Cook, Pop, Cook: Prime Rib

I begin this post w/ a brief tribute to Tom Sarris Orleans House, my favorite place in the DMV to get prime rib which has been closed for a while now.

Anywho, prime rib, a.k.a., standing rib roast, is one of those things that guests are usually wowed by but it’s incredibly simple to make. If you can turn on your oven and carry a 10-15lb weight w/ two hands, you can make prime rib at home. And when it’s about $7-$10/lb ($10 at Whole Foods for grass-fed beef) and you can make ridiculous cuts like this:

24oz Prime Rib

making prime rib at home vs. eating it at a restaurant at $20+ for a 16oz is a no-brainer.

Selection

I’ve tried beef labeled as grass-fed from Whole Foods ($10/lb) and beef from my local Meat Market ($7.79/b) and frankly, there wasn’t a discernible difference aside from your wallet taking a bigger hit. Currently, I’ve been unable to find standing rib roasts at Sam’s Club or Costco – the latter of which is rather disheartening b/c Costco ribeyes are the best!

Usually, 3/4-1lb per person is more than enough, but if you’re feeding a bunch of raging carnivores, you may want to shoot for 1.5lbs/person. Don’t worry about the number of bones – your butcher should know how many bones will result in the weight you desire. I like to ask the butcher to cut the bone and re-tie the roast, this way, I get the flavor and stability of cooking w/ the bone, and the convenience of simply removing the roast from the bone when it’s done cooking.

Preparation

You can dry-age the roast if you’d like, but i don’t have enough room in my refrigerator to store a massive roast for an extended period of time, so I usually pickup the roast the night before I have guests over.

Before unpackaging, take a moment and tell yourself how good life is: you are -this- close to enjoying prime rib and impressing guests. If only all of life were this easy.

Ain’t she a beaut?

Now there tends to be some debate amongst carnivores of whether or not to trim off the fat cap, but in pop’s world, I’m all about simplicity so I just cook it in the condition I receive it. I will, however, look for any large chunks of fat and trim them down to about an 1″.

Transfer the roast to a foil-lined baking sheet and get ready to rub some meat!

All you need is some coarse ground black pepper and olive oil (canola oil is ok too). They say salt draws moisture to the surface of the meat, so I like to wait 30 minutes before cooking to apply kosher salt. I’ve found the meat to be rather bland this way but that’s what au jus is for. If you want more flavorful meat, apply kosher salt as well.

Make sure you get a nice coat of black pepper on the roast.

Turn the roast on its sides to get an even coat of black pepper. Make sure you put some oil on the bottom of the ribs too.

And you’re done!

Loosely cover in foil and throw the roast in the fridge overnight. Now get some shuteye – tomorrow’s gonna be a good day!

Cooking

Good morning beautiful!

I’ve found that a 10lb roast can take anywhere from 3-5 hours. Prior to cooking, you’ll also want to try to bring the roast up to room temperature, which can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour or two. So depending on when your guests are arriving, plan accordingly. I was having people over at noon, so I was up at 6. But man, what a sight for sore eyes!

Turn the oven to 225 degrees. Low and slow is the way to go. Trust Pop. Some will tell you to sear and then slow roast, but I’ve found this method to work better. I set it to 225 b/c you’ll inevitably lose some heat when you open the oven.

While the oven chugs along, apply an even coat of kosher salt.

Prime rib, meat our new roasting pan:

We’re going to be making lovely meats and veggies w/ this pan. I’ll provide a review after I cook a few more things w/ it, but suffice it to say that we decided to invest in a decent pan that should last for a while.

Let’s take one last look before the roast heads into the pan.

The roast looks awfully comfortable in that roomy pan.

Now here’s the most important part of cooking a standing rib roast: the probe thermometer.

Ours is a wired version we got from Target which has performed admirably. Not many bells and whistles, but it reads 212 or so when placed into a cup of boiling water, so it’s good enough for me.

Insert the probe into the middle of the roast but make sure you don’t hit the bone.

So you know how I said you should bring it to room temperature? Well, my wife likes to call me Kim Jong Il b/c I don’t like to turn the heat up, so yeah, this bad boy wasn’t going to be going up much more.

Ah well, at least it wasn’t frozen. It’s 6:40 or so and 1) I’m tired and 2) the baby is still asleep so pop is gonna go to bed. Set the temperature alarm at 117, throw the roast in the oven and turn the oven down to 200. See you soon!

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP! While our probe thermometer doesn’t have many bells and whistles, it has a ridiculously loud alarm. I was shocked to find that A) the roast was done and it was only 9:50 and B) the baby was STILL asleep on a Saturday morning! Hallelujah!

Out she comes. GLORIOUS!

Remove the roast from the pan and set on a foil lined baking sheet. The roast will continue to cook (hence the 117 target). Mine eventually settled at 124 degrees: rare is 120-130 degrees.

Cover the roast in foil making sure to leave the probe in the meat, and let the roast stand until about an hour before you expect to serve the roast.

An hour before serving, turn the oven up to 500. This is one of the reasons we spent extra $$$ to get the stainless steel pan as it was rated to 700 degrees while the hard-anodized was rated to 500. Once the oven hits 500, throw the roast back in the oven for searing. You can sear for up to 15 minutes for a nice crust, but I like to keep it at 5-10 minutes to minimize the layer of meat that is well-done.

Here’s the roast after searing.

Carefully transfer the roast to a cutting board. Pour out any excess oil from the roasting pan–make sure not to lose any of the meat drippings–and put the pan over medium heat on the stove. Pour in a glass of water, a glass of merlot or cabernet, and a can of beef broth. You can experiment w/ other herbs & spices, but I like a simple au jus. Use a wooden or silicone spatula to loosen the meat drippings and cook for about 20 minutes.

Slice the roast using a sharp knife – I like to use an electric knife. Serve w/ au jus and horse radish.

Voila! 7-24oz/person of home cooked perfection!

See, I told you it was easy.

Pop’s Prime Rib

Ingredients

Roast

1. Rib roast (10lb)
2. Olive Oil
3. Coarse ground black pepper
4. Kosher salt

Au Jus

1. Meat drippings from pan
2. 1C high quality H2O
3. 2C red wine (1 for the jus and 1 for you)
4. 1 can beef broth

Directions

1. The night before cooking, coat the roast w/ olive oil and coarse ground black pepper.
2. Place in foil lined baking sheet, cover loosely w/ foil and put in refrigerator overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 225 degrees F.
4. Coat roast w/ kosher salt, place roast in roasting pan and insert probe thermometer into the center of the roast.
5. Set probe thermometer for 117 degrees F, place roast in oven and set oven to 200 degrees F.
6. Once the roast reaches 117, remove from oven, keeping the probe in, cover loosely w/ foil
7. Set oven to 500 degrees F.
8. Place roast in oven and sear for 5-15 minutes.
9. Remove and transfer the roast to a cutting board until ready to serve.
10. Pour out excess grease from the pan and place the pan over the stove at medium heat.
11. Pour au jus ingredients into the pan and use a wooden/silicone spatula to loosen the meat drippings. Cook for 20 minutes.
12. Cut and serve roast w/ au jus and horseradish.