There’s nothing quite like a perfectly cooked and seasoned roast beef dinner, one that is tender, juicy, and a little pink in the middle. Here are our top tips for cooking the perfect roast beef:

1. Choose the Cut

The best joints for roast beef are rib, sirloin, or fillet. Rib is usually cooked on the bone, which is a more flavorsome piece of meat. Beef darker in colour usually indicates that it is mature and has been hung well. A thick layer of fat adds flavour, and keeps the joint moist while cooking. A 5.5lb rib with bone in will feed 6 people, 3.5lb boned will feed 6.

2. How to Cook

Always allow the meat to get up to room temperature before cooking. Drizzle it with a little olive oil and season with ground black pepper, rubbing it over the meat with your hands. Stand the beef joint in a roasting tin, and cook for the following times depending on how rare you like beef.

Sear the beef in a very hot oven – 425°F for the first 20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 375°F for the remaining cooking time. The most accurate way to judge cooking time is to use a meat thermometer, pushed in to the thickest part of the beef. For rare beef, remove the joint from the oven when the thermometer shows 130 degrees. For medium, remove at 140 degrees, and for well-done 155 degrees. If you don’t have a meat thermometer, use the following guide:

• For rare beef cook for 11 minutes on the reduced heat for every pound
• For medium beef cook for 14 minutes on the reduced heat for every pound
• For well-done beef cook for 18 minutes on the reduced heat for every pound

3. Don’t Forget to Rest

An important part of cooking any meat is once it is removed from the oven the meat must rest. Wrap the meat loosely in aluminum foil and put to one side. The fibres in meat tighten up during cooking, and resting allows the fibres to relax, release some of the meat juices, and results in a soft tender piece of meat. Resting for 20 minutes should be long enough but up to an hour is even better. The joint is then ready to carve.