A Christmas roast with real character — rich, succulent beef, slow-roasted to perfection and made for a memorable festive feast.
Back rib is one of our all-time favourite beef joints at Bramblebee Farm, and Christmas is the perfect excuse to make it the star of the table. With a lovely covering of fat that slowly renders down during cooking, this cut develops a wonderful depth of flavour, giving you beautifully rich, succulent beef that’s well worth the wait.
How to cook your beef back rib
This is a joint for those who love traditional, slow cooking. Allow around 4–6 hours at a low temperature, depending on the size of your joint and how tender you like your beef.
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Bring to room temperature: Take the beef out of the fridge around 30–60 minutes before cooking, keeping it covered.
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Prepare: Preheat your oven to 140°C fan / 160°C conventional / Gas Mark 3. Season the beef generously with salt and black pepper.
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Roast slowly: Place the joint in a roasting tin, fat-side up. Add a little beef stock or water to the tin and cover loosely with foil to help keep the meat moist.
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Allow time: Cook slowly for approximately 4–6 hours, checking as you go. The exact time will depend on the size and shape of your joint. For a more tender, falling-apart result, it may need longer.
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Rest before serving: Remove from the oven, cover loosely with foil and rest for 20–30 minutes before carving or pulling apart.
For a delicious finish, uncover the joint for the final 20–30 minutes if you’d like the outside to brown further. Serve with crispy roast potatoes, seasonal vegetables and plenty of rich gravy for a Christmas dinner to remember.
Cooking times are a guide and will vary with joint size and your oven. For a traditional tender, slow-cooked result, cook until the meat is tender to your liking.
Good grass, well-raised cattle
At Bramblebee Farm, we believe great beef starts with good grass. Our traditional Native-Breed cattle graze the RSPB Ouse Washes at Welney, Cambridgeshire, during the summer months, feeding on the natural floodplain pastures.
Our farm grazing includes old pastures and clover-rich grasses. We aim to use as little artificial fertiliser as possible, keeping chemical use on our grassland to a minimum.
During winter, our cattle enjoy hay and silage made on the farm, alongside straw from a neighbouring farm, surplus vegetables and apples, with essential minerals to support a balanced diet.
By allowing our cattle to mature slowly and feeding them with care, we aim to produce beef with the depth of flavour and quality we’re proud to bring to your table.
Make this Christmas extra special with a traditional joint that rewards patience and brings everyone together — slow-roasted, full of flavour and proudly from Bramblebee Farm.
