What Should You Know About the Perfect Roast Beef?

On the one hand, roast beef refers to a specific piece of beef meat. On the other hand, however, also a dish that is prepared from this meat. The roast beef is a cut of the hindquarter of the beef and belongs to the loin muscle tissue. A distinction is also made between the high and the flat roast beef. The high piece (entrecote) has a higher fat content than the flat piece, but both are considered to be tasty and tender parts of the beef alongside the fillet.

Roast beef can be eaten both warm and cold, as described in our Herb Crusted Roast Beef recipe. It is usually fried in one piece so that it remains pink in the middle. The low-temperature process is usually used to prepare the high-quality piece of meat in this way. The meat cooks for several hours at low temperatures between 80 and 90 degrees Celsius. It remains very tender, juicy and aromatic. Depending on the tradition and recipe, the meat is then served warm with green beans. The cold, thinly cut roast beef slices are particularly common in roast beef sandwiches with lettuce, gherkins, tartar sauce and horseradish or mayonnaise and mustard.

In addition, roast beef can also be prepared in one piece. The term roast beef is common for this, but it can also be used synonymously for the piece of meat. The roast beef is the main component of many regional specialties. The Swabian onion roast beef, for example, is garnished with roasted onions and served with gravy and spaetzle or Schupfnudeln. Our onion roast beef recipe tells you how to prepare the Swabian original at home. The Italian roast beef is braised with chopped anchovies and is accompanied by baked macaroni. In the Russian variant, the meat is fried, given a thin layer of mustard, and served with grated horseradish.

Steaks can also be cut out of the roast beef, such as the T-bone steak, which has a fillet part and a piece of bone. Entrecôte, rump steak, porterhouse, club, and sirloin steaks also come from this fine piece of meat.