Standing Rib Roast

rabbithutch · Sep 1, 2012

Today marks the last of my 7th decade and tomorrow will mark the first day of my 8th. To celebrate, I bought a 4 rib select grade rib eye that I am going to smoke tomorrow.

I'm having trouble deciding how to do it. It will be my first standing rib in a smoker.

First, I plan to use Jeff's Rub overnight. I don't want to over power the beef and have never used a rub on a rib roast. Any one have a better idea for me?

Second, I can't decide whether to smoke it in the mini-WSM or in the MES40. The mini would help with a smoke ring, but I've eaten lots of ribs without it and never missed it. Which would you use and why? It's gonna be triple digits here tomorrow; so futzing with a coals fire might be uncomfortable.

If I use the MES, I will use some of Todd's pellets - probably the whiskey barrel variety. If I use the mini it will be mesquite and hickory chunks. Your thoughts?

I've never done Chef Jimmy J's au jus but plan to do so tomorrow.

The roast weighs in at just under 6 lbs. - 4 ribs. How long should I plan for it to get to about 130° (read by a Maverick remote) if I run the smoker at 230-250°? I will NOT inject it or wrap it in bacon. I will make the au jus and a horseradish sauce.

For sides, I plan on smoking Yukon Golds (a first for me), slicing them crosswise and drizzling with EVOO. I'll but a strip of bacon on them, too, probably. In addition to the taters I'm doing corn and butterbeans (wife insists on doing a salad, but, Hell, it's my birthday).

I'm open to suggestions. I'll try to remember to take pics, but don't expect too much 'cause when I see that roast I'm gonna want to slice it, sauce it, and savor it!

forluvofsmoke · Sep 1, 2012

rabbithutch said:
Today marks the last of my 7th decade and tomorrow will mark the first day of my 8th. To celebrate, I bought a 4 rib select grade rib eye that I am going to smoke tomorrow.

I'm having trouble deciding how to do it. It will be my first standing rib in a smoker.

First, I plan to use Jeff's Rub overnight. I don't want to over power the beef and have never used a rub on a rib roast. Any one have a better idea for me? You may want to consider just salt, pepper and garlic, maybe some onion..this cut is great all by itself. I've used some pretty complicated rubs that are good on beef, but really didn't see the need for it.

Second, I can't decide whether to smoke it in the mini-WSM or in the MES40. The mini would help with a smoke ring, but I've eaten lots of ribs without it and never missed it. Which would you use and why? It's gonna be triple digits here tomorrow; so futzing with a coals fire might be uncomfortable. I'd go with what you're comfortable with...if heat and smoker tending isn't giving you that warm, fuzzy feeling, I'd take the easy road.

If I use the MES, I will use some of Todd's pellets - probably the whiskey barrel variety. If I use the mini it will be mesquite and hickory chunks. Your thoughts? Any reasonably strong smoke will go fine with a beef rib.

I've never done Chef Jimmy J's au jus but plan to do so tomorrow.

The roast weighs in at just under 6 lbs. - 4 ribs. How long should I plan for it to get to about 130° (read by a Maverick remote) if I run the smoker at 230-250°? I will NOT inject it or wrap it in bacon. I will make the au jus and a horseradish sauce. If this is a large end rib roast(thinner cross-section) you'll be looking at approx 4-4.5 hours, while the small end (thicker cross-section) will take about 30-60 minutes longer. I don't have an MES, so I don't know how well the convective efficiency is compared to my Smoke Vault or my charcoal rigs, but with increased ventilation rates, they will cook a bit faster.

For sides, I plan on smoking Yukon Golds (a first for me), slicing them crosswise and drizzling with EVOO. I'll but a strip of bacon on them, too, probably. In addition to the taters I'm doing corn and butterbeans (wife insists on doing a salad, but, Hell, it's my birthday).

I'm open to suggestions. I'll try to remember to take pics, but don't expect too much 'cause when I see that roast I'm gonna want to slice it, sauce it, and savor it! Ha-ha! Just don't forget to let it rest for a bit on an open board.

