Beef Basting Fat Before or During Cooking

We show you how to roast topside beef joint to perfection. Plenty of flavours are added during cooking with beef stock used to create a delicious beef gravy to serve with your slices of tender roast beef and all the sides.

Topside beef sliced on a wooden chopping board served parsnips, broccoli, Yorkshire puddings and horseradish sauce

Cooking time calculations and tips given for rare, medium and well done, for different size beef joints.

Makes great tender beef slices to serve for Sunday roast dinner or an alternative to turkey for Christmas.

How to roast topside beef joint

The best way to cook topside beef is by roasting it in the oven. See the quick slideshow below for an example of how to roast

Jump straight to the recipe card if you looking to are roast a 1.2kg topside beef joint medium-rare

Or continue reading so you can see calculations for other sizes or want it cooked rare or well done?

What is topside beef?

Topside beef is a fairly cheap joint that works well for roasting. Fairly lean with some fat left on the top to help keep it moist during cooking.

Your topside joint may be supplied with an extra layer of basting fat which helps keep it more tender. The one we have used in this blog post didn't. It is hit and miss!

Preparing beef roasting joint

It's best to remove the roasting joint from the fridge and keep it at room temperature for about an hour before cooking it. This prevents uneven cooking and aids juicer roast beef

To prevent too much heat coming from the bottom of the roasting tin, we use onions and carrots which act as a trivet to sit the beef on top. We also add garlic and thyme and finally water.

Chopped onion, carrot, garlic cloves and fresh thyme in a black baking tray

The vegetables and herbs are not wasted, they add flavour to the water which also gathers the beef juices during cooking.

This will later be used for re-basting the topside roasting joint halfway through cooking and then later used as the base for a homemade beef gravy.

Do you cook a beef joint with netting on?

If your beef roasting joint has a netting or string around it this should be kept on during cooking, to keep the joint in shape helping to cook evenly.

Fat side up or down?

The thin layer of fat should be facing up to allow the fat to melt into the joint.

For extra flavour and colour, we like to make a paste to rub over the beef. This simple paste is made out of olive oil mixed together with a stock cube.

Crumbling beef stock by hand into a white bowl of olive oil

Rub this all over the topside beef. It's easiest to use your hands to rub it in. Then finally add a good grind of pepper.

Rubbing the beef stock and olive oil over the beef joint by hand which is sitting on chopped carrots, onions, garlic cloves and thyme in a black baking tray

Should I cover roast beef during cooking?

Cook topside beef covered with foil, this helps prevent the outside from cooking quicker than the inside and locks in the moisture in a similar way that pot roasting does during slow cooking.

Placing a sheet of aluminium foil over the top of the topside beef joint by hand

Cooking time for roast topside beef?

Time will differ depending on two factors, the weight of the joint you are cooking and how you like it cooked rare, medium or well done.

Preheat the oven temperature to 160°C Fan / 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4 before roasting.

I have also included the roasting time for a few common sized beef joints, to help you work it out.

Topside Roasting Joint	Rare Very pink and bloody	Medium - Rare Blushing pink as seen on blog.	Medium - Well Only very slightly pink	Well - Done Brown, no pinkness at all!
Oven temperature 160°C Fan 180°C 350°F Gas Mark 4	Remove foil for final 10 minutes	Remove foil for final 10 minutes	Remove foil for final 15 minutes	Remove foil for final 20 minutes
800 g	34 minutes	42 minutes	55 minutes	1 hour 8 minutes
1 kg	40 minutes	50 minutes	1 hour 5 minutes	1 hour 20 minutes
1.2 kg	46 minutes	58 minutes	1 hour 15 minutes	1 hour 32 minutes
1.5 kg	55 minutes	1 hour 10 minutes	1 hour 30 minutes	1 hour 50 minutes
2 kg	1 hour 10 minutes	1 hour 30 minutes	1 hour 55 minutes	2 hour 20 minutes

Is your size joint not shown? Use the below chart to work out the cooking time for roasting a topside beef joint, multiply the weight of your joint by cooking time for your desired doneness.

