Humans have a specific need to eat food that is more than just the basic nutrients that it has to offer. We like to add more flavor to our dishes and make them more attractive for our taste buds. Back in the day, it was much harder to achieve this because getting more ingredients was very tough. It was also pretty rare until recently to have a well-equipped kitchen in your home with everything close by.
Because of this, it is now much easier to cook something delicious at home that can compare to the dishes you see at restaurants. All of the ingredients and the equipment you need are much cheaper and available for anyone. Of course, this in itself won’t make a delicious dish, it’s how you utilize what you have at your disposal that makes the difference.
While I myself am not a meat-eater, I do know lots of people who are and as a chef, get asked frequently how best to prepare it. With that said, here is a useful guide on how you can utilize your kitchen at home to make great roast beef.
Which Technique Should You Use?
When it comes to roast beef you can either use the traditional method of using an oven, or you can use a smoker. Both techniques have their own unique advantages so the answer depends on what you are going to make. If you want to opt for smoked sirloin, you can only get the smoky flavor that makes this dish stand out by using a smoker. If you want to make a more simple roast beef that has a deeper accent on the spices you use, it is better to use the oven.
Having a smoker is not only good for this recipe but this machine can help out with many other recipes. A good smoker will be able to cook the meat much better than an oven because smoke is denser. Denser smoke can better interact with the meat; the gas particles will collide with the meat much more efficiently. This will result in a better transfer of heat and the particles that collide will stick to the meat giving it the smoky flavor. But do not underestimate the oven because sometimes you do not want to have this effect, as was mentioned with using spices, above.
How To Know When the Meat is Done
Many recipes will tell you the exact time when to expect the meat will be done, but it is not that simple. You should always take that time with a grain of salt because every piece of meat is slightly different.
Even if you always buy from the same store, it will still always be different. The thickness, age, and how it is cut will all play into this. That is the reason why you should always check the readiness of the meat for yourself to know if it is good enough. Knowing the readiness comes from experience and the more you prepare it, the better you will become at estimating this. Use the time from recipes as a rule of thumb, but do not use it as an absolute measurement.
How About the Spices?
One of the main aspects of roast beef is the meat. You do not have to use a lot of spices when cooking this because the main flavor comes from the juicy meat. That is the reason why using a smoker is good for this dish because you get the bit of tanginess from the smoke that goes well with the meat. This is also a very good combination because of the texture you get. The harder crust with the smoke flavor makes for a great contrast with the juicy insides.
If you go for the oven option, then you can add more spices. If you go overboard with spices when smoking then all of the flavors will be lost. That is why you should add only a good amount of salt and only a bit of ground black pepper.
For the oven option, you can add salt, black pepper, paprika, and rosemary. These spices will not degrade as easily as others would for the time it takes to cook the meat. Also, the flavor of them will not change as they would when smoking because the air in the oven is not as dense. With the oven, changes do always occur since you do not have an inert gas there but rather oxygen at a higher temperature.
When applying the spices for roast beef you need to first mix them up in a different bowl. When these are combined, rub the whole meat with the mixture. For roast beef, you need to be more generous when spicing it because of the thickness of the slices that are used for this dish. The flavor will only stick on the top of the meat and it needs to be enough to compensate for the unseasoned insides of the meat.
What Kind of Sauce Pairs With the Beef Roast?
If you want to experiment a bit and add more flavor to the beef roast, the best way is to do so with sauces. As it was mentioned earlier when you cook the meat the biggest accent is on the meat. Most of the flavor that comes from spices can be lost due to the time it takes to cook this big piece. Some of the sauces that you can use are gravy, simple garlic sauce, or red wine sauce. Red wine has tannins in it that bind to proteins from the meat and thus can cause a very interesting change in texture to the meat.
Making a good beef roast is not that hard to learn. There are not many parameters that you need to worry about and preparation time is minimal. Not only that but this dish is very cheap as all you need is just a piece of meat and a few extra spices to add additional flavor.
It is a simple dish to learn but it sure takes time to master it to perfection. The more you prepare it and track the steps that you have taken the better the dish will be. The other upside of roast beef is the amount of it you can make. It is a good meal to make if you have some friends over and want to have something that is homemade. With all of this said, if you like meat you should give it a try!
