5 Steps to a Great Roast | Cook's Illustrated (2024)

FAQs

What are the steps in the basic roasting procedure? ›

Appearance: Beef roasts should be a deep red color, but not bright red (unless it was very recently cut). Beef that appears grayish brown is older and may have been sitting on the shelf too long. There should be bright, white marbling of fat throughout the meat.

Pat-dry the meat with kitchen towels before roasting.

To get that crispy caramelized crust, remove excess moisture from the surface of your roast. It would prevent the oven or grill from steaming up, which would cause soggy crust and dry meat.

Roasting is a process of metallurgy where ore is converted into its oxide by heating it below its melting point in the presence of excess air. While calcination is mostly used in the oxidation of carbonates, roasting is a method that is used for converting sulphide ores.

The roasting process

In the traditional roasting method, in a large rotating drum, the coffee beans are treated to a heat source which rises gradually to a temperature ranging between 200 and 230°C for about 12 to 15 (in some cases 20) minutes.

Rub with oil, salt and herbs. Ideally brown the meat in a pan first or roast on a high heat for the first 20 minutes. Place the meat on top of some halved red onions so it is not sitting on the bottom of the pan. Baste half way through the cooking and let it rest for at least 20 minutes before carving.

Butter is widely used for enhancing flavor when searing roasts, as it can tenderize the meat and add saturated fat (which makes for a very delicious cut of meat).

Tenderloin. The most tender roast of all—it's under the spine— with almost no fat or flavor. It's tapered in shape, the middle being the "center cut." The labor involved and waste produced in trimming and tying a tenderloin drives up the price. Top sirloin roast.

Steaks, burgers, and chops that are 1 inch or more in thickness are best cooked using a two-stage cooking method. Sear first over direct heat, then finish over indirect heat. Be sure to deduct the searing time from the total estimated cooking time to determine the finishing time.

There are a few reasons why this might be helpful: the dryness of flour mitigates the natural moisture of the meat, helping the Maillard Reaction happen properly. In addition, flour reacts faster to heat than raw meat, speeding up the browning process.

Should I brown my roast before putting it in the crockpot? ›

1. Browning Is Better. Slow cooker recipes don't always instruct you to brown meat before adding it to the pot, but there are some advantages to doing so. If you sear meat to a crusty brown with a little oil in a hot skillet, the meat develops more complex flavors and improves the dish.

Roasting is a slow-cooking process, using indirect, diffused heat to cook its ingredients. It is a dry-heat cooking method where hot air surrounds the food and cooks it evenly on all sides at a temperature of at least 300 °F (or 150 °C). The heat can also be derived from an open flame, an oven, or another heat source.

Roasting involves cooking food in an uncovered pan in the oven. It is a dry cooking technique, as opposed to wet techniques like braising, stewing, or steaming. Dry, hot air surrounds the food, cooking it evenly on all sides. Depending on the food you're preparing, you can roast at low, moderate, or high temperatures.

Basic roasting rules

Bring meat to room temperature before cooking; remove it from the fridge about 20 minutes before you plan to cook it. Use a heavy-duty roasting dish, large enough to allow your roast to become evenly cooked and browned. Use a roasting rack in the baking dish.

Roasting causes chemical changes to take place as the beans are rapidly brought to very high temperatures. When they reach the peak of perfection, they are quickly cooled to stop the process. Roasted beans smell like coffee, and weigh less because the moisture has been roasted out.