Hi wise ones
I’m hosting a family dinner this weekend and have a big piece of scotch fillet in the freezer I will use.
Planning to cook Lorraine Jacob’s five-spice beef sirloin with wasabi and herb gravy, I’ve made it several times before and it’s so good.
My question is … the behemoth of a piece of meat is 3.8kg. We like it medium rare. Should I cut it in half or leave it whole?
Thinking about 25 min per 500g as per Edmonds book. That will make the ends overdone before the centre is cooked, yes?
My brother has a fancy blue tooth digital thermometer so I’ll get him to help.
Advice welcomed

Leave it whole! So that would be 2 and a half hours approximately? Sounds too long. Lucky you having a BIG piece of beef and a family occasion to enjoy it. AND a brother with fancy blue tooth thermometer! Trust it. Consider reverse searing. It has changed my way of cooking portion size (thick) steaks and I'm dying to have a large piece to try. It's magic!

Yeah that’s what I worked out, sounds too long.

The piece cost $75 which is a lot of money, I’m very fortunate that we can afford an occasional treat like this, but it will feed at least 12 with leftovers ( yum, steak sandwiches). New World had it on special before Xmas.
Reverse sear…. So sear after the bulk of cooking time? Rest before or after searing?

I don't have much recent experience of cooking big splendid pieces of beef like that (alas) but my two pennyworth of advice is to remember that resting time is crucial. For a piece that size you should rest it on a warm plate for at least 20 minutes, and 45 minutes would be better.

Better to slightly undercook because the resting will even out the temperature throughout.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/09/2023 08:11AM by TPANDAV.

Hubby got one of those thermometers for Christmas, they are really very good, and I use the reverse sear technique a lot, it's fantastic! Serious Eats has a good article explaining it here... [www.seriouseats.com]

Thanks Griz, that's absolutely fascinating. I don't often have the luck to be able to buy a truly thick steak, but next time I'm in Cambridge I will visit Wholly Cow and lash out on one of their enormous tomahawk steaks.

Thank you, Griz! And Fionah I hope your piece of beef was perfect whether it was reverse seared or not. Sorry, I didn't see this earlier but Griz's info is infinitely more detailed and informative than I would have managed.