Roast Beef with Yorkshire Puddings

Name: Roast Beef with Yorkshire Puddings
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 4 h 45 min
Total time: 5 h 25 min
Cuisine: United Kingdom
Ingredients: 2 kg (4½ lb) beef roasting joint, boneless rib, sirloin or topside, tied; serves 6–8; 20 g (1 tbsp + ⅓ tsp) fine sea salt, 1% of the meat; 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper; 1 tbsp neutral oil; 2 onions, thickly sliced; Gravy, made from the pan drippings; 140 g (1 cup + 2 tbsp) all-purpose flour; 4 eggs, about 200 g; 200 ml (¾ cup + 1 tbsp) whole milk; 2 g (⅓ tsp) fine sea salt; 4 tbsp beef dripping or neutral oil, for the pan

A rosy, evenly cooked roast from a low oven, finished with a hot blast

Serves: 8
Hands-on: 40 min
Total: 5 h 25 min
Level: Some skill

The centerpiece of a British Sunday lunch. Roasting slowly at a low temperature cooks a large joint evenly pink from edge to edge; a short, very hot blast at the end crisps the outside. The hot oven at the end is also just right for Yorkshire puddings — tall, crisp batter puddings made in the beef fat.

Ingredients

Beef

2 kgbeef roasting joint (4½ lb)boneless rib, sirloin or topside, tied; serves 6–8
20 gfine sea salt (1 tbsp + ⅓ tsp)1% of the meat
2 tspfreshly ground black pepper
1 tbspneutral oil
2onionsthickly sliced
Gravymade from the pan drippings

Yorkshire puddings

140 gall-purpose flour (1 cup + 2 tbsp)
4eggsabout 200 g
200 mlwhole milk (¾ cup + 1 tbsp)
2 gfine sea salt (⅓ tsp)
4 tbspbeef dripping or neutral oilfor the pan

Allergens: gluten, egg, milk, celery, sulphites
Origin: United Kingdom
Season: Autumn, Winter

Method

The day before (or at least 2 hours ahead), season the beef all over with the salt and pepper and refrigerate uncovered on a rack. Take it out 1 hour before cooking. 1 h
Make the Yorkshire batter: whisk the flour, eggs, milk and salt until smooth. Rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes (or overnight in the fridge).
Heat the oven to 120°C (250°F). Put the onions in a roasting pan and set the beef on top, fat side up. Rub with the oil.
Roast until a thermometer in the center reads 50°C (122°F) for medium-rare (it will finish at about 55°C, 131°F), 2–2½ hours for a 2 kg joint. Rare: pull at 45°C (113°F). Medium: 55°C (131°F). Start checking after 1½ hours. 2 h 15 min
Take out the beef, cover loosely with foil and rest for at least 30 minutes, up to 1 hour. Turn the oven up to 230°C (450°F). 30 min
Put 1 tsp dripping into each hole of a 12-hole muffin pan (or 1½ tsp into each hole of an 8-hole Yorkshire pudding pan) and heat in the oven until smoking hot, 8–10 minutes. Pour the batter quickly into the hot fat, filling the holes halfway, and bake without opening the door until tall and deep brown, 18–22 minutes. 30 min
While the puddings bake, return the beef to the oven on a tray for the last 8–10 minutes to crisp and brown the outside. Make the gravy from the drippings in the pan (Gravy). 9 min
Slice the beef thinly across the grain. Serve at once with the puddings, gravy, Roast Potatoes and greens.

Why it works

A low oven heats the joint so gently that the difference in temperature between the outside and the center stays small, giving even pink meat with almost no gray band. Resting before the final blast lets the surface dry, so the short, high-heat finish browns quickly without overcooking inside. Yorkshire puddings rise because the batter, heavy with egg, hits smoking-hot fat and its water turns to steam explosively before the proteins set.

Common mistakes

Opening the oven door during the puddings — they collapse.
Fat not hot enough for the batter. It must smoke and sizzle when the batter goes in.
Carving without resting; most of the juice ends up on the board.

Variations

Horseradish cream: Mix 150 ml crème fraîche with 2 tbsp freshly grated horseradish, a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of salt.
Bone-in rib roast: A 3-bone rib (about 3 kg) takes 3–3½ hours at 120°C (250°F). Season with 30 g salt.