After reading Todd's thread about Prime Rib last week and the fact that it was over 60 and sunny on Sunday. I decided to smoke my first prime rib this weekend. Read all the posts about prime rib on SMF and their discussions about low and slow vs hotter and fast for a better crust and a number of other sites including a great link I found on the BBQ Brethern's site that went to a cooking site called Serious Eats which also had some great info (http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/12/...ook-roast-a-perfect-prime-rib.html?ref=se-bb4). I am also a fan of Alton Brown and, as most of you know, reverse searing steak so I bought a two bone, 5.2 pound prime rib and decided to try it going relatively low and slow, then a high temp sear in the oven.
I first rubbed it with EVOO and put a light dusting of Montreal Steak Seasoning, then wrapped it and put it in the frig for about 4 hours.
About 1:00 pm, I pulled it out to let it come to room temperature and got my smoker ready (an older Perfect Flame propane) and pre-heated it to 250. I used mostly cherry but also followed a recommendation to quarter an onion and put that in the smoke box (it smelled good but I'm not sure I could taste its effect). My assistant can be seen monitoring my progress and hoping it would fall!
I started about 3:10 with the smoker at 250 and the meat at 43 degrees. I had a little trouble controlling the temperature (it went as high as about 271 and as low as 250. I smoked it almost exactly 2 hours and, although the temp went up a down a bit, the heat rise in the meat was remarkably consistent (I had never really watched this before but it was interesting, at least to me!) The temps were:
3:10 smoker was 255 degrees and meat was 53
3:45 smoker was 255 degrees and meat was 64
4:00 smoker was 262 degrees and meat was 72
4:15 smoker was 263 degrees and meat was 83
4:30 smoker was 262 degrees and meat was 93
4:45 smoker was 269 degrees and meat was 103
5:00 smoker was 266 degrees and meat was 112
5:18 smoker was 266 degrees and meat was 120
I pulled it at 120 and tented it using the drip pan I had put on the shelf below. I was really surprised and worried when I opened the smoker and there was absolutely no drippings in the drip pan. I was afraid that perhaps there wasn't enough fat on the prime rib and it would be dry.
I put the tented prime rib in the oven, turned off, for about 40 minutes while waiting for a guest and, during that time, the temperature went up to 132, then down and stabilized at about 130. I pulled it out and pre-heated the oven to 475 then put the meat in for 8 minutes in an attempt to tighten up the crust (I think I could have gone for 10 minutes or a little more but I wanted the beef rare to medium rare and my wife was worried I'd over cook it).
We pulled it, cut off the bones and carved it. It was incredibly moist and the cherry (and maybe the onion, I don't know) gave it a great taste that was very different than any prime rib just roasted in an oven.
Thanks for all the great ideas, it came out great (although next time I might pull it about 5 degrees warmer (~125-130) but the left-overs can be re-warmed and and still be medium rare so, maybe not! Next time, I think I will work harder on the rub (adding herbs, etc) but with info from SMF, I was really pleased for my first try.
Thanks Again,
Scott
Scott
I first rubbed it with EVOO and put a light dusting of Montreal Steak Seasoning, then wrapped it and put it in the frig for about 4 hours.
About 1:00 pm, I pulled it out to let it come to room temperature and got my smoker ready (an older Perfect Flame propane) and pre-heated it to 250. I used mostly cherry but also followed a recommendation to quarter an onion and put that in the smoke box (it smelled good but I'm not sure I could taste its effect). My assistant can be seen monitoring my progress and hoping it would fall!
I started about 3:10 with the smoker at 250 and the meat at 43 degrees. I had a little trouble controlling the temperature (it went as high as about 271 and as low as 250. I smoked it almost exactly 2 hours and, although the temp went up a down a bit, the heat rise in the meat was remarkably consistent (I had never really watched this before but it was interesting, at least to me!) The temps were:
3:10 smoker was 255 degrees and meat was 53
3:45 smoker was 255 degrees and meat was 64
4:00 smoker was 262 degrees and meat was 72
4:15 smoker was 263 degrees and meat was 83
4:30 smoker was 262 degrees and meat was 93
4:45 smoker was 269 degrees and meat was 103
5:00 smoker was 266 degrees and meat was 112
5:18 smoker was 266 degrees and meat was 120
I pulled it at 120 and tented it using the drip pan I had put on the shelf below. I was really surprised and worried when I opened the smoker and there was absolutely no drippings in the drip pan. I was afraid that perhaps there wasn't enough fat on the prime rib and it would be dry.
I put the tented prime rib in the oven, turned off, for about 40 minutes while waiting for a guest and, during that time, the temperature went up to 132, then down and stabilized at about 130. I pulled it out and pre-heated the oven to 475 then put the meat in for 8 minutes in an attempt to tighten up the crust (I think I could have gone for 10 minutes or a little more but I wanted the beef rare to medium rare and my wife was worried I'd over cook it).
We pulled it, cut off the bones and carved it. It was incredibly moist and the cherry (and maybe the onion, I don't know) gave it a great taste that was very different than any prime rib just roasted in an oven.
Thanks for all the great ideas, it came out great (although next time I might pull it about 5 degrees warmer (~125-130) but the left-overs can be re-warmed and and still be medium rare so, maybe not! Next time, I think I will work harder on the rub (adding herbs, etc) but with info from SMF, I was really pleased for my first try.
Thanks Again,
Scott
Scott
