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15.023 Roast Blade #2

katch4246

January 28

Cycle 15 - Item 23

28 (Sun) January 2024

Roast Blade #2

3.5

by me

at home

-Changgok, Sujeong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-

with the Family

My second attempt at roast beef (see most recently 15.016 Roast Blade), with a few variations.

With the added weight, and lesser effort, the butcher charged only 2,500 won per 100 grams. At 2.62 kg, the price was 65,000.

First, I purchased the entire blade as is, without having the butcher trim the fat cap. I wanted to keep the fat cap on, hoping it would render during the roast and make the meat more juicy and flavorful.

After 24 hours, surprisingly very little moisture in the pan.

Second, I rubbed the meat with salt and pepper and left it in the fridge overnight, allowing the seasoning to penetrate deeper into the meat, and also drying out the surface to facilitate a better crust.

Third, I attempted a reverse sear, which cooks the meat on lower temperature for longer time, and sears the crust at the end, to ensure even cooking throughout the entire cut. The sear-first method creates a brown ring on the outer perimeter, leaving only the middle pink.

It didn't work as planned. Recalling my note from last time, the meat was taken out of the fridge at noon and left on the counter to bring the starting internal temperature as close to room temperature as possible; by 4pm, the thermometer indicated 12 degrees. The meat was placed in the oven at 120 degrees. I was aiming for a final internal temperature of 57 degrees, right on the border between medium rare and medium; last time, carryover cooking raised the internal temperature an additional 6 degrees while resting, so 51 degrees was my target this time. Achieving 51 degrees after 2.5 hours, I took out the roast and let it rest. But after 30 minutes, the internal temperature only went up to 52 degrees - I'm assuming that the low heat in the oven was insufficient to generate much carryover cooking. So, I put the meat back into the oven at 180 degrees for another 30 minutes until the internal temperature hit 55 degrees (like last time), took it out to rest - that short burst of high heat did generate carryover cooking - resulting in a final internal temperature of 60 degrees (almost like last time).

The top layer of the fat cap got scorched and had to be scraped off.

In any case, the roast turned out great. A tad overcooked again, but much more tender, due partly to the slow/low cooking, partly to the rendered fat. Much tastier meat, even without gravy. I look forward to the next one.