Black Garlic Roasted Picanha (Beef Rump Cap)

Here’s a tender, black garlic marinated whole picanha that’s reverse seared to a perfect medium rare! It’s slow roasted for maximum tenderness & it’s jam packed full of flavour.

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This black garlic roasted picanha is an absolute game changer & will take a classic Sunday roast to a completely different level! It’s also really easy to make. We’re taking a whole picanha (also called rump cap), marinating it with a simple black garlic marinade then reverse searing it in the oven so that it’s perfectly pink, with a well seared crust.

It’s been a while since I last cooked a picanha & to be honest, I’d forgotten how good it is! Not only is it incredibly tender but it’s also some of the most flavourful beef that you can get. And surprisingly, it’s not overly expensive! It’s definitely going to be my go to cut of beef for a roast dinner from now on. It’s melt in your mouth tender & because we’re reverse searing it, it’s perfectly pink from edge to edge. It’s a real winner…

What is a picanha? Well, it’s a prime cut of beef that comes from the hindquarter of the cow. Picanha has tender, flavourful meat, a distinct triangular shape & is topped with a thick layer of fat. It’s a popular cut of beef in Brazilian cooking, where it is commonly cooked on skewers. It can also be called rump cap or sirloin cap.

Some exciting news! I recently released my roast dinner eBook over on my brand new online store! This contains everything you need to make a restaurant style roast dinner, including perfectly roasted meats, plenty of side dishes & sauces to serve with different meats. And for some tasty side dishes to serve with this picanha, take a look at our collection of sides.

What You’ll Need

• Picanha – You’ll need a whole picanha (not steaks!). I used a 1.25 kg piece of beef but feel free to use a bigger/smaller picanha instead. We’re cooking to temperature not time, so any size picanha will work!
• Black Garlic – I used a ready made black garlic paste which I bought from the supermarket. However, you could make your own paste by blending black garlic cloves with a splash of vegetable oil.
• Soy Sauce – We’re using a small amount of dark soy sauce in the marinade, for it’s rich, slightly sweet flavour.
• Worcestershire Sauce – A splash of Worcestershire sauce adds extra unami flavour to the black garlic marinade.
• Dijon Mustard – Beef & mustard is a classic combination & we’re using dijon in the marinade, for its’ sharp, punchy flavour.
• Fresh Rosemary – I like to add finely chopped fresh herbs to the black garlic marinade, for some extra flavour. I used rosemary but thyme will work as well.

Black Garlic Marinade

This is pretty much the same marinade that is used for my black garlic hanger steaks. This stuff works really well with beef, as it gives it a rich, unami flavour that complements the beefiness! There’s some soy sauce & Worcestershire sauce in there as well, for extra unami flavour.

To make our black garlic roast beef marinade, we add black garlic paste into a bowl, along with dark soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard & some finely chopped rosemary then stir to combine. That’s all there is to it!

How to Reverse Sear Picanha

If you want to cook roast beef that’s pink from edge to edge & perfectly tender, reverse searing is the best way to do it! With this method, you cook a joint of beef (in this case a whole picanha) in a low temperature oven until it’s cooked to your desired temperature then rest for an hour or so. After resting, the beef is roasted in a super hot oven, to sear all over then it can be sliced & served.

Picanha prep: Before cooking the picanha, we need to trim any silver skin off from the meat side, using a sharp knife. We also need to score the layer of fat on top, in a cross hatch pattern, as this helps it render. Make sure to score just the fat & not the meat underneath!

Slow Roasting

For perfectly pink roast beef, we’re going to be slow roasting it at a really low temperature, to slowly raise the internal temperature to our desired temperature. I like medium rare picanha! If you’d prefer a different level of doneness, there’s a handy temperature chart below.

