How to Make Deli Roast Beef – It’s So Easy

Make your own roast beef for sandwiches – seriously, making this cold cut is as easy is whacking a piece of meat in the oven for a while and then slicing it up later on. Homemade will taste a lot better (like real beef) and when you spot a sale on an already cheap cut of meat like top round or eye of round, you can probably make your own roast beef for 20% of the cost of what you’ll pay at the deli meat counter!

Here’s how you do it:

1. Get a 3 or 4 pound top round or eye of round roast. These roasts, especially the eye of round, are amongst the least desirable of the cuts of beef for most purposes – but because they are so lean, free from chewy bits of gristle or connective tissue and uniformly shaped, they do really well as cuts for making cold-cut roast beef. Because they’re not many people’s favorite; they also tend to be pretty cheap.
2. Preheat your oven to 300
3. Sprinkle salt and freshly ground pepper all over the roast
4. Heat a heavy skillet that’s wide enough to fit the meat in (cast iron is perfect) and heat to medium high. Add in a splash of vegetable oil and sear it on all sides until the entire surface is a mahogany color. Take your time (10 minutes or so) on this step and make sure to sear it all over, as the browning will give a lot of flavor, and it won’t get any browner than you get it during this step by the end of cooking. (If you don’t have a pan big enough for this, you can instead just roast it in the oven at 450 for half an hour before turning the heat down to 300 to finish cooking)
5. Transfer it to a roasting dish and whack it in the oven for between 30 minutes and an hour for rarish meat. The difference in time will depend on the diameter of your roast, how long you seared the meat and the true temperature of your oven. To make sure you get the roast out while it’s still pink and juicy throughout, you will need to use a meat thermometer.
6. After half an hour, insert your instant read meat thermometer into the thickest part of the roast, and if it says 130 – you’re in business; if not, continue to roast until it does, checking every 10 or 15 minutes or so
7. Let the meat cool completely before slicing, and then serve cold, sliced as thinly as you can, for beautiful roast beef sandwiches. The waiting before you slice it step is very very important. If you slice this too soon, all the juices will run out and will be left with dry and boring roast beef. If you let it rest until cool without slicing, your meat will be tasty and juicy!

Enjoy!