French Dip Sandwihes [Roast Beef au jus]

Summary

For people who like beef and especially rare beef there's nothing more satisfying than thinly-shaved rare roast beef piled high on a Kaiser roll with a dollop of Horseradish on top. Yes, there really is a horseradish council.

This page will show you how I make my roast-beef au jus sandwiches. I'll even help you with your French vocabulary!

French Dip

The sandwich is a roast beef sandwich with its own juice. Au jus is French for "with its juice." The use of French words somehow made this "roast beef with juice" become a "French Dip." Undoubtedly in the heart of France they call this Freedom Sandwich or something.

Things to Have

Consumables

Top sirloin or top round cut of beef. This one is ten pounds (4.5Kg).
Olive oil and some Montreal Seasoning, although salt&pepper&garlic powder work too.
Kaiser rolls. Soft wins the contest.

Oven Accoutrements

Roasting pan. These are $8-$12 at the store or Amazon.
Cooling rack. These are $5-$8 at the store or Amazon.
Meat thermometer and glove to handle hot stuff. $10-$15 at the store or Amazon

Prep

First move your oven racks so you have lots of room to put the roast in the center.
Place the cooling rack in the roasting pan, and place in the oven
Set the oven for 225°F (107°C).
Turn the meat so the "cap" of fat is on top.
Coat with olive oil -- including the sides -- and liberally rub the seasoning into the top and sides.

Roasting

Roast for a while, taking temperatures by sticking the meat thermometer into the center of the meat mass. For rare you want an ending temperature of 145°F which means take it out at 135°F which means stop the process at 130°F. So do this until you get to 130°F (54°C).
Then you want to create the outside "crust". Do so by turning the oven to 500°F (260°C) for 10 minutes, and then switch to the broiler for an additional 2-3 minutes or until smoke fills your house.
Remove from oven, cover lightly with aluminum foil, and let sit and rest for at least 20 minutes. Seriously. I mean it. Don't even make a little "incision" to sneak a bite of that beefy goodness. Just leave it alone.

Jus

Drain the pan jus into a dipping vessel. Some people add beef stock or broth and boil together for a bit. I'm a purist and love the rendered fat without diluting it.

Serving

Carve diagonally across the grain. Diagonally means from upper left to lower right at a 45° angle. Across the grain means cut the "long way" so that the grain of the meat is perpendicular to the cut. (It goes the long way; you're cutting the short side.)
In the middle is the rarest part. Shave that for the rare sandwiches.
At the sides shave off the cap and then shave medium-rare beef. Give that to people who are afraid of red meat.
Write and thank me.