Degree of Doneness Cooking time Oven set to 160°C Fan / 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4	Multiply below time for each 100g of beef.	+ additional time to brown outside without foil
Rare	3 minutes	10 minutes
Medium - Rare	4 minutes	10 minutes
Medium - Well	5 minutes	15 minutes
Well Done	6 minutes	20 minutes

Basting

Halfway through cooking give the beef a quick basting using the liquid from the bottom of the tray.

Browning

Take the foil off for the final 10-25 minutes (depending on doneness), give another quick baste and allow the topside beef joint to brown.

Resting Beef

For best results once cooked, remove the netting and rest the beef after removing from the oven, for at least 30 minutes covered loosely with foil.

Cutting away the netting of the beef joint with scissors by hand

Wrapping the beef joint up with aluminium foil by hands

The remaining heat will finish cooking whilst allowing the juices to cool and redistribute through the topside beef joint. Leading to juicy tender slices of roast beef.

One of the biggest reasons for dry tough slices of beef is from carving too early.

When carved to early, the juice flows out, so before carving allow the beef to rest. I normally cook my roast dinner side dishes during this resting time. So it has about 50 minutes to rest before carving and is still warm.

Carving

Topside beef is so easy to carve, with no bones and not much fat, it can be carved into thick or thin slices easily with a large sharp knife.

The joint seen in these pictures is 1.5kg Topside beef from Tesco's, we cooked it for 1 hour 15 minutes for a medium-rare result.

How to make gravy from beef juices

With the beef removed you now have a delicious stock created from the water, beef juices, vegetables, garlic and herbs.

Pour the cooking juices through a sieve into a saucepan. You can skim off some fat from the top if wanted.

Pouring the meat stock from a baking tray into a sieve which is on top of a silver pot

Pouring cornflour mix into the gravy which is cooking in a silver pot and be stirred with a black whisk

To thicken the beef stock, mix cornflour and water together before whisking into the liquid. Next, crumble in a beef stock cube and bring to the boil.

Crumbling beef stock into the gravy by hand which is cooking in a silver pot

Pouring drops of browning into the gravy

Add browning to the gravy to give it a richer deeper colour. This is optional and the gravy will taste fine without it!

Once boiling, it will still look runny, simply turn heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally until it has thickened.

You may need to add more cornstarch depending on how thick you like it?

Whisking the gravy by hand with a black whisk

For extra richness, you can add 100ml of Red wine to the gravy too!

What to serve with Roast Topside Beef

When serving beef for your Sunday roast dinner you should also make our Yorkshire puddings, honey roast parsnips and roast potatoes, broccoli, carrots and mustard or horseradish sauce.

Roast topside beef sliced on a wooden chopping board served parsnips, Roast potatoes, broccoli,gravy, Yorkshire puddings

Roast topside beef makes a Christmas alternative to turkey, serve with our red cabbage and roasted brussels sprouts, carrots and parsnips.

Storage

Leftover beef can be stored safely in the fridge in an airtight container, foil or cling film for up to 3 days.

Slices of leftover beef are perfect for adding in sandwiches or used for a cold meat platter the next day

Reheating

For best results when reheating beef, I suggest slicing first and heating for long enough to heat through.

When reheating in the microwave the best way is to reheat the beef slices in gravy, to keep the slices moist. Try not to overheat them as it will dry the meat out.

A joint of topside beef sliced on a wooden chopping board served parsnips, broccoli, Yorkshire puddings and horseradish sauce

Roast Topside Beef Joint

We show you how to roast topside beef joint to perfection.

Plenty of flavours are added during cooking with beef stock which is then used to create a delicious beef gravy to serve with your slices of tender roast beef and all the sides.

Cooking time calculations for rare, medium and well done, for different size beef joints are given in the blog post.

