"Isaac Wingfield" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> "pavane" > wrote:
>
> > "Isaac Wingfield" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > In article >,
> > > "Dave" > wrote:
> > >
> > > > A friend recommended cooking a roast by placing it in the oven at
500
> > > > degrees for 10 minutes per pound and then turning off the oven and
> > letting
> > > > the roast stay in the oven for four hours. She says it comes out
> > perfect
> > > > every time. Anybody tried this approach? What were the results?
> > >
> > > Can't possibly work in all ovens for all likely sizes and shapes of
> > > roasts.
> > >
> > > If you don't do roasts every day, day after day, in the same oven --
as
> > > a professional chef does -- then use a meat thermometer.
> > >
> >
> > It comes pretty close to doing just that...I have used that recipe since
> > the late 70's, in probably 12 different home ovens (moved a lot) and
> > as long as you use a room temp-ish standing rib roast it does indeed
> > work. And as the recipe requires the oven to be closed throughout the
> > cooking process you really can't use a meat thermometer, at least the
> > ones that were available back when the recipe was devised. And don't
> > forget that the timing should be 5 min per pound and a 2 hour rest, not
> > 4 hours which would cool the roast far too much for any food safety.
>
> I don't doubt that the roast woud always get cooked; I just don't think
> that method would give as much control over the product as I like to
> have -- plus or minus not more than a couple or three degrees F, let's
> say.
>
> I like to cook beef roasts not beyond medium-rare; if it's not very
> pink, I'm not interested in serving it. I try to get my Christmas beef
> tenderloin to the table at 128-130 F internal, for example. I don't
> think the "set it and forget it" method would give anywhere close to the
> control I need for that.
>

I agree on need for control, that was Julia Child's reason for rejecting
this method, as I recall. But it has worked for me, so what can I say?
I think everyone should try it once, though. Just for the beef industry
and to satisfy a deep need to do things differently.

pavane