Help! Wife changed her mind and wants rib roast smoked!

Dave, just cook at about 300* until it's about 130* internal, then rest for a spell. Should take about 2 to 2 1/2 hours til done. Good luck, my friend.

Take a look at the pictures on the other thread of the one my fellow Marylander, Gore cooked. It's beautiful! He does low & slow. Maybe he'll chime in here.

There are a lot of Prime Rib threads in the last week or two (tis the season). Here's one to consult:
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=97524

Prime Rib is quite forgiving. There are all kinds of ways to cook it and the result is always great -- so long as you don't overcook it. A few things to consider:
1. The lower your temp, the more uniformly cooked it will be inside.
2. A reverse sear will make it the juiciest -- to me this isn't to critical as these are always juicy.
3. Make sure you let it rest a minimum of 20-30 minutes covered before you slice or all your juices will run out.

The very first cook I did on my Oval was Prime Rib last year. I had about a 6lber (three ribs). I seasoned with Lawry's, lots of pepper and parsley, very generously. I cooked it at about 225* indirect (bones down) until the internal temp reached 124*. I also threw in a chunk of oak. I took it off and tented under foil for about 20-30 minutes while I took out the diffusers and brought the temp on the oval up to about 600*, then quickly seared all sides, maybe 1-2 minutes/side. Let it set a bit more and then sliced. With this technique, this is what you have to look forward to:



If you cook at higher temp, the outer portion will be done more than the inner portion and the outer strip will be brown and the inner section will be pink. We've all seen this before and it tastes great too, just personal preference. Rib roast is very forgiving and I'm sure you'll do great, so long as you don't overcook!

Gore, that roast is a thing of beauty.

Dave, good thing you got permission to skip the crumbs! You've gotten excellent advice above. Simple flavors will showcase the beef; if you want to stay close to salt and pepper, consider some garlic too because it goes awfully well. We've hit the easy button and just used Montreal seasoning on it, and that was pretty fine too.

The reverse sear part is not hard at all. You've got to rest your roast anyway when you take it off. When you do that, just open up the vents. When the temp is up above 500* just toss it on. You're just crusting the outside. The times are short, so you can almost babysit it out there. Personally, I like the crust. If you don't like it, then that's fine too, but don't be intimidated because it really is easy. There are many ways to do this and all of them are good (unless you bring the IT up too high or slice it unrested). Personally, I do not like the flavor of garlic on beef, but that is just me. Others love it. Also, you'll want to give yourself plenty of time, ~5 hours as I recall.

For future reference, Dave, after you get into the recipe database, try Poobah's Prime rib recipe. It's super easy and delicious. I use it every year.

I gotta say, the idea of a bread crust in a smoker seems bad to me, I have found bread, once crumbed grabs smoke like crazy. But, keeping the missus happy is key. I would go with a simple rub of salt pepper and garlic myself.

Man this make me hungry just looking at your pics.