Reverse Sear, Reverse Cowgirl, Reverse Stress
How Not to Cook a Turkey - A Sunday Roast themed Thanksgiving
She was big, bold, and beautiful, my first roast, that is. I would even go as far as to say that this is the largest piece of meat that I have attempted to cook thus far. I wish I could tell you I went into this roasting sitch with unbridled enthusiasm, but it was more of a bridled anxiety. But what is to be expected when cooking a very large, rather expensive cut of meat that you are going to serve to a group of salivating gremlins aka your friends and family. It’s got STRESS and ANXIETY written all over it. Don’t fear. I am going to give you the rundown on the reverse sear. It’s not a recipe, it’s a method. Method means you can tweak it, twerk, and reverse it to fit any cut and flavor profile of meat you are looking to achieve.
How not to cook a Turkey, by not cooking a turkey.
I am hosting a Sunday Roast themed Thanksgiving this year, having recently spent two weeks in the UK, this seems fitting, and I am excited to NOT be cooking a turkey. I need a year off. No turkey means the main event for our Sunday Roast feast will be a large hunk of beef. Specifically, a rib roast, maybe prime rib if I can find one. Prime Rib is technically a rib roast, but a rib roast is not necessarily prime rib. We love a niche meat around here.
Menu for a Sunday Roast themed Thanksgiving:
The Main Event: Rib roast
A MUST HAVE: Mashed potatoes (probably with cheese)
A fun veg: Roasted carrots and parsnips
In the name of tradition: Peas
For filler: Salad
What we all come for: Lots of gravy
For mopping up all the gravy: Yorkshire Puddings
Prime rib is cut from a specific section of ribs on a cow (ribs 6-12) and is almost always sold bone-in, also known as a standing rib roast. It’s called prime rib because the cut is supposed to be more tender and more flavorful, aka prime to the other rib cuts. I demand a blind taste test. Two roasts, one oven, let’s go!
Rib roast is the general term for ANY beef that is cut from the rib section of a cow. These can be sold either bone-in or boneless. Fun fact: If you had the desire, you could cut this hunk of beef into ribeye steaks!
Either type of roast will be just fine for our purposes.
Bone in verse boneless
Bone in anything will always have more flavor. If you can find it, then Bone in. IF you can’t find a bone-in roast (I could not from a grocery store), go with boneless. The cook time will be a bit less, and you won’t have to worry about cutting around those pesky bones. Do what you can here. This is not a make it or break it decision.
The method
Searing is when you take a piece of meat and cook it over high heat on both sides, creating a nice crust. Then you would put the piece of meat into an oven to finish cooking, and the internal temperature reaches 125°F or your desired doneness.
That means the reverse sear is the opposite. The piece of meat goes into the oven first and cooks until the internal temperature reaches 125°F or your desired doneness. Just before you serve the meat, you sear it, either on the stove top in a pan, or in a HOT oven, just until the outside is nice and crispy! You have already cooked the meat, so we know for certain that it is done.
The rub
And by rub, I mean the low-down, 411, the tea. You need to plan for this dish. Low and Slow is in the name of this game, and that refers to more than just the cooking time. Take notes so you can set yourself up for success.
The roast needs to be seasoned with salt and pepper and left to sit for at least two hours at room temperature, OR up to 48 hours in the fridge. Do two hours at room temp if you are cooking the same day; if not, then opt for the fridge option. Do NOT cover the meat in the fridge. Leaving it uncovered allows the meat to dry out, and this will get us that nice crusty crust that we all lose sleep over (not just me, right?).
The actual rub
I used a blend of anchovies, parsley, an offensive amount of garlic, and a strong herb of your choice - rosemary is a punchy herb that will definitely live up to the task of BEEF. If you prefer thyme, that is also a great choice. Chop everything up fine, or just throw it all in a food processor and blitz until you have a spreadable green paste. It might be the only time I tell you not to hand-chop something. We are going for the flavor in this rub, not the texture.
Slather on the rub and let it sit at room temperature for an hour or so, and then put it into a preheated 250°F oven. Set a timer, read a book, or watch Monster: The Ed Gein Story to get you excited for your roast. Wow, so sorry that show really haunted me, yet I can’t stop bringing it up any chance I get😬.
Your roast will take anywhere from 2-4 hours, depending on the size. The internal temperature should read 120°F. The temperature of the meat will continue to rise as it sets. Pull your meat at 120°F and relax, YOU HAVE COOKED IT ENOUGH (for medium rare). The beauty of this method is that you have 100% certainty that the roast is cooked well ahead of time. This means no last meat meat anxiety will those gremlins we talked about earlier are lurking near the kitchen, drool coming out of the sides of their mouths. ACK, Halloween is over, what is wrong with me?
Follow your heart in the doneness department. I don’t want to start any fights by suggesting that you MUST eat your beef medium-rare or ELSE…but if I am cooking it for you, those are the rules. I am not offended by someone asking to cook their meat a little longer. There is no way to unhook meat, sooo best to be medium rare for the sake go the group.
You do you😘.
To the class: You're confident that your meat is cooked, right?
Class: Yes, Miss Nicole
Great. You have now until 30 minutes before you plan to serve dinner to take care of any other Thanksgiving-related tasks you are doing. Remember, this is my plan for Thanksgiving; maybe you do it for a Sunday Roast with less pressure, same timeline applies.
Doing the initial cooking on the beef earlier in the day is THE move here. The meat can sit out at room temperature for a few hours and be PERFECTLY FINE. Cover it with foil and stow it out of the way.
Guess what, your oven is FREE as a bird. Get to cooking those casseroles, baking the rolls (or Yorkshire puddings😉), roasting your veg, whatever things need to be done, do ‘em! I will make a schedule for Thanksgiving Day and the day before, so the prep schedule is clear and all items and appliances are accounted for.
For a projected dinner time of 5 pm and guests arriving as early as 4 pm for appetizers, the time you would need to put your roast in is 11 am. Let’s do the math. The roast will be in the oven for 3ish hours—you will pull it from the oven around 2 pm. This gives you 2 hours to use the oven for other things. You will need to crank that oven up around 4 pm so you are ready for the rib roast finale.
I always like to be early rather than rushing, especially when guests have arrived. 30 minutes before you want to eat, put the roast back in the oven. It is now time for the sear part of the reverse sear method. We are brave, we are confident, we are beautiful, and we CAN SEAR THIS ROAST (your new affirmation).
Put that beautiful hunk of beef into the oven and watch as the fat crisps to perfection in the blazing heat, AND because we took the time to dry it out, this should be very satisfying to eat and to watch. Exhibit A: also a decent hamstring stretch.
Put your roast on a cutting board to until you have gathered all your other dishes and they are laid out and ready for people to eat. Carve your meat, you don’t need to do this in front of everyone, cut into thin pieces put on a platter and garnish with salt and herbs if you are feeling fresh. Did we just nail our reverse-seared rib roast or what?!
As much as I preach to practice, practice, practice. This is one you will indeed practice, but because of the size and cost of a piece of meat like this, you will most likely be practicing and then serving it to a crowd. It’s okay. Take a deep breath and know that this is an almost foolproof method of cooking a large cut of meat. I had to say almost because somebody gonna mess it up. But YOU are not. If you really want to, you can practice using a thick cut steak, but I think you will do just fine❤️.
The recipe I referenced for the rub is from Alison Roman. Speaking of Alison Roman, her brand new cookbook is OUT! Go grab one, you won’t regret it😉. I will give you my full rundown on the cookbook as soon as I have cooked from it!
Cheers,
Nicole | Butter Cult
