High-Temperature Roast Beef

I've never been very good at cooking beef.

Roasts, steaks - I somehow always manage to overcook them.  Pot roast and stew, I'm good - those are allowed to be all the way done. But steaks and roasts? They're supposed to have color and flavor.  And for some reason, I've always had trouble doing them just right.

But eye round roasts were on sale last week and I really wanted to try again.  And I found a recipe online that seemed both easy and crazy enough to try.

It starts off normally enough with a spice rub. I chose (from right to left) thyme, ground black pepper, garlic powder and kosher salt.

Mix all of that together and rub it all over the roast.

And then you cook. But it's not your standard "roast at 325/350 for xx minutes per pound." Oh no. You start in a hot oven. Very hot. Between 475 and 500 degrees hot. Seven minutes per pound at that temperature. I had a 2.1 pound roast. I did 15 minutes.

The recipe then tells you to turn the oven off and don't touch anything (don't even open the door a crack to peek!) for two and a half hours.

This worried me a little.

First, that's a long time. And my roast wasn't all that big. And would the oven hold any heat by the end of that time? And, my biggest issue... I pick little miss up from school at 3:30 and we eat dinner at 6:00. There just wasn't time.

Luckily, one of the comments to the recipe said that for worry-warts like me, instead of turning the oven off completely, you can lower the temperature to a low 200 degrees (again, not opening the door at all) and continue roasting the meat for 20 more minutes per pound.  I did 45 minutes.

And when I finally opened the oven, this is what greeted me.

Not sure if you can tell (dinnertime lighting isn't the best for photographing food...), but it had a nice dark crust on it, but was still plenty juicy. I tented it with foil and let it rest for 15 minutes.

And then we cut.

Well would you look at that.

That's pink.

I didn't kill it.

And it tasted outstanding.  All four of us (two adults and two children!) love it. Asked for seconds. And gobbled it all up.

(with the obligatory gravy, mushrooms, baked potatoes and broccoli!)

I'm definitely going to try this again. And I'm going to  be brave and try the oven-off method, too.


High-Tepmerature Eye of Round Roast
(from allrecipes)

Eye of round roast
salt, pepper and spices to taste

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Season roast with spices of your choice. I combined mine to make a rub, but do what you feel comfortable with. Place the seasoned roast in a roasting pan. Do not cover. Do not add any liquid.
Once the oven is fully preheated, place the roast in the oven. Roast for seven (7) minutes per pound.
After the seven minutes per pound, turn the oven off completely, do not open the oven door, and allow the roast to continue cooking for two and a half hours.
Alternatively, if time does not permit for that or if you are concerned about letting it sit for that long, after the seven minutes per pound, reduce the temperature to 200 degrees (again, without opening the oven door) and low-roast the beef for an additional twenty (20) minutes per pound.
After the two and a half hours or second, low roast, remove the beef fromthe oven and allow it to rest for 10-20 minutes before cutting.

Enjoy!