Cross-hatch score the fat-cap before rubbing to help keep the top of the rib meat covered when the fat starts shrinking up...helps it self baste, as well. At the temps you're going to smoke at, it should crisp the cut edges and some of the top of the fat-cap up enough to make for some VERY tempting goodness. If you're laying off the fat for health reasons, trim lean and do a light cross-hatch on the meat just for giggles...either way makes it look spectacular when it finishes up.

Oh, if you want to try a dandy treat, bone-out the rib eye...beef ribs and boneless rib eye...yummy! He's my first crack at that...pretty easy, you decide how thick you want the meat on the ribs, and, they're both great eating:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...boned-rib-lunch-ribeye-dinner-q-view-w-method

Happy 71st birthday, brother smoker! Hope it's your best birthday ever! Having a beef rib eye to smoke and eat for a birthday dinner can't be bad...did my first on my birthday, too.

Eric

scarbelly · Sep 1, 2012

Congrats on your birthday - I hope to be there in 14 years.

Great advice as always Eric.

rad5 · Sep 1, 2012

I do a rib eye every year around the holidays and I found just a simple rub works best. Onion powder, salt, garlic powder, fresh ground pepper. I use a combination of black white and green pepper corns. Being this is a such a good cut of meat, there's no need for slow and low. I let mine smoke at 250-300 until I hit 140 degrees then I pull it out and let it rest for 30-40 min. As far as wood my favorite for beef is cherry. This cut of meat is pretty hard to screw up...unless you over cook it!

dragonmaster194 · Sep 1, 2012

Happy Birthday, and many more! I think you have gotten some good advice here, I hope you enjoy your day. Keep on keeping on. Steve

mneeley490 · Sep 1, 2012

Happy birthday, Mr. Rabbithutch! You inspire us all!

As for seasoning a rib roast, I always go with a light dusting of Montreal steak seasoning.

Use the MES and enjoy some libation in the shade.

rabbithutch · Sep 3, 2012

Thank you for all the well wishes, folks!

I'm back to report a not-so-successful result. I didn't ruin anything - thankfully - but the process didn't go as well as I'd planned and the final roast was not quite as good as I wanted.

There is no Qview. I'm sorry but I've go muscles in my lower back that are spasming and I was making no unnecessary movements during the process.

I did not trim fat from the rib roast which was a mistake I will not make again. The fat permeated the cooked meat and the protein didn't quite dry and shrink as I wanted.

I washed it and rubbed it with mustard then Jeff's rub and left it overnight in the refrigerator. I chopped the veg for Chef Jimmy's au jus and put them in a pan under the roast in my MES set at 235°. I had placed a Maverick remote probe in the roast and the smoker temp remote probe was in a block of wood sitting on the second rack next to the roast. I had Yukon golds smoking on the top rack which had been sliced nearly thru and drizzled well with EVOO. I used mesquite pellets from Todd and had a good chamber of smoke throughout most of the cook.

Apparently, there is a difference in temp readings between the MES40 and the Maverick smoker temp probe that I had not experience before now. I trusted the Maverick and lowered the setting on the MES. When I got an internal temp of 125° on the Maverick remote, I pulled the roast. I checked it with 2 different instant read probes that gave me readings below 120°. Instead of putting it back in the smoker and waiting for the heat to build again, I put it in the oven on 325° until I got consistent readings of 130°. I then wrapped the roast in foil and towels and put it in a cooler for a couple hours trusting that the meat would firm up. I didn't take it out until time to slice and serve.

The slices were a great pink color but tasted a bit flat and too fatty. The au jus helped, but I think I left the meat a bit too undercooked. The last one I did I over-cooked so I guess I over-compensated with my IT readings this time.

We served it with au jus, my horseradish sauce, butter beans, corn, steamed broccoli, and fresh celery and carrot sticks and cauliflower with ranch sauce and pimiento cheese.

Again, thank you to everyone who helped answer my questions - and for the birthday wishes.

:bluesbros:

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Standing Rib Roast

rabbithutch

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forluvofsmoke

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scarbelly

Gone but not forgotten. RIP

rad5

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dragonmaster194

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mneeley490

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rabbithutch

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