How to Cook the Perfect Rib of Beef for Sunday Dinner

Rib of beef is the one joint we sell out of first every Sunday morning, and for good reason: it bastes itself as it cooks, carves into generous slices, and forgives a few extra minutes in the oven if the family is running late. Here's how we'd cook it at home.

Ask for a rib on the bone if you can: the bone insulates the meat and keeps it juicier, and it makes for a better centrepiece at the table. As a rough guide, one rib feeds two to three people, so a two-rib joint comfortably feeds four to six. We hand-cut every rib joint to order, so let us know the head count and we'll cut accordingly.

Take it out of the fridge an hour before it goes in the oven. A cold joint straight from the fridge cooks unevenly, giving you a well-done outer ring and a cool centre.

For a joint on the bone, we work on 15 minutes at 240°C to seal it, then roughly 15 minutes per 450g at 180°C for medium-rare, a little longer for medium. A meat thermometer is the honest way to check: pull it out at 52–54°C for medium-rare, since it will climb another few degrees while it rests.

Resting matters as much as the cooking. Give it at least 20 minutes under foil somewhere warm before carving. The juices redistribute through the meat instead of running out onto the board, and it makes carving neater too.

Don't wash the roasting tin. Sit it on the hob, add a splash of red wine and scrape up everything stuck to the bottom, since that's where the flavour is. Add beef stock, reduce by half, and finish with a knob of butter for shine.