Doing Rib Roast for Christmas

GusRobin · December 19, 2010, 06:52:07 PM

Going to do a standing rib roast for Christmas. Here is the plan.

Ingredients
1 standing rib roast
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Procedures
1)Season with salt and air-dry, uncovered in the refrigerator on a rack overnight before roasting.
2)Preheat smoker to 150°F . Season roast generously with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper. Place roast, with fat cap up,in smoker with 4 hours of smoke. Cook until center of roast IT is 120°F for medium-rare. This should take around 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 hours.
3)Remove roast from smoker and tent tightly with aluminum foil. Place in a warm spot in the kitchen and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes, and up to an hour and a half. Meanwhile, preheat oven to highest possible temperature setting (500°F to 550°F)
4) 10 minutes before ready to serve, remove foil, and place roast in hot oven and cook until well-browned and crisp on the exterior, 6-10 minutes. Remove from oven, carve, and serve immediately.

Any comments, other ideas, advice?

classicrockgriller · December 19, 2010, 07:38:19 PM

I have one Question.

What time is dinner?

Sounds to me like a great plan!

GusRobin · December 19, 2010, 08:12:31 PM

Quote from: classicrockgriller on December 19, 2010, 07:38:19 PM

What time is dinner?

Sometime between 1 and 7. The cooking is easy, the timing is difficult.

SoCalBuilder · December 20, 2010, 09:26:57 AM

Boy does that sound good. I'd even offer to do the dishes afterwards ;D

FLBentRider · December 20, 2010, 10:22:27 AM

I have used that method before, it turned out great.

I used a slightly higher box temp (200F), and I used FTC to transport it to the location where we were serving (Moms house)

BuyLowSellHigh · December 20, 2010, 12:26:59 PM

I think you got it, GR. I'm like FLBR - I like 200 °F for a rib roast. At 200 °F in a kitchen oven it would take 3.5 - 4 hrs for a bone-in roast to get to ~ 120 , I doubt it would be much different in the Bradley with nothing else in there and good Auber temp control.

With the 30 min rest the temp won't increase appreciably during the hot oven blast, so whatever finished temp you want, take to about 5°F shy of that before you pull it from the initial low temp cook. At 120 °F in the center, you will be quite rare. For medium rare I'd pull at ~130 °F, allowing a 5° rise as carryover from the initial cook. At 500-550 ° in the kitchen oven the crisping will take about 10 min.

FLBentRider · December 20, 2010, 12:32:05 PM

I'll be doing 2 14lb'ers in the BPS for CHRISTmas, no oven, at least not one big enough, going to try to sear on the charcoal grill.

OldHickory · December 20, 2010, 03:24:28 PM

I used a similar plan for the last two standing rib roasts I did. I used a link from one of the Forum members, probably BLSH or KyNola for the food lab and they came out great. http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/12/the-food-lab-how-to-cook-roast-a-perfect-prime-rib.html . I had a 3.75# roast, set PID @ 220*,preheated, set IT for 125*, FTC'd for 2 hr until dinner time, then the 8 min. blast in a 500* oven. It was rare with a nice crust on the outside. I will be doing another ( 7.05# ) this Christmas, it is in the refer getting a little more age on it now.

BuyLowSellHigh · December 20, 2010, 04:33:42 PM

That's a great reference. The practical info is in the companion recipe page. It's well researched and the best guide I have seen. The comments and responses at the bottom of the recipe page are well worth reading.

SnellySmokesEm · December 20, 2010, 05:32:50 PM

Here's a post from one I did back in July.
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=16773.msg202934#msg202934

I am doing a small (3lb) for Christmas this year in the SRG and I cant wait! Good Luck!

SouthernSmoked · December 20, 2010, 06:23:56 PM

Heck Yeah Gus - sounds awesome!

Christmas at GR's house.

hal4uk · December 20, 2010, 09:35:35 PM

Sounds like you flat out have a GREAT PLAN, Gus!
Just two things I'm thinkin'...

First --- regarding what BLSH said...
He suggests pulling it at 130° instead of 120°...
Well, I'd be in the 120° camp myself -- HOWEVER...
If you are going CT (Cab Temp) of 150°...
the "outer mass" won't reach the temps it would if you were using CT of, say, 200°...
Therefore, you won't have the same IT temp rise during the rest period, right?
As such, I'd split the difference --- Pull at 125°.

That said... Your idea of cooking it at 150°... If you can hold at that good and steady...
You will have an OUTSTANDING finished product.
The "lower and slower" definitely has a positive effect as far as tenderness.
(roasting beef -- be it a cheap cut or a rib roast -- there's some serious magic going on between 80° and 122°)
Just be careful --- try not to let it drop any lower than 150°
(don't wanna risk spending any time in that bacteria danger zone of 40°-140°)
Really, (I LOVE YOUR PLAN)... But, I think I might bump it up to 160° (CT).
(As long as you hold it under 200°, you're gonna have a FANTASTIC finished product.)

The second thing I would add, which may or may not work for ya...
To get that great finished look, and add a wee bit of flavor..
Maybe when you "season and air dry" and/or before applying salt/pep before cooking...
Rub it down with Lea & Perrins.

Some people (NOT MANY), but --- I think FLBR, for example...
Can't eat anything with "fish products" (L&P has anchovies as an ingredient).
This has never been an issue for me, but something to consider.
If it's not a worry for you and your family, I would highly recommend it (I always do it that way).

Customstox · December 23, 2010, 10:32:45 PM

I am doing a 6.8 # prime rib for a late christmas with my daughter and her bf and after reading this I am planning on cooking it at 200 and pulling it at 120. Does anyone have a good ball park time for that? And should I smoke it the whole time? Thank you

BuyLowSellHigh · December 24, 2010, 03:39:24 AM

If you can keep 200 °F, then it will take ~ 3.5 - 4 hours. At 120 °F it will be quite rare. Scroll up about 5 posts and see the info on the link I included for some great recipe guidance.

GusRobin · December 25, 2010, 08:17:52 PM

Last night I seasoned the roast with salt and pepper and put in fridge overnight.

At 10:30 this morning put it in the smoker at 160* with 4 hours of a 50-50 mix of apple and hickory. About an hour into the cook I opened a present and got this (thanks Rob)

So at the risk of burning myself, I emptied the unused pucks and replaced them with the new ones. At about 4:00 I bumped up the temp to 220* since I was running out of time. Removed the roast at 5:45 when the IT hit 125*.
Getting ready for an hour of FTC

After an hour, put in oven set to 500* for about 10 minutes and here is the result. Everyone said it was the best they have had. The pepper, rosemary, thyme flavor was a definite plus.

All in all, a great meal.