We decided to go to a proper, store front butcher, Taylor’s. We asked for a standing rib roast and the butcher looked at us as though we were speaking a foreign language, which it turns out we were: the British have different terms for cuts of meat. Should have known about The Gentle Voice website before we left!
After some back and forth and using the term “Sunday Supper” the butcher held up a roast (at least it looked like it might be a roast), he called it “top side.” It was close enough – we bought it and left. Once home we realized that there were no tags on the meat. And, we didn’t have meat thermometer. So we decided to base cooking time on its weight. But there was nothing to tell us anything about the roast – notably we didn’t know how much it weighed. After some internet searches we came across a handy saying: “A pint’s a pound the world around” – meaning a pint of beer will weigh a pound (not cost a pound) everywhere in the world. The geeks in us also realized that a US pint of beer is 16 fluid ounces and a British Imperial pint is 20 fluid ounces, but again close enough. So we did what we could:
We poured a pint of water and held it up against the roast to guess if it was heavier or lighter than the pound of water. Problem. The water may be a pound, but what about the glass? No problem. Trade out the glass for a freezer bag!
That’s a two pound roast! Now how hot, centigrade?
After an hour or so…
A little overdone, but a valiant effort, we think. We ordered a a meat thermometer the next day. Maybe our next purchase will be a gravy boat!
How clever! Needless to say, you can always make stew out of what’s left. Remember invention is the mother of necessity! Way to go Deb…I am very proud of you!
I chopped up the remainder and combined it with the gravy — good over rice! My own meat pie, deconstructed!
I’m impressed with your ingenuity!
Bravo!! Nothing’s easy!!