Wagyu British Beef Fore-Rib

Wagyu Fore-Rib - Two Methods

±2kg to ±10kg, around 2kg per bone. Dry-aged delivered chilled, non-aged delivered frozen. Serves about two people per kilo. Roast it whole, or cut it into côtes de boeuf.

1. Chilled or frozen
Dry-aged arrives chilled. Keep it in its unopened vacuum pack at 0-4°C and use it by the date on the label. Non-aged arrives frozen. Thaw it in the fridge in its pack, allowing 1 to 2 days for ±2kg and ±4kg, and 3 to 4 days for ±6kg and ±10kg. The same applies if you freeze a dry-aged joint yourself.

2. Leave the fat cap on
The layer of fat over the eye is what bastes the meat as it cooks. Do not trim it. Score it lightly in a crosshatch, cutting through the fat but never into the meat.

Dry-aged or not
Both cook the same way, with a few differences. Dry-aged has already lost moisture and arrives lighter. Start checking at 30 minutes per kilo, and watch the fat cap in the final sear, which may only need 8 to 10 minutes. Keep it at medium-rare. Non-aged is heavier and wetter. Allow up to 35 minutes per kilo, and do not skip the overnight salting, or the sear will steam rather than brown. Expect more juice on the board.

Method A - Roast it whole (reverse sear, for the table)

3. Salt all over, including the cut faces, and leave it uncovered in the fridge overnight if you have the space. Out of the fridge 2 hours before cooking for ±2kg and ±4kg, 4 hours for ±6kg and ±10kg. A large joint holds its chill at the centre.

4. Heat the oven to 110°C. Stand the joint on its bones, fat side up, over a tray. The bones act as the rack. Cook until the centre of the eye reaches 48°C. Allow roughly 30 to 35 minutes per kilo, but go by the probe, placed away from the bone.

5. Rest 30 minutes, then turn the oven to 240°C and return it for 12 to 15 minutes, until the fat cap is crisp and browned. Pull at 52°C.

6. Rest a further 30 minutes. Run a knife along the bones to lift the eye away in one piece, then carve across the grain at 1cm. Serve the bones separately.

Method B - Côtes de boeuf (pan, oven or barbecue)

3. Cut down between the bones for one côte per bone, each around 2kg, 6 to 7cm thick and serving 4. A ±2kg joint is already a single côte. Wrap and freeze what you are not cooking, using it within 12 months.

4. Temper 1 hour. Pat dry and salt generously.

5. Heavy pan or barbecue on a high heat with a neutral oil. Sear 4 minutes a side, then stand the côte on its bone to render the fat edge. Finish in a 180°C oven or over indirect heat until the centre reaches 50°C.

6. Rest 15 minutes. Cut the eye away from the bone and slice across the grain at 1cm.

Keep the dripping. Strain the rendered fat from the tray into a jar. Roast your potatoes in it.

Aged Fore-Ribs delivered chilled
Keep refrigerated at 0-4°C in its unopened vacuum pack and use by the date on the label. You can freeze it unopened at any point up to that date - at -18°C or below it will keep well for up to 12 months.

Non-aged Fore-Ribs delivered frozen
Keep frozen at -18°C until needed. Use by the date on the pack.
Defrost in the fridge, in its packaging, allow 1 to 2 days for ±2kg and ±4kg, and 3 to 4 days for ±6kg and ±10kg. Never defrost at room temperature or in a microwave.
Once opened or defrosted, keep refrigerated at 0-4°C and use within 24 hours. Do not refreeze once thawed.
A faint metallic smell on first opening the pack is normal for vacuum-packed beef and will disperse within a few minutes in open air.