muffin with the same amount of mix as the 6 small ones doesn t it?

Anyway, get a MEATER.

The problem with using a meater is it tells you when the joint is done, not when it will be done. (Yes I know it has an estimator but I can estimate how long the joint will take from its weight).

It's why the Fallow boys always reverse sear theirs. It's actually a number of years since I cooked one but I've a single rib for myself on Xmas Day (I'm not a turkey fan so leave that for the guests) which will be much easier than a four bone such as I've done before.

[miniman]

pteron said:

miniman said:

pteron said:

If you were making muffins would you expect one muffin to cook faster than 6 muffins?

Depends if it s one giant muffin with the same amount of mix as the 6 small ones doesn t it?

Anyway, get a MEATER.

The problem with using a meater is it tells you when the joint is done, not when it will be done. (Yes I know it has an estimator but I can estimate how long the joint will take from its weight).

In my experience it typically underestimates the cooking time initially, but it is superb at indicating when to remove from heat to ease up to final temperature while resting. In fact, you have to learn to trust it as I initially thought “surely it can’t be ready to take out yet?” but it was.

If you estimate beef based on 20 minute FHW sizzle then 25 minutes per kilo for rare, then let the Meater handle the detail, you won’t go far wrong.

[Simpo Two]

997s said:

Hi all,

We're having a 10kg roast of rib beef tomorrow (Xmas day) the roasting time is approx 10 hours.

Mrs 997s, just came up with the idea that if we cut it in half, the roasting time will be half.

But, is this the case? Surely, the beef is going to need the same energy to cook, so will this save any time at all?

It's a question of surface area to volume ratio because the heat travels from outside to inside. Hence the shorter the distance, the quicker it will cook.

However I hear that when it comes to cooking, a large joint cooked slower is more tender than a small joint cooked more quickly. Seeing that you have to eat it, I would aim to get the best result not the quickest one. Remember to let it rest. In fact this is probably better on the Food & Drink forum.

Edited by Simpo Two on Wednesday 24th December 16:46

[Wills2]

997s said:

Yeah that's the thought process, but 25min per Kilo is the cooking time, but there's still 10kg in total in the oven.. So how much difference will cutting it in half really make?

Come on seriously? If you chopped up a chicken breast you'd be able to flash fry it in minutes but try the same thing with a whole chicken breast and it would still be raw, same amount of chicken different cooking times, just like cutting the rib in half it'll take half as long.