My Prime Rib Exceeded My Expectations

[itschris]

This year I decided to do xmas dinner in the smoker. I did a reverse sear on a 8'bone prime rib and it just came out fantastic. I ran the smoker without wood at 200 degrees for about four and half hours. I pulled the prime rib at 118 degrees though I was a bit perplexed by variant readings from the mavs and even the Thermapen. It was just weird that I couldn't get the same reading twice but i sorda averaged them all in my head and pulled it out when I thought the time was right. I let it rest while I finished up the Dauphine potatoes and roasted asparagus. I got the kettle raging hot and seared the roast for about 6 minutes... Hacked off 3 ribs and seared the remaining about another five minutes or so. The first to come off were for my brother who likes his PR to moo when he pokes it with a fork. Here's the pic which gives a great deal of weight to how consistent the temps are from edge to edge when using the reverse sear method. The outside was carmelized and sizzling with rare from edge to edge. The medium rare came out just as perfect. Very pleased with the results though I'm amazed at how how much smoke flavor there was considering I used no wood. We started the meal with homemade lobster bisque and finished too many cakes to list. All in all a great meal with just enough drama to keep me honest.

 

[Budman1]

that looks good!

 

[cowgirl]

Looks fantastic!

 

[Mrfish]

Home run there! Great job. You did the cow proud.

 

[mchar69]

It's silly perfect - no light brown 1/2 way done on the outside -
Best slice I've seen, WAY better than mine - and I tried -
I think you pulling early is a keeper. - you can always cook it more.
Did you pre - salt or dry brine?

 

[campdude]

That looks perfect. Great job.

 

[itschris]

It's silly perfect - no light brown 1/2 way done on the outside -
Best slice I've seen, WAY better than mine - and I tried -
I think you pulling early is a keeper. - you can always cook it more.
Did you pre - salt or dry brine?

I salted the night before and let it sit uncovered on a rack in the fridge. I literally washed it off late morning and got it dried. I mixed salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and some porcini powder until I thought it tasted good a
, then rubbed that liberally all over and in it went. The crust was fantastic. I put a pan on the rack below with some homemade beef broth and Cabernet for the au jue. I have to say that I was surprised at the smoke flavor despite not using wood. Anyone claiming that gravity feeds can't produce smoke flavor can't be talking from experience. I'd almost say it was a bit too much for what I was doing, but I'm certainly not complaining.

The other great thing about doing things this way is that you can hold the PR for quite awhile without impacting the result. There's little carry over cooking when doing things this way so you can just cooler it if you want and it'll be fine until you're ready. It certainly Takes the stress out having to time everything perfectly.

 

[Smoke on Badger Mountain]

That is one might fine looking piece of meat my friend!

 

[cheez59]

Nice looking slice of prime.

 

[Papa Don]

Winner, winner!!!
Nice looking food.

 

[mchar69]

I salted the night before and let it sit uncovered on a rack in the fridge.

You have shown the QUINTESSENTIAL reverse sear
prime rib roast.

 

[fuzzy1626]

Very nice Prime Rib...:thumb:

 

[Norm]

Now that's how a prime rib should look, great job brother!

 

[mrwhale]

WOW! That consistent color of rare meat is insane!!:hail:

 

[itschris]

WOW! That consistent color of rare meat is insane!!:hail:

Thanks! I'm a huge fan of super low reverse searing. It takes some extra time and effort but the results are really worth it.

I've got five 22oz Ribeyes that were dry aged for 45 days that I'm making New Years day. I'm going to do them the same way. Probably 40ish minutes at 200 and then onto a raging fire. Should be perfect. I found that pulling at 115-118 is about the perfect temp. You can still have perfect rare or perfect medium rare with an absolute caramelized, sizzling, crunchy exterior with zero impact on the interior.

 

[dwfisk]

Perfection on a plate right there :thumb: Guess I'm going to have to try that low smoke then sear technique.

 

[gtr]

Very nicely done! That's pretty much how I do mine, and once I started cooking 'em this way I never looked back. Pretty dang easy and really dang delicious - what's not to like? :hungry:

 

[Big George's BBQ]

That is a really nice plate of food

 

[Corky]

Super job!