Tips for How to Make a Perfect roast

Whipping up a delicious roast for the family seems like it should be easy — but all too often you end up with a hunk of meat that is either raw in the middle or as tough as old boot leather.
Follow these tips to ensure your roast is perfect every time.
Choosing a baking dish: You can roast successfully in any old warped, thin baking dish, but when it comes to making the gravy, the pan will not only wobble on the cooktop, but will scorch if you don't stir it madly. Having a good, heavy based baking dish made of aluminium alloy, heavy stainless steel or enamelled cast-iron is a great investment. If you are not browning the meat initially or making gravy you can also roast in glass, pottery or ceramic ovenproof dishes.

Judging 'doneness': A meat thermometer will tell you the internal temperature of red meat but use these as a guide only. 55-60°C for rare; 65-70°C for medium; 75°C for well-done.
Other ways of checking doneness are:

Poultry — insert a fine skewer into the thickest part of the poultry and check the colour of the juices that run out. Pink means it is underdone, clear means it's cooked through.
Meat — insert a skewer to check the juices. Red for rare, pink for medium-rare and clear for well-done. You can also check by pressing quickly with a finger. Raw meat feels mushy and it becomes progressively springier, then firm, as it changes from rare to medium-rare to well-done — but this technique takes experience so you will probably need to practise it on steaks and work up to roasts.
Seafood — is cooked when it changes from translucent to opaque, or in the case of salmon or trout from reddish to pink. Always remove fish from the oven before it's fully cooked, as it will finish cooking in its own heat by the time it's served.

Resting meat: For the juiciest roast, allow the meat to rest for at least 20 minutes before carving. This allows the meat juices to redistribute (which keeps the meat juicy) and makes carving easier.