Slow Smoked Rotisserie Prime Rib On a Weber Gas Grill

This is my first cook post – did the cook yesterday – August 2.

Used plain old Weber gas grill to smoke low and slow prime rib. This was just for three of us so it starts with a small (two-rib) prime rib roast.



Cut off the ribs to cook separately to serve as hors d'oeuvres and trimmed some fat.



Rub recipe:
paprika, black pepper, salt, mustard, garlic, nutmeg, allspice, sugar, Turkish oregano, thyme, ginger, sage, red pepper, cinnamon, basil, white pepper, cumin, vanilla bean – then a mist of lime juice sprayed on after rub – just enough to moisten the rub and soak right in but not enough to cause the rub to run off.



Will post the pit pics in a bit…

To maintain low temps (220-250) I usually only use the stick box and no other burners. The newer models have a stick burner box with an independent small gas burner so the smoke is controlled separate from the main burner system. Also, unlike the older models the stick box is not underneath any of the grill grates so you don’t need to remove a grill to tend the box.

Weber 670/470 stick burner box with hardwood charcoal and hardwood chunks/chips ready to burn:



The roast is spit for the rotisserie and the ribs are placed on the grill grates.



Closest to the stick burner box there is a pretty big temperature gradient so you should place the roast on the spit a little ways away from the stick box where the gradient is a bit less. Also place the thick side of the roast toward the stick box.

The ribs are smaller and cook faster but if you lay them on the grill grates they don’t get as much heat as the rotisserie at the same distance from the stick box because heat rises (about 20-30 degrees difference from rotisserie to grate at the same distance from box). You can find a place on the grill grate that is a little closer to the stick box than the roast so the temp difference is what you want it to be (I go for a 15-20 degree difference and eat the ribs early for hors d'oeuvres).

Will post the information on searing and finishing the slow cook next…

After the roast has soaked in the smoke for a while, I turn on the infrared rotisserie burner to seal the roast and get a crispier bark. To stay low and slow this needs to be fast (~ 5 min) so only the bark gets the heat and the meat stays loose and doesn’t dry.

Here is the end of the searing when the infrared rotisserie burner is shut off – the roast should not be over 100 degrees at most at this point:



Now tend to get heavy smoke and maintain the temp in the 220-250 degree range for another 90 or so minutes.

Will post the ribs coming off later…

The ribs don’t get too much searing from the infrared rotisserie burner, so to finish them to a little crispier bark I pre-heat our other Weber 650 grill and very quickly sear the ribs.



We rest our meat wrapped first in foil and then in towels to keep them warm for table as they rest – with the towels we can rest them longer and still eat while very warm.





Finished ribs after resting for 30 minutes:



By the time the roast is finishing the aromas have everyone drooling, so we have the ribs as hors d'oeuvres:





Will post the roast in a bit…

For medium rare, I pull the roast at 130 degrees (temp will rise another 10 degrees or so after resting):



Again, wrap with foil then with towels for rest – this time with more towels for insulation since the rest is longer and we want the servings to still be hot:





After 45 minutes rest, this one came out nice and the family loved it :-D





Hope this gives a little curiosity to other gas grill owners - once you get into low and slow smoking there is no going back. While slow smoking on a gas grill requires quite a bit of tending, as long as you have the time it's a ton of fun and your friends and family will likely thank you for it :thumb:

Thanks!!

Thanks Tim - means a great deal coming from you :-D

HarrynVegas said:

Great job.......and an amazing wine.

Click to expand...

Thanks. Yes - the wine was definitely equal to the dish :-D

It was a youngster but many of the 2006 burgundies are starting to drink very well - including this Drouhin latricieres chambertin! :thumb:

Thanks Terry!