Rate this Recipe

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 1 hr 10 mins

Resting time 30 mins

Total Time 1 hr 50 mins

Course Dinner, Roast Dinner

Cuisine English

Servings 4 People

Calories 814 kcal

1 large Onion Halved
1 Large Carrot Chopped into 3
4 cloves Garlic
4 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
2 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Stock cube Oxo or Knorr
1.5 kg Topside Beef
500 ml Water

Gravy

Juices from the roasting tray.
3 tablespoon Cornflour
3 tablespoon Water
1 Stock cube Oxo or Knorr
6 drops Browning (optional)

How to roast 1.5 kg Topside Beef medium-rare

Remove beef from the fridge 1 hour before roasting.

After 1 hour remove the packaging, if it has netting or string this should be kept on during cooking.

Pat the beef dry with a few pieces of kitchen roll.

Preheat oven to 160°C Fan / 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4

1.5 kg Topside Beef
Add vegetables and herbs to the roasting tray

1 large Onion, 1 Large Carrot, 4 cloves Garlic, 4 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
Crumble the stock cube into the oil and stir into a paste

1 Stock cube, 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
Pour the stock paste over the beef joint.
Use your hands to rub the stock and oil all over the roasting joint. Top, bottom and sides.

Place beef with fat side up on top of the vegetables. So it is not touching the base of the roasting tin.

Add some black pepper on top.

1.5 kg Topside Beef
Add 500ml of cold water to the roasting tin- Do not pour over the beef.

500 ml Water
Cover the whole tray with kitchen foil.

Cook in the preheated oven at 160°C Fan / 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4

For 1 hour 10 minutes.

The cooking time stated here is for 1.5 kg cooked medium-rare.

See blog post for smaller or larger beef joint cooking times or for rare, medium or well-done roasting time.
Baste the joint with the juices from the tray halfway through cooking time.

Juices from the roasting tray.
Remove foil baste again and roast uncovered for the final 10 minutes.

(Times may differ depending on how well you want your beef done?)

Juices from the roasting tray.
Remove beef from the tray, cut away any netting or string.
Wrap beef loosely with foil. It is important to allow the beef to rest for at least 30 minutes or longer.
Whilst resting, cook all the other side dishes and gravy.

Making gravy from beef cooking juices

Pour the liquid from the baking tray through a sieve into a saucepan.

Juices from the roasting tray.
Mix cornflour and water together, then whisk the liquid into the saucepan.

3 tablespoon Cornflour, 3 tablespoon Water
Crumble in a stock cube

1 Stock cube
Optional- Add some browning for a richer colour.

6 drops Browning (optional)
Bring to the boil whilst whisking turn heat down to simmer until it thickens.

Calories: 814 kcal Carbohydrates: 12 g Protein: 103 g Fat: 39 g Saturated Fat: 15 g Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g Monounsaturated Fat: 5 g Cholesterol: 1 mg Sodium: 503 mg Potassium: 139 mg Fiber: 1 g Sugar: 3 g Vitamin A: 3056 IU Vitamin C: 6 mg Calcium: 30 mg Iron: 1 mg

Keyword Christmas Dinner Alternative, How to roast beef, Roast Beef, Roast Beef Cooking Times, Roast Beef Dinner, Roast Beef with Gravy, sunday roast, Topside Joint

Please mention @flawlessfooduk or tag #flawlessfooduk!

Hope you have found everything you need to know about roasting a topside of beef. Leave us a comment below if there are any questions or just to let us know how delicious and tender the beef came out.

Roast beef dinner served on a black plate with gravy poured over the top

Other Roast Dinner Recipes

Take a look at other roast dinner recipes you might like, such as our Boneless Rolled Rib of Beef, Slow Roast Lamb Leg or Lamb Shoulder. We also have recipes for Roast Gammon or a Small Roast Turkey, it's not just for Christmas you know!

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Source: https://flawlessfood.co.uk/roast-topside-beef-joint/