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How To Cook Prime Rib Roast - Prime Rib Roast Recipe: Ingredients:
Prime Rib Roast
(standing rib roast), at room temperature
(very important)
Pat the rib roast dry with paper towels or napkins. Smear the cut ends only of the roast with the butter. Place the roast, ribs down or fat side up, in a heavy stainless-steel or other metal pan. NOTE: Select a roasting pan that has sides at least 3-inches deep. (I do not recommend using nonstick pans, as these pans yield fewer of the cooked-on bits that make the tasty au jus juice or gravy.) The rib bones are a natural rack; you won’t need a metal one. Sear the rib roast for 15 minutes at the higher oven temperature (450 degrees F.), then turn the oven to the lower temperature (325 degrees F.) for the rest of the cooking time. Every 1/2 hour, baste the cut ends of the roast with the fat accumulated in the roasting pan. About 1/2 hour before the estimated end of the roasting time, begin checking the internal temperature (use a good instant-read digital meat thermometer). NOTE: If you ignore every other bit of advice I've given, please pay attention to this - For a perfectly cooked rib roast, invest in a good meat thermometer. Internal temperature, not time, is the best test for doneness and you don't want to blow this meal! Insert meat thermometer so tip is in thickest part of beef, not resting in fat or touching bone. Cook until rib roast reaches an internal temperature of 120 degrees F. Remove from oven, cover with aluminum foil, and let sit approximately 15 to 20 minutes. NOTE: Remember, the rib roast will continue to cook as it sets. The temperature will rise to 125 degrees F to 130 degrees F. internal temperature (medium rare) at 15 to 20 minutes. If allowed to rest as long as an hour, the temperature will rise even higher. So, pay attention to how long you let the cooked roast sit. Convection Oven: If you use a convection oven, the temperature of your roast can rise as much as 30 degrees - so remove roast from oven at 110°F on your meat thermometer for rare, 115 degrees F to 120 degrees F degrees for medium rare, and 125 degrees F for medium doneness.
Holding Cooked Rib Roast:
To hold cooked roast until serving
time, immediately turn off oven and leave door ajar after removing roast. Let
roast sit 15 minutes on counter and then return roast to the oven, door closed,
for up to an hour or even 2 hours for the biggest roasts. Check the temperature
every 15 minutes. If will rise approximately 10° F at first, then gradually
subside.
Use a long, thin, sharp knife. Sharpen you knife, if necessary using either a sharpening rod or stone. Remove the twine used to tie the rib roast together.
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Beef Recipes using various cuts of beef.
Prime Rib
Roast with Balsamic Glaze
Prime Rib Dinner Menu Ideas:
Prime Rib Dinner Prime Rib Dinner (Thanksgiving Dinner and/or Christmas Dinner)
Definition of Prime Rib: A tender cut of beef taken from the rib primal. A Prime Rib Roast is also often referred to as "Standing Rib Roast." It is very tender, flavorful, and expensive. A slice of uncooked prime rib roast is really a "rib steak" which includes the "rib eye" portion. Does the grade of the meat make much of a difference? You bet it does! The better the grade of beef, the less you have to do to it! The higher the USDA grade, the more you'll pay.
For the absolute best prime
rib roast, find a butcher who will dry age the roast. With dry aging, the meat
hangs unwrapped in a walk-in cooler for 3 to 4 weeks, then it is trimmed and cut
for sale. After you cook this type of prime rib roast, it will be as soft as
butter!
Grading Cuts of
Beef: Many people have the mistaken idea that the term "Prime Rib" refers to a roast that is graded "Prime" when actually the name has nothing to do with the grade or quality. Most of the roasts sold in supermarkets that are named "Prime Rib" are graded "Choice". Prime rib roasts that are graded "Prime" are usually available only to restaurants or through a special order with a butcher. The USDA's grading system gives a good way to assess quality. The grading designations are largely determined by the amount of visible fat that's streaked throughout the muscle tissue, called marbling. Beef that's richly marbled gets a higher grade; it's more tender, juicy, and flavorful because the intramuscular fat melts and bastes the flesh during cooking. Also, since fat insulates, marbling provides some insurance against overcooking. Prime - The highest grade in the U.S. meat grading system. Prime has the most marbling and is produced in limited quantities. Prime beef is most commonly sold in fine restaurants, specialty meat markets and is exported to upscale restaurants in foreign countries. Choice - Choice has less marbling than Prime but more than Select. It is typically found in the service meat case at your local grocery store. Select - Select has the least amount of marbling of the top three grades, making it leaner but possibly less tender, juicy or flavorful than Prime or Choice. Select is most commonly found in the self-service meat case at your local grocery store. Not recommended for top-quality steaks. Beware of marketing deceptions where some grocery stores or supermarkets may try to fool an unsuspecting consumer by using the words "prime" and "choice" without being attached with the official "USDA shield". Unless prime and choice carries the USDA label, what you are buying may not be the real thing.