1. Preheat your oven to 100°c/212°f. If your oven won’t got this low, set it to its’ lowest setting.
2. Whilst your oven is heating up, take your beef out of the fridge & place onto a wire rack set inside a roasting tin. Make sure that the beef is facing fat side up.
3. Season the outside of the beef with sea salt & freshly cracked black pepper & leave to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before cooking.
4. Cook your joint of beef in the preheated oven until the internal temperature in the middle of the beef reaches 52°c/125°f. Picanha is quite thin, so this will only take between 1½-2 hours. You’ll need a digital food probe to check the internal temperature.
5. Take the beef out of the oven, loosely cover the meat with foil then leave to rest for at least 30 minutes or up to 1½ hours.

Resting

Once the meat is cooked, we need to cover it loosely with foil then let it rest for at least 30 minutes or for up to 1½ hours. I wouldn’t recommend resting the beef for any longer than this, as it will start to go cold.

Searing

As the name suggests, reverse seared beef is seared at the end of the cooked, just before serving. Unlike regular roast beef, where you sear the meat first then cook it to temperature.

To sear our beef, we turn the oven up to 240°c/464°f then cook for 6-8 minutes, until well browned. Because of the black garlic marinade, the beef will look quite dark once it has been seared. Don’t worry though, it’s meant to look like this & it’s not burnt!

There’s no need to rest the beef again after it has been seared, simply remove any string then cut into slices!

How To Carve A Whole Picanha

Carving a whole picanha is really easy, you just need to make sure that you slice it against the grain! To carve, take a look at the meat & make a note of which way the lines in the meat are running (this is the grain). Then, use a sharp flat edged knife (not serrated!) to thinly slice the meat perpendicular (or against) the grain. Season the slices of beef with sea salt & freshly cracked black pepper then serve.

Roast Beef Internal Temperature Guide

In my opinion, roasted picanha is best served medium rare, which is how I’d recommend cooking yours! Although I understand that everyone has a preference when it comes to how they like their beef cooked, so feel free to cook your beef how you like.

Here’s a guide to what internal temperature to cook your beef to, for each different cooking method (you’ll need a food probe!).

Cooking Method	Internal Temperature (To Stop Cooking)	Internal Temperature (After Resting)
Rare	46°c/115°f	48°c/120°f
Medium Rare	52°c/125°f	54°c/130°f
Medium	58°c/136°f	60°c/140°f
Medium Well	63°c/145°f	65°c/150°f
Well Done	68°c/154°f	70°c/158°f

Tips & Tricks For Perfectly Cooked Picanha

• Ask your butcher for a joint of beef that has been dry aged for at least 28 days. If you like, you could also ask your butcher to trim the silver skin off the meat as well (or do this yourself!).
• Marinate the meat overnight in the fridge, for the best flavour.
• Let your beef warm to room temperature before cooking, for a more even cook.
• For edge to edge pink meat, roast your beef at a lower temperature & sear just before serving (this is reverse searing!).
• Avoid overcooking your beef by using a digital food probe to check the internal temperature of the meat.
• Let your roast beef rest for at least 30 minutes, or up to 1½ hours after cooking (before searing).
• Slice the roasted picanha against the grain, for tender slices.

Frequently Asked Questions

Reverse Seared Roast Beef In An Aga

With all of my recipes, I include cooking instructions for conventional ovens, fan ovens & also Agas. Here’s how to cook this recipe in an Aga…

To cook a reverse seared picanha in an Aga, slow roast the beef in the simmering oven, on the bottom set of runners then sear the beef in the roasting oven (after resting). When searing the beef, place your roasting tin as high in the roasting oven as you can, without it touching the top.

Equipment Used

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• Thermapen Food Probe
• Roasting Tin

More Dinner Recipes To Try!

• Black Garlic Hanger Steaks
• Reverse Seared Fillet Steak
• Black Garlic Pork Belly Porchetta
• Korean Style Buttermilk Fried Chicken
• Curried Chicken & Coconut Rice Traybake
• Slow Roasted Sirloin Of Beef (Reverse Seared)

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