Perfect Roast Beef

Perfect Eye of Round Roast

Eye of round is a pretty intimidating piece of beef. It’s an extremely lean cut taken from the hindquarters of the cow, which gets a lot of exercise. To be honest, I usually just use the eye of round roast to make jerky (along with london broil, which is also from the same area of the cow) because making steaks and roasts with this part of the cow is usually always a gamble.
The other day I stumbled upon a recipe that seemed both crazy and intriguing; you roast the meat at a high temperature for a while, and then you turn off the oven and leave it in there for 2 1/2 hours. The end result is something like prime rib – a dark, crusty outside with a juicy, pink, tender inside. Honestly, it makes this fairly inexpensive cut of meat taste about 100x better than what you paid for. I may never cook an eye of round roast any other way for the rest of my life!

You’ll Need:
Eye of Round Roast (2-8 lbs. preferred, we used a 3 lb. roast)
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper (coarse-ground preferred)
1/2 tsp dried thyme
4-6 cloves garlic, chopped finely
Mix together your seasonings and set them aside.

Take out your roast, rinse it and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the seasonings all over the roast, and let it sit out on the kitchen counter for 30 minutes. This allows the roast to reach room temperature, plus it lets the seasonings settle onto the roast. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees.
Place the roast in a roasting pan or dutch oven and put it in the oven, fatty side up. Roast at 500 degrees, uncovered, for 7 minutes per pound. Our roast was a little over three pounds, so I cooked it for 25 minutes.
Now comes the part that goes against everything I’ve ever done in the kitchen – turn off the oven completely and leave the roast in there for 2 1/2 hours. Don’t open the oven door at all during this time! Go watch a movie or something.

After 2 1/2 hours, take the roast out and check its internal temp with a thermometer. The temperature should be between 130-150 degrees – if it isn’t put it back in the oven at 325 degrees and check it every 10 minutes. Put the finished roast on a plate and cover it with tin foil, and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.
Carve it into 1/2″ slices and enjoy!
Warning: I’ve been told that this recipe won’t work in gas ovens!