A few tips to keep your less expensive cut beef tender and juicy

If I could cook my Chuck Beef Roast very tender, should Sirloin or any other better cut beef receive excellent results as well? Cook's Illustrated considers Sirloin Top Butt/Tip Roast to be the poor man's Prime Rib. Slow roasting is how companies like Boar's Head and Thumann's prepare their deli meats ....usually for 8-10 hours @215-225*. Depending on the shape of your (2lb) roast, I would suggest checking the temperature at around two hours for your desired doneness.


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In a sense, I am like many others, trying to find new ways to cook inexpensive cuts of meat and have them come out tender...the problem is I like my meat medium-rare, so traditionally it's difficult to do so with cheaper cuts......no longer, so I have found out.

In the last couple of years, I have been slow roasting my meats....beef, pork and turkey, at low temperatures between 225-275*. A few years back I read an article in cooks Illustrated that tested different kinds of roasts cooked at varying degrees of temperature from 225-500*...It was determined that 225* was the best for moist and tender roast.....my experimentation has confirmed this to be true and now it is my preferred method for roasting meats...especially for Prime Rib Roasts. I have also had excellent results with the following beef cuts as well:

Hanger Steak

Tri-Tip, Flap, or Newport roast
Chuck Roast , Blade/Underblade
Top Butt Sirloin

I usually purchase my meats in wholesale packaging....but when there is a sale at the store, I request the in-store butchers to cut my roasts a minimum of two inches, but I prefer 2.5-3.0 inches thick.

I marinade is simple soy sauce, fresh cracked pepper, garlic and oil for at least 12 hours, 24 hours for better results.......Remove from the refrigerator and let sit close to room temperature.....using a heavy duty foil to wrap it tightly and placing it in a shallow pan in the oven or placing on a wire rack and cookie sheet pan....roast @ 225* for three hours, not opening the door once. I brown on the broil setting at the end of the roasting period. A perfect medium-rare, tender with excellent beefy flavor......this is for the larger, thicker cut. I would suggest 2 hours roasting time for smaller, thinner cuts.

I am now a fan of the cheaper cuts.....just not in pot roasts or crock pot cooking.