After the prime rib roast (standing rib) is done roasting, remove from the oven and the roasting pan. Transfer the roast to a large cutting board with a lip to let rest and also collect run-off juices. Place roasting pan over two (2) burners on stove over medium heat (always make the gravy in the same pan you used to roast the prime rib roast). Skim and discard any excess fat from the juices in the roasting pan. Using a heavy spoon, scrape all the dark drippings and any crunchy bits from the sides and bottom of roasting pan. These are what add great flavor and a nice rich color to the gravy.
For each 2 cups gravy
desired: In a separate container with a lid, shake together all-purpose flour and about 2 cups cool water. This is called a slurry. Adding the thickener (flour) in this way helps to prevent lumps from forming. Once the drippings in the pan are lightly bubbling, slowly add the slurry mixture to the gravy pan, stirring constantly with a wire whisk. If it starts to thicken immediately, stop adding the remaining slurry, you may not need to use the whole amount depending on how much or little drippings were left in the roasting pan. If lumps do develop, you should be able to use a wire whisk to remove them. If you
gravy is to thick, add additional liquid, stirring constantly. Season to taste
with salt and pepper. Gravy is greasy - A fat separator should eliminate this problem. If you discover that your gravy is oily toward the end of its preparation, skim off as much fat as possible with a wide-bowled spoon. Gravy is doughy - Make sure the flour in the gravy has been cooked long enough: When flour is added to the pan drippings, whisk constantly while the mixture cooks until it turns a deep golden brown and smells nutty. If the gravy tastes floury when you’re almost finished, turn up the heat to maintain a rapid simmer for several minutes; then thin it again with more stock or water if necessary. Lumpy gravy - If gravy has lumps, strain gravy just before serving, using a fine sieve; discard solids. Another method is to place the lumpy gravy in your food processor or blender and process until smooth.
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Use carving fork to hold roast in place. Using
your sharp knife, make one cut to slice off the chine or feather bones (the
large-end bones) to sever meat from bones. Note: Save the
bones for making soup.
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Serve your perfectly-cook prime rib roast with sides of Au Jus Juice, Yorkshire Pudding, and either Sour Cream Horseradish Sauce or Garlic Blue Cheese Sauce (see recipes below). If you want regular gravy, see recipe on the right.
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2009 Comments from readers: I can cook - barbecue,
brisket, beans, you know, cheap stuff. I've never cooked a whole rib roast
before, so when my pastor asked me to cook 110 pounds of prime rib, I turned to
your site. I cooked seven (7) boneless prime rib roasts in a convection oven for
2.5 hours using the directions you've provided and they turned out great! This
was a Hospice fund raiser, so portions were small, 180 portions in all. I was
ready to serve on time at 5:30 p.m., but due to other problems serving did not
start till 6:30. Most of the meat rose in temperature to medium but that was OK
for the deep south and older folks. We mostly don't like rare. A little pink is
OK. Anyway, one does want to try to do it right with $600.00 worth of meat. So,
thanks for the help. The meat turned out great due to your detailed
instructions. A sincere thank you - Les Powell
(10/13/09) Thanks to Bing you came up
first in my search for Prime Rib roasting recipes. Both the roast and the
Yorkshire pudding were amazing! I minced two big cloves of garlic and freshly
ground pepper on the roast following the cooking directions and it was indeed
perfect. Digital Thermometer worked like a champ.
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On the Yorkshire pudding, I didn't have milk so used half and half. I was alsp short
on fat, so I mixed about 3 tablespoons of melted butter with vegetable oil to
make up the difference. I microwaved it for 30 seconds on high to get the
mixture hot to add to the prepared rectangular glass pan. To get the batter
cold, I prepared it as directed as soon as the roast was in the oven and put it
in the freezer for 15 minutes, then the refrigerator for the roasting time of
the meat (5.21 lb - 2 rib roast took 1 hour 50 minutes to reach 120 degrees F.).
