Thanks Chris – helpful info!

if you want rare take out when reach 36 C
if you want medium rare 40-42 C , for medium you take it out when is 48 C, if you serve straight away 30 min resting will be enough , if cold put it straight from the oven to the fridge or even freezer for couple of minute as you want to stop uncontrolled cooking time ,
I serve it next day in pub I work in every Sunday
it’s more for UK temperatures of cooking, difrent temperature you find in France and USA

Hi Dave, Thanks for your comment – I share your frustration at the enormous variation in times and temperatures and I hope I can clear things up for you.

I think the key thing to remember is the effect of “carry over cooking” which means that the meat will continue to cook while resting, hence the lower temperatures given for removing your meat from the oven. I always aim to serve my meat at 55C which is medium rare, but if you take it out of the oven at this temperature and rest it for 10-15 minutes (which is advisable), the residual heat in the meat will push the end result to medium-well done when you come to carve it.

The effect of carry over cooking for beef that you want to serve cold is much greater, which is why you remove it from the oven at a much lower temperature. For cold roast beef (boneless topside/sirloin/fillet) you want to get the meat out when it hits 40-42C at which point it will feel like it isn’t cooked, but by the time it has cooled completely and been refrigerated, it will be perfectly medium-rare (if it has thinner end bits, these will be more like medium, and thicker middle parts will be rarer).

As for the variation in internal temperatures you’ll find online, I think some of the confusion lies at the door of food standards organisations which regard a safe cooking temperature for meat as being 63C. (Steaks and joints of meat can be served at a lower temperature than this as long as they are fully seared on the outside).

I hope this is helpful!

Ruth

More confusingly (not just this website) is the huge variation in internal temperatures between different websites at which to pull roast beef. The 3 I’ve looked suggest a range of 45-54c for rare! Even worse, they all suggest that a pull temperature of 58c is best for anywhere from medium-rare through medium to medium-well! I might be overthinking this but have a £50 chunk of beef for Christmas day that I don’t want to ruin. Help!