Roasting Meat

Roasting meat is just about the most expensive way you can think of to cook it, so it makes sense to do it properly and with care.

By that I mean, keep within temperature guidelines and cooking times. The biggest enemies of roast meat are too high an oven temperature and too long a cooking time. One destroys moisture and nutrients, the other creates a tough and flavorless finish. Put both together and you would be better off buying ready cooked slices.

Time and again I come across roast meat recipes that tell the home cook to cook their meat at a high temperature (200°C/400°F) for the first 20-25 minutes and then lower the temperature for the rest of the cooking time. This is not a good practice for a number of reasons.

In the first place it does not, as many cooks claim, 'seal' the meat. The reasoning behind the high temperatures is that they force fat to expand throughout the meat, creating flavor, and up to a point this is true. Unfortunately, when you turn the oven down the superheated fat remains at its current temperature for some time afterwards. Expanded, it forces apart the meat proteins and allows moisture to escape over a wide area.

The external fat also begins to burn, browning the meat, adding flavor and creating carcinogens. The longer the high temperature is maintained, the greater the level of carcinogenic material is likely to be. Even if you ignore the potential health risk, it must be obvious that this layer of meat has little or no nutritional value, so why create it in the first place?

Through trial and error I have found that the best results from roasting are obtained from temperatures between 160°C/325°F and 180°C/350°F.

Lamb and chicken will cook best at the lower of these temperatures. Reserve the high end for pork and beef. Cook all those meats for 30 minutes per 500g (1lb). That is the only timing you need to remember but you must get it exact. If there is an extra 100g outstanding calculate the cooking time for it. It will be the 100g closest to the centre of the meat and needs to be cooked, particularly in the case of chicken and pork.

Meat cooked in this way does not require basting, nor should it be left sitting in a roasting pan where the bottom of it will stew in its own juices. Instead, put the joint on a rack on top of the roasting tin. If you don't have a rack, put it directly on the rungs of the oven and put the pan on the rung underneath to catch any drips.

Add about 2,5cm (1 inch) of water or water and wine mixed to the pan. This will do two things; it will help to keep the meat moist and it will provide a stock for your gravy. You can further help it to do this by adding flavoring such as raw garlic and a sprig of rosemary (in the case of lamb) or sliced apples for a pork and apples sauce.

Once the cooking time is finished, take the meat out of the oven and leave it to stand, covered in kitchen foil, for at least 10 minutes before carving. During this time it will continue to cook towards the centre, but it will also relax, allowing heat-tortured proteins and liquids to intermingle once again, producing a tender and succulent result.