Okay, so I've bought the roast...

[spinbaby]

Now I have $118 worth of Angus standing rib roast and twelve people to feed for dinner on Wednesday. The thing is that I've never done a roast like this before so I've been looking up roasting methods and temperatures and watching videos. For a simple hunk of beef there sure are a lot of roasting methods. I could dry age it, salt and pepper it, or cover it with herb gunk. I could roast it at 350°, sear it and then roast it at 325°, or roast it at 200° then finish in a 500° oven. I've got instructions to cook it to an internal temperature of 118°, 124°, or 135° and all those temperatures are described as medium rare.

Anyone have a reliable roasting method for this thing they want to share?

[BainsBane]

1. 135 is way too high

I'd take it out at 115 at the highest. It will increase by about 10 degrees out of the oven as it rests.

That's a beautiful roast and you want it medium rare.

Every year I watch my sister over cook a beautiful prime rib. Last year I managed to convince her to take it out at about 115 and it came out medium. So it it were my roast, I'd take it out at 110.

[spinbaby]

4. 110 sounds barely warm

Is that safe?

[BainsBane]

5. It continues to cook out of the oven

[greatauntoftriplets]

2. 15 minutes a pound in a 325-degree oven for rare.

I don't use a meat thermometer.

[Phentex]

3. I also bought a Brontosaurus Rex...

and I don't know where I'll put the meat thermometer since it's not going to go in very far. But I'd go with the lower reading and see how much it comes up when it stands.

I'm going to coat it in crushed mixed peppercorns and sage. That's as far as I've gotten.

[Trajan]

6. Try this one from America's Test Kitchen on PBS

http://www.americastestkitchen.com/videos/2436-best-prime-rib

I am going to try it too ....

[spinbaby]

9. Good video, thanks

Although their "perfect medium rare" would have everyone in my family whining that it's not cooked.

[Warpy]

10. Then you'll want the upper temperature 135-140F for your family

because they prefer "medium well." The few who want it well done can have end cuts.

Meat thermometers are a pretty recent thing, candy thermometers never went low enough for many years. Cooking by weight occasionally resulted in ugly surprises, so I'm grateful for the thermometers, especially the ones where the probe goes into the meat in the oven and the unit alarms when the right internal temperature is reached. Love 'em.

[Trajan]

17. I'm with Warpy on that ...

I prefer medium well, generally, so I might turn off the oven at 115-120 F, and let the residual heat bring it to 135 or so ...

I have been eating vegan for most the year, but this is an extreme splurge for the holiday ... My family is quite pleased I am NOT springing a mock meat or Tofu roast on them ....

A Prime Rib will be thoroughly enjoyed in the house .... add Brussel Sprouts, Mashed Potatoes and Ambrosia salad, and we are talking holiday dinner .... Yum !

[KC]

23. I think

I'm going to do mine this way too. (For New Years). Watching her cut those slices made my mouth water! lol

[cbayer]

7. I remember the year I did this.

I was so nervous, as I had never been in charge of such an expensive piece of meat before.

And I was so afraid of overcooking it, that I grossly undercooked it….

and I like rare meat.

Here is a link to Emeril's instructions. I tend to trust him when it comes to things like this, because he is quite a perfectionist:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/standing-rib-roast-recipe/

Best of luck and enjoy!

[Major Nikon]

8. Sounds like you've got a very big roast

For that much money you should have either the entire roast (~7 bones) or very near that. This roast is going to come up at least 10F after you take it out and probably more like 15F if you roast it using traditional methods. If you want medium rare, the internal temp you want to shoot for is 130F plus or minus 3F.

What I would do right now is unwrap it from whatever plastic or butcher's paper it's in, wrap it with towels and put in on a cookie sheet or similar shallow pan in the refrigerator. Replace the towels at least every 24 hours if not every 12. Take the roast out of the fridge about 3 hours before you intend on starting to cook to allow the temperature to get closer to room temperature before roasting. Coat it with oil and a liberal sprinkling of salt and pepper. Roast in a shallow pan, bones down, in a 250F oven until the internal temp hits 115F. This will take probably around 4 hours. Remove from the oven and cover loosely with foil leaving the temperature probe in. Set your oven to full whack (500F or the best it will do). Allow the roast to rest until the temperature stops incrementing (should be around 130F). Put the roast back in the oven for about 10-20 minutes or until you get the crust you want. The roast will be fully rested and ready to serve at this point.

To carve, slice the bones off, place the roast on a cutting board flat side down, and cut as many slices as you want to serve right away. My favorite part is gnawing on the bones. Whatever you do, don't forget the horseradish sauce.

