- