cold smoked prime rib

[cathouse willy]

The daughters bday dinner is this weekend and she wants Prime Rib. The plan is to cold smoke with hickory for 3-4 hrs and then finish in the big easy. I'm thinking of smoking a couple of days early and letting it settle, well wrapped in the fridge before roasting. Is there any advantage to this?

[hal4uk]

Well...  The most important thing is to cook it very slowly.
There's some serious magic happening between 80-120 degrees with prime rib (internal).
Try to smoke/cook at no more than 200.  225 is fine and dandy.. but 200 is perfect.

[zueth]

Well...  The most important thing is to cook it very slowly.
There's some serious magic happening between 80-120 degrees with prime rib (internal).
Try to smoke/cook at no more than 200.  225 is fine and dandy.. but 200 is perfect.

He said he was going to cold smoke it, then cook in TBE, not smoke/cook.

When I cold smoke steaks I only do 1 hour of smoke.  So you might want to cut back on the smoking time.  Also, might want to put a block of ice in cabinet to keep the temp down.

Yes, definitively do it a day in advance, so you let the smoke flavor mellow out overnight in the fridge.

[Ka Honu]

What zueth said (hal was obviously either drinking again or still drinking). 

I'm not a fan of using TBE/SRG for prime rib - it's just not the best tool for the cook - but a number of folks swear by it.

[hal4uk]

Willy.....
What I heard you say was that you were gonna COLD SMOKE it (great idea --- but it ain't gonna cook it), and then FINISH it in a machine that is well respected for its amazing ability to cook hot and fast (which is why chicken and turkey come out so dang good with tasty, crispy skin).

I'm just saying that a prime rib ain't a chicken.
But, I'm drinking, so maybe prime rib is chicken.
Heck, try a MAPP torch.
Awrighten.

[KyNola]

You're on the right track with cold smoking a couple days in advance and then tightly wrapping in plastic wrap and store in the frig for a couple days.  The longer you can wait, the better the smoke flavor will be.  I would think twice about putting dry ice in the tower.  The dry ice is going to give off CO2 and the air inside the tower may get so cold as to prevent the smoke from rising through the tower properly.  When I cold smoke, I take gallon zip bags and fill with ice and place inside the tower.  I typically use 2 of those bags.

As for using a TBE to cook it, I'm with Hal on that.  I wouldn't but if that is what you're comfortable with, by all means go for it.  FLBR posted several prime ribs that he cooked in his house oven that turned out incredible.  You might want to look up those threads and get some ideas from him.

Oh, one other thing.  I've known Hal for for well over 25 years.  I happen to know in one of Hal's past professions, he has cooked more prime ribs than the rest of us put together will ever see.  Drinking or not, he knows of which he speaks when it comes to prime rib. 

[muebe]

As others have stated using The Big Easy to cook the prime rib might not be the best choice. The SRG does have a low setting and with the lid open it might be ok to slow roast the meat.

Now I have adjusted the knob toward off on my TBE while watching the flame size to lower the heat in it. But you need to be careful because if you go too low the flame will go out and that is not good eats ;)

It just takes a very slight amount of movement on the knob and I advise pulling the knob off when you have it set. Also make sure you surround the TBE with some sort of wind break. When the flame is low it does not take much more than a breeze to blow that ring of flame out.

Good luck on your cook and I look forward to the pictures of the results ;D

[KyNola]

I went back and read the thread again.  Nothing was said about adding dry ice.  My mistake so disregard what I said about the dry ice thing.

[Ka Honu]

... and I'm not sure why I said that about hal's response (other than to give him a bit of heat).  He's absolutely correct (the bright white shoes notwithstanding). 

I cook almost any meat I roast at low temp (no higher than 200^oF) until I get a few degrees below the IT I want, rest it for a while (30-90 minutes), and sear for 5-6 minutes in a hot (500^oF) oven just before serving.  I just don't think you can do that easily (if at all) in TBE/SRG (although an infrared grill like the Char Broil RED gives you the flexibility to make it happen).

[cathouse willy]

Thanks for the replies to all. I guess my post was a bit confusing. I was mostly interested in whether cold smoking a few days early and storing in the fridge would improve the smoke flavor and the answers say yes. I decided to use the Srg for roasting after seeing a couple of threads on the Char Broil site that had good results. Interesting to read that not everyone would use the Srg, but being the son and grandson of two very stubborn men I'm going to forge on with the plan. I picked up a 51/2 lb pr roast and it's going in the obs with a cold smoke adtaptor for a few hours of Crown Royal. Wish me luck I'll post the results
Cheers
Bill

[cathouse willy]

The prime rib cook went very well with great results though with the hustle and bustle of feeding the family I forgot the pictures.
I learned something with this cook,thanks to good advice here. If you cold smoke (4 hours of crown royal) the meat a few days before roasting and wrap it well the flavor gets better and it leaves you with more roasting options, for example because of the weather and more good advice I gave up the idea of using the srg and opted for the safe, tried and true kitchen oven.I seared it at 475 for 15 mins and roasted at 275 and pulled it when the it reached 130. It turned out nice and pink throughout with a thin well done crust and a wonderful smoke flavor.Thanks to everyone for your help
Bill

[KyNola]

And there you go Bill!.. Nice work.