[spinbaby]

13. It's five bones

I've decided to go with roasting at a low temperature to an internal temperature of 120° and finishing in a hot oven after the roast rests and I've done the Yorkshire pudding. No horseradish sauce--no one likes it here, but there will be A1 sauce.

[Major Nikon]

14. I suggest you take notes

I keep a journal in my kitchen where I write stuff down so I can refer to it later. The next time you make a rib roast you probably won't remember what you did and what temperatures you got.

[The empressof all]

11. I roast mine naked....

I bring the meat to room temperature. While allowing the roast to sit on the counter I pre heat the oven to at least 450.

When the roast has had an opportunity to warm a bit I put it on a rack into the roasting pan and put it into the exceedingly hot oven. I then turn the oven down immedieately to 325. I allow the roast to remain in the oven for about 18 minutes a pound which will give you a rare -ish. roast. If you want something medium rare go for 20 minutes a pound. What ever you do do not cut that roast until you give it a solid twenty to thirty minutes resting time. Make a sauce, mash potatoes, have a glass of wine but do not cut that roast!!!

[Tab]

12. Shit, I replied and Firefox just died on me midstream, no notice or anything

Anyway, I personally wouldn't experiment first time out with a $118 Angus, but since that's what you're doing.

My thoughts are these:
Dry aging requires controlled temperature and humidity. You (if an average person) probably dont have time for that.

Salt rubbing works but as far as I can tell it needs to either be done immediately before roasting OR maybe a day in advance. None of this 10 minute stuff. That's counter-productive.

Temperature is always a hot topic (ha ha ha). Some advocate low and slow. Some, like Baraba Kafka "Roasting" advocate start high, end low. Others I know advocate the reverse.

Personally I don't know what works, but I'd have an instant thermometer on hand all the time and use it generously.

Or, for a little bit more you could buy a sous-vide machine (can you rent them?) and just sear it off on the grill. Just don't muck up the juice.

Good luck,

[sgmcenroe]

15. a sure recipe

In the past I have used a fluctuating temperature, starting at 500 degrees, but came across a new "sure Fire" recipe this year:
Preheat your oven to 550 degrees.
Put the roast in at that temp for 5 minutes per pound.
DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR!
Turn off the oven and let the roast continue to cook for 2 more hours.
DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR till it completes that time.
Remove the roast and let it sit before carving.
This is supposed to give you a perfect prime rib, regardless of size.

[B2G]

16. I've had great luck with this

500 degrees to start. 6 minutes per pound for medium rare. (Cover loosely with foil).

Cut oven to about 200 for 3 hours. Don't open the oven!

[BainsBane]

18. Wondering how everyone's prime rib came out?

My sister insisted on taking it out at 125. By the time it got to the table, it was well done, no pink in sight. She said it had been pink when her husband cut it but it continued to cook even after that. I noticed a lot of steam coming from the plate when the first person removed the tin foil covering it to take the first serving.

Earlier, when she was discussing what temp to take it out at, I reminded her last year she had taken it out at a lower temp and it came out medium. I didn't say a word about it after that, however, because she was generous enough to buy an 8 lb prime rib for the family. When I spend $100 bucks for the Christmas dinner meat, then I'll take it out at 110 to 115 to produce a medium rare prime rib. Until then, I will quietly think that its unfortunate to overcook such a fine and expensive roast, but I nonetheless remain grateful that I am able to share in such a wonderful treat at Christmas.

[spinbaby]

19. I cooked ours to 120°

I took it out at 120° and it went to 133° on resting, coming out as what I would consider to be quite rare—pink throughout. It was good, but the family really would prefer it to be less rare, so next time I'll cook it to 125°.

I'd gotten five ribs worth for 11 people, but two of the children refused to touch theirs and had cheese instead. We have leftovers. Lots of leftovers. The bones are in the crock pot now to start a round of soup and it looks like beef for breakfast.

[Major Nikon]

21. Been there, done that

While medium rare is the sweet spot for prime rib, most people seem to prefer theirs medium to medium well.

[Phentex]

20. We chickened out and cut it down to 4 bones...

it just looked so huge and even though we are leisure cooks on Christmas day, we didn't want to eat really late.

It was gorgeous! We took it out at 120 to let it rest and finish up the other food. The ends were a light pink while the middle was much pinker and perfect. Thy name was glutton as it looked like we each had a pot roast on our plates! ZERO complaints from the termite teens and there are plenty of leftovers.

Are you saying your sister cut it and then covered with foil to rest or was she just trying to keep it warm after it had rested? My husband has ruined some steaks by covering with foil to rest. It's sad.

[BainsBane]

22. Yes, after it had rested

They then cut it and covered it with foil. It seemed to have kept cooking even after being cut. There was a lot of juice on the plate, so I wondered if they had let it rest long enough.