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So how do we cook the ultimate British roast beef on the BBQ?

Ideally on a spit if possible there are lotss of recipes for roast beef, here on TV, on the Internet including youtube. Steven Raichlen has done Roast Beef, even Yorkshire Pudding, on his shows attributing it to the UK as his inspiration

keith157 wrote:Ideally on a spit if possible there are lotss of recipes for roast beef, here on TV, on the Internet including youtube. Steven Raichlen has done Roast Beef, even Yorkshire Pudding, on his shows attributing it to the UK as his inspiration

Good man, Steve R.

Traditionally roast beef was cooked on a spit in front of an open fire, with a tin below to catch the juices and into which the yorkshire pudding batter would be placed. The yorkshire pudding would be there to fill you up if the meat wasn't going to go far.

But if I have a single rib I just sear it for a couple of minutes a side, then cook over indirect for 10-20 minutes. Ten is medium rare. If you cook small yorkshire puds in a bun tray (the ones that will cook about 12 buns - 4 rows of 3) they'll do in 15 minutes.

Steve W

If it were that easy, everyone would be famous for their roast beef. Surely someone has a more detailed recipe and technique?

aris wrote:If it were that easy, everyone would be famous for their roast beef. Surely someone has a more detailed recipe and technique?

There's easy and there's easy. It reminds me of the phrases "That's easy for you to say!" and "Easier said than done".

Firstly, you have to get the coals hot. Easy enough, but just how hot has a big impact on timing. I'll offer an example.

When I cook steak indoors I usually cook them on a cast iron skillet, heated on my largest gas ring, for 10 minutes - this usually gets it screaming hot, and I wouldn't have imagined it could get a lot hotter without a larger heat source.

The rib-eye steaks we eat, I usually get them cut fresh, so they're usually of a pretty standard size. I usually cook them for 4 and 6 minutes (4 for me and 6 for Me Julie). Mine is almost always quite rare, whilst Julie's just has a touch of pink. I have this perfected - same every time, or very close.

A few months back, for some reason I can't remember, I left the skillet on for 20 minutes. As it was hotter I only cooked my steak for 2 minutes. Guess what? Hardly any pink left. I'd got the skillet too hot.

A thermapen has limited use in this situation; if it takes you 20 seconds in all from reaching into your pocket to reading the temperature, and then removing the steak (if it's time to do so) that's a sixth of the overall cooking time. That might be the difference between blue and medium.

With a rib, after that, for the indirect heat, the 10-20 minutes will obviously depend on the heat inside the kettle.

So it's easy to say, but not quite so easy to do.

But having said that, yes it's that easy. Food doesn't taste better because it was complicated to cook, nor worse because it was easy to cook.

If you want recipes, beef is beef. There's a quote from that piece from Mosimann I'll dig out when I get home about knowing not to over-elaborate if you don't need to. Knowing what to leave out is a skill in itself.

After that, of course there are some pretty basic 'rubs' (barely even that), and of course you can make your own condiments. I've posted a recipe for chimmichurri elsewhere, but you can make your own mustard or horseradish sauce, or any number of other condiments.

So, why doesn't everyone do it? Have a read of those quotes from Mosimann. The French (for example) don't have as long a tradition as the best British farmers at rearing cattle for great sirloin steaks. The best French chefs still rate British beef as best. The important part here comes in the second half, after the picture in the middle:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17925152

And no, I didn't just Google that.

So, you need good quality beef, hung for an appropriate amount of time, a good, reliable butcher who knows what s/he's doing, and yes a little know-how, practice, and experience in cooking it, as well as perfecting the accompaniments.

Which, I suppose, is why everyone can't/doesn't do it.

Steve W

aris wrote:So how do we cook the ultimate British roast beef on the BBQ?

For the ultimate roast beef on the BBQ try this, marinade the meat in some concentrated beefstock, dash of water, onion & garlic powder mixed with some fresh herbs. Then cook it indirectly on the BBQ adding a handful of hickory chips for a mild smoke until you reach an internal temp' of 115f-120f. Then place the roasting joint directly over the coals for 1 minute per side and this will give you great sear marks and will bring the internal meat temp' to 135-140f which will leave the meat medium rare. Leave to rest for 30-45 minutes and it'll be ready.

Pecker wrote:[.....................
But if I have a single rib .............
Steve W

We call that a steak

Aris
Coals nice and hot, in a traditional 2 zone set up i.e. a pile of really hot coals and one not so hot, maybe a painting of mustard with herbs thyme works well then when the coals are at their hottest get the outside nice and crusty, move the beef away bfrom the direct heat to the medium zone then lid down and check regularly 10 -15 mins depending on the size of the joint. If you want med/rare take it off early as it will continue to cook. Rest the beef tented in foil for at least 15 mins, preferably 20-30 (it will stay hot enough) to allow the juices to settle.
It is fairly easy but the reason people don't do it is that to get a large well hung good quality joint of beef cost the earth, and probably the moon as well. We have 2 large joints a year one at Christmas the other Easter or mid-summer(ish) and there are no leftovers with this.
I'd have some crusty bread to mop up any remaining juices on the plate (sod the gravy )

keith157 wrote:

Pecker wrote:[.....................
But if I have a single rib .............
Steve W

We call that a steak

Aris
Coals nice and hot, in a traditional 2 zone set up i.e. a pile of really hot coals and one not so hot, maybe a painting of mustard with herbs thyme works well then when the coals are at their hottest get the outside nice and crusty, move the beef away bfrom the direct heat to the medium zone then lid down and check regularly 10 -15 mins depending on the size of the joint. If you want med/rare take it off early as it will continue to cook. Rest the beef tented in foil for at least 15 mins, preferably 20-30 (it will stay hot enough) to allow the juices to settle.
It is fairly easy but the reason people don't do it is that to get a large well hung good quality joint of beef cost the earth, and probably the moon as well. We have 2 large joints a year one at Christmas the other Easter or mid-summer(ish) and there are no leftovers with this.
I'd have some crusty bread to mop up any remaining juices on the plate (sod the gravy )

Our local farm shop sells crop (rib) for about £10 per KG, which is what one rib comes in at. That's not too expensive, I feel. At Christmas I often get 2 ribs and cook one medium-rare (for me) and one medium-well (for everyone else), £20 is not bad compared to what you pay for a turkey. And I prefer beef.

Steve W

spit roast beef in croatia

Purely off the top of my head, these dishes say "British" to me

Roast Beef, Sausages and Fish & Chips we have already discussed. But how about whelks, cockles and jellied eels?

Meat pies and puddlings: Whether it is a steak pie, or a steak and kidney pudding, a pasty or a clanger, to my mind this is traditional British grub. In particular, the steamed steak and kidney (or minced steak) pies that are served with parsley liquor and mash - what can be more British than that? Not forgetting the pork pie.

Cottage pie, shepherd's pie, cumberland pie, beef cobbler, lancashire hotpot, beef stew and dumplings,

The great British (sweet) pudding: syrup pudding, spotted dick, jam rolypoly, treacle tart, the list is endless.

Kippers and smoked haddock, and cuisine useing these; in particular kedgeree.

The Full English Breakfast!

Black pudding (of course).

There are far more that I could come up with, but I'd defy anyone to sit down to a plate of one of the above dishes, and not think they are eating a traditional British dish.

How to cook them using barbeque techniques, on the other hand...