2, 4, or 6 Ends - What do you prefer?

[GrumpyGriller]

I have an 18lb. boneless prime rib that I am making for my wife's birthday on Sunday. I am trying to decide if I should leave it as one piece to get 2 end pieces, split it half for 4, or split it into thirds to get 6?

Personally, I like the extra flavor on the end, though they of course cook more quickly because of the surface area exposure. I am thinking that 6 end pieces is too many, but I am also curious to see how it comes out in both presentation and taste. I'll be looking for on the medium-rare as the serving temp.

Once trimmed, I'll be coating it with coarse salt and pepper, then completely encrusting the beast with the following mixture :)

GARLIC HERB BUTTER​

(Modified but with attribution to Susie @ Hey Grill Hey)

• 32 oz softened butter
• 16 cloves garlic (minced)
• 4 sprigs rosemary (finely minced)
• 4 sprigs thyme (finely minced)
• 4 teaspoons salt (either sea or kosher)
• 4 teaspoons black pepper (fresh ground)

It'll be smoked at 225 with Super-Smoke and smoke tubs. I'll have the meat on a wire rack above a shallow baking pan to capture the melted coating and will use that to drizzle during serving. And of course, homemade horseradish cream sauce will be available as well!

 

[tallbm]

I'm with you on most exposed surface area for flavor so cant be of much help. Prime rib is always kind of disappointing to me. I would rather smoke and reverse sear to have ribeye steaks that are amazing :D

 

[Nefarious]

Having a single roast allows you to have pieces that are done to different levels. If you cut it too many times it is then just steaks. I prefer my beef to be more rare, just my opinion.

 

[GrumpyGriller]

Having a single roast allows you to have pieces that are done to different levels. If you cut it too many times it is then just steaks. I prefer my beef to be more rare, just my opinion.

Yeah - most of us like it on the rarer side as well - I don't do shoe leather :). I have until tomorrow to decide, but so far I am leaning towards either keeping it as one large piece or splitting into 2 and doing a different prep on each!?!

 

[sawhorseray]

I smoke 3-4 ribbers quite often, usually try to pull at 123º IT and let the carry-over work it's magic to +/- a degree of around 130º. I just season with sea salt and CBP, creamed and prepared horseradish combo on the dinner table. I punch lamb roasts with a lot of garlic, not primes. Everyone has their own favorite method, I'd most likely cut it into a 3 and a 4 ribber, do one straight. RAY

 

[Nefarious]

Yeah - most of us like it on the rarer side as well - I don't do shoe leather :). I have until tomorrow to decide, but so far I am leaning towards either keeping it as one large piece or splitting into 2 and doing a different prep on each!?!

An 18lb roast is a very large roast. You could probably get away with 3 pieces and still have plenty of rare meat. That's probably what I would do, and sounds in union with RAY.

 

[GrumpyGriller]

So I decided to make 2 different offerings…going Sunday about 9-10 AM for 6 pm dinner.

 

[sawhorseray]

That's a lot of darned cook time Grump. I've smoked SRR's on a offset, Webber Kettle, and many times on my Pro 100 smoker. The Pro 100 is about the best electronic smoker money can buy, commercial grade, +/- two degrees. A eight pounder at 235º takes right around six hours, seven max, half hour rest, time to eat. Ain't trying to tell you what to do, just sayin'. Good luck and post it up! Oh that's right, maybe all that butter stuff will make it take longer! RAY

 

[GrumpyGriller]

That's a lot of darned cook time Grump. I've smoked SRR's on a offset, Webber Kettle, and many times on my Pro 100 smoker. The Pro 100 is about the best electronic smoker money can buy, commercial grade, +/- two degrees. A eight pounder at 235º takes right around six hours, seven max, half hour rest, time to eat. Ain't trying to tell you what to do, just sayin'. Good luck and post it up! Oh that's right, maybe all that butter stuff will make it take longer! RAY

Yeah….good point. Went back to my logs and probably going to start 10:00 - 10:30 as I'll pull early, rest for a 1/2 hour and the sear them up at 400. Always a challenge to tine wit also doing other stuff