Rib Roast Revisited

While I realize it is critical to the success of a business, I HATE advertisements and we are absolutely bombarded with them – I may go crazy at the next rendition of the J.G Wentworth song.  For this reason I’m very selective about the magazines I read – it used to be “Birds And Blooms”, “Taste Of Home”, and “Cook’s Illustrated”.  The B & B was allowed to lapse when I realized neither Bev or I read it and the T of H was let go when it started looking like every other mag – full of ads and hard to differentiate between the articles and the ads.

I realize that many folks – my wife for one – enjoy the ads and those during the Super Bowl get as much (or more) attention than the game, so I may well be in the minority, and I can live with that.  Enough railing as this is really about the prime rib article I just read in the new "Cook’s Illustrated", which I still look forward to getting. 

According to them, the best way to achieve a good crust and minimize the thickness of the gray well done layer around the outside it to give it a quick hot pan sear (or use a blow torch) for crust development then roast at 200*F to an internal temp of 110*F.  Turn off oven and allow internal temp to go to 125*F for medium rare.  Then remove from oven, tent, and rest for another 30 or so minutes.

Then move back under the broiler to crisp the top (fat cap) side.  Since it’s already rested, it’s ready to slice and serve.

The low temperature roasting is consistent with what I’ve been reading and doing on the smoker or in the oven for a couple of years.  The thing I haven’t done and probably won’t, due to the way and amount of spices I apply, is the initial pan sear.  Check out my blog posts below for those I’ve done.  This first one in December 2009 wasn’t rested between the smoker and the grill and it took longer to add the crust on the grill than in the oven – note amount of well-done.

This one in Dec 2010 was done with a year’s more knowledge and rested in a pre-warmed cooler for over an hour before going into a 450* oven for crust development – note the layer of well-done is hard to find.

For this year (with still more experience), I’ll cook it on the smoker and rest it the same, but for crust development I’ll crank the oven up to 550* or use the broiler as it wasn't quite where I wanted it.  I'm hoping to have it down pat after this time and I don't know why I don't cook them more often.

If you plan a rib roast (prime rib) for your holiday meal, whether it’s done in the oven, on the grill, or in the smoker, initial sear or reverse sear, the key to an even doneness across the face of the slice sure seems to be roasting it at a low temperature.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  Marco Day 2 Supper

Two years ago:  It's BBQ Day Round Here

Larry