8 October, 2020
Gerard’s Prime Rib
This is such an easy recipe. To be successful, have patience and diligence on temperature checking. Select a quality place to get your beef. I personally use our local Safeway as they have great butchers. I also have found the meat there is a little better than other local shops. The top notch places that cost an arm and a leg are nice for rare occasions but most of the time I buy from a local supermarket.
Buy a prime rib based on 1 lb per adult eating plus extra for any kids. The image in this recipe is a 16 lb bone-in prime rib. I bought it that big because there was a great sale price compared to having the butcher cut me a piece. Often local butchers get larger pieces of meat from a supplier that they chop up and sell at higher per-pound prices. When you buy in bulk you can save a lot, you just have to eat it then. : )
Prep and Cooking steps
1. Leave the meat out in the open air or lightly covered for a few hours to get it to room temp. Blot with a paper towel and mix up your rub.
Rub ingredients – adjust amount to the size of your prime rib, below is for a large 10 lb +
Rosemary 2 tbsp.
Pepper 2 tbsp.
Thyme 1 tbsp.
4 minced garlic
Olive Oil – enough to have all of the ingredients wet and sticky but not swimming in it
2. Rub on top of the prime rib, always have the meat bone down. If your butcher cut the bone off and tied it back on, that’s fine. Use a metal pan with sides to hold the juices close to the meat while cooking. Ideally it’s a heavy metal pan. Butter the ends of the meat. This helps seal in the juices.
3. Place in oven at 500 degrees (yes 500) for 15 minutes. This will sear and lock in the juices much better for a great final product.
4. Turn down to 325 and cook for approximately 3 hours. For roasts under 5 lb you should check temp starting at 2 hours. For larger roasts you might end up at 3.5 hours total time. This time will vary greatly by the oven you use and elevation of your kitchen.
5. Check the temp of your meat!! This is so important so you have perfect prime rib. Place the thermometer in the middle of the roast and not close to the bone as that’ll mislead. When it’s 120 to 125 is when you should remove from the oven. The pictured prime rib was pulled at 125 and the center ended up a nice medium rare in the very middle going quickly to medium then well and well done at the ends. Check early and then often (every 15 minutes) until it’s where you want it.
6. Remove from the oven and let the meat rest for at least 30 minutes. This will finish cooking and bring it all together. For example, if you pulled it when the center was testing at 125 degrees, you’ll find it rises to around 135. If you have to delay the serving the meat, you can wrap it in tin foil after the 30 minutes to preserve the heat. I wouldn’t cover in tin foil before the 30 minutes or else it can get more done than you intended.
NOTE: I have noticed that when I use different hot pads or mats, the heat dispersion varies. I have a nice set of metal pads that I put pans on out of the oven that has some open air below. Using those types of pads will cool your food more quickly compared to say a solid wood pad/mat that does not have air circulating below. For recipes like this where the 30 minute sitting time is important you should keep this in mind. If I were late and the meat was higher temp than I intended, I would absolutely use the open air metal compared to a solid pad/mat.
7. Serve with raw horseradish, yes raw.. not all stores carry it but that’s my preferred way.