Mastering Roast Beef: A Beginner’s Guide

March 27, 2025

Puddledub's simple steps to creating the perfect rib roast.

Cooking a roast can be intimidating. Whether it’s worrying about not having enough time, undercooking it or overcooking it until it’s too dry. This is why we wanted to share a few, very simple tips with you to make it seem less daunting. All you need is a couple of ingredients & an oven!

What you’ll need:

Puddledub’s Scotch assured Prime Rib Roast (whatever size you like, the instructions cater for all sizes)
About 1-2 tbsp of plain flour depending on how big the fat surface is (further instructions below)
Dry mustard/mustard powder (we recommend Colman’s). You can also just use normal mustard but we recommend using Dijon rather than multigrain (see photo below).

Instructions:

Remove meat from fridge 2-3 hours before cooking to allow it to come to room temperature.
Dust the fat-surface of the meat with a mixture of flour and mustard. Sprinkle with fresh pepper (but no salt as this encourages the juices to escape).

Begin by giving putting the meat in the oven for 20 minutes at gas mark 9/475°F/245°C. Then lower the heat to gas mark 5/375°F/190°C and cook for 15 minutes per pound/450g. This will give a rare finish. Cook for an additional 15 minutes for medium rare and 30 minutes for well done. We personally think our grass-fed rib roast tastes best when cooked medium-rare.
We recommend basting the meat during the cooking process. This involves spooning the pan juices over the meat from time to time.
Once out of the oven, leave the meat to rest for about 30 minutes before carving. Don’t worry about it getting cold, it will hold its heat for this time. (plus this will give you a chance to focus on the potatoes and the yorkshire puddings!)
During the rest process, as the meat relaxes, some of the juices will exude onto the plate. These should be added to the gravy.
Finally, carving is only made difficult when the knife is blunt. So make sure to sharpen your knife ahead of time!