5 minutes for the oil, which was crackling when I added the batter and rose like
a brown cumulus cloud in 13 minutes. The center was a set custard surrounded by
brown pillows - exactly like my mom and dad made us for years. Thanks so much
for the magnificent instructions. You are indeed in my bookmarks forever.
- Phil Hale - Orlando Florida (9/17/09) Just wanted to say THANKS so much for the wonderful information provided for cooking a Prime Rib Roast. For the first time ever, I fixed one last night going by your instructions and a restaurant couldn't have turned one out any better. I would never have had the nerve to attempt cooking such a expensive, large cut of meat without the step by step instructions. You have a great informative web site. I can't wait to share your website with all my cooking buddies. Keep up the good work. - Terri (3/25/09)
2008 Comments from readers: Just wanted to let you know that I cooked a
very expensive prime rib roast for the first time for Christmas
dinner. We had a 10 lb. semi-boneless roast for 13 people. I was very worried
that it would not come out to everyone's liking since we had people who like the
meat rare, some medium rare, and some even medium. I followed your directions
exactly, even though I really wondered about the wisdom of taking the meat out
when the internal temp reached 120 degrees. Then I figured I could always roast
it a bit more if necessary but I could not make it less done if it was
overcooked. After I removed it from the oven, I covered the meat loosely with
foil and let it sit on my counter for a half-hour. The temperature did indeed rise to
about 125 degrees. The meat was absolutely perfect! The outer part of the roast
was between medium and medium rare, then there was a section of medium rare and
the center was rare. I cut the meat into sections and had three separate
platters, based on doneness. Everyone raved about the meat and there was hardly
any leftovers at all. I let the meat come to room temperature before roasting as
you suggested and invested in a good digital meat thermometer, which ended up
giving me wildly fluctuating readings. In the end, I used my old thermometer
that I have had for at least 10 years and it worked well! I made the horseradish
sauce and a Madeira-based au jus-type sauce and both were well-received. Thank
you so much for your excellent advice. I am so glad I was able to protect my
$125 investment! I just wanted you to know that I just made
a 15.5 lb prime rib roast (7 ribs) for the first time. I followed the
instructions on your website and it was PERFECT!! I have never made this before
and the instructions, from letting it come to room temperature before cooking, all the
way to the carving directions were so helpful. I took it from the oven at 125
degrees and it rose to 140 degrees just while resting - so thank you for the advice
about NOT OVERCOOKING. Thank you thank you it was delicious! - Jenny
I just googled "how to cook a prime rib," as
this year is my first one and came across your site. I am so excited because
I have your cookbook and I absolutely love it. I use it once a week at
least. I am just glad to have your website as a resource now. Thanks so
much! - (12/24/08)
Great instructions for cooking standing rib roast! Turned out fantastic! I was a little concerned having never done this and putting $65 worth of beef on the line. Being a novice at this and having a few choices on my oven I was a little unclear on whether to bake and/or roast (I think I chose correctly and went with bake). In any event thank you and great web site. Best wishes for the New Year! - Tom (12/26/07)
The instructions were perfect! Christmas was the first time I
ever cooked Prime Rib. It was perfect. Thank you so much for all
the tips. 120 degrees F. is perfect and the temperature really did
rise after it sat on top of the stove. I will use these
instructions again.
- Theresa (12/26/07)
Best advice I have ever seen regarding the roasting of a prime rib!
Merry Christmas and happy eating.
- Sylvia (12/25/07)
Thanks for the recipe. I seared my 2-rib roast on the
Weber with (lots of) open flame for about 10 minutes... then rested it
in the oven at 325 degrees till I got to 115 degrees. 20 minute sit in
foil... and it was totally awesome. Never knew about bringing the roast
to room temp before cooking. Thanks for the tip!!! -
(12/24/07)
Thank you for the helpful tips in preparing the perfect prime rib. The
roast would have been ruined should I had not seen your article regarding
what constitutes rare/medium-rare. Happy Holidays! - Marishka (12/23/07)
Your article on cooking a "Prime Rib Roast" was very helpful and much
appreciated. Thanks
- Jim (12/20/07) Thank you for defining rare as rare, not 140
degrees F. rare, which it well done. Even my Taylor meat probe uses the government
standards for temperatures. |
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