Since I did the reverse seared ribeye steak I wondered whether the same principle could be applied to a larger joint of meat. After some social media engagement the answer was a resounding 'yes'! However, when it came to try and find some rough and ready measures of how hot for how long for various joints of meat I have to say there wasn't an awful lot out there. There was more on reverse seared steaks than joints. I managed to get enough of an idea that it was going to be a 'day cook' rather than an overnighter. So, after seeing my trusty butcher (Weyhill Farm Shop, now the only butcher in Andover since Turners closed down a week or two ago) I prepared a 1.8kg topside of beef for reverse searing.
As an experiment I cut a fist sized piece of meat off the joint and rubbed this with Oakridge Black Ops Brisket rub, the larger piece I left untouched (extra virgin?!!), just the way my in-laws like it. I put them in the Weber kettle once it had got to temperature which I managed to keep about 200-240F (I'm still a bit rubbish at temperature control I feel). The smaller piece (which I didn't weigh, but was fist sized) took about an hour to get to 125F, at which point I took it off to rest so I had another 5-10F to play with later when I seared it to medium-rare (130-135F). The larger piece took a good three hours to get to 130F, by which point the roasties and Yorkies (not in the Weber) were ready, so i took the joint off and rested it for as long as it took me to use the chimney starter to light a fresh batch of coals for the sear.
This was truly one of the most delicious joints of meat I have ever cooked and my 'developmental points' are only for want of making a good thing better. Everyone around the table also agreed. The rubbed piece was not really 'Sunday Roast' material but all agreed it was amazing barbecue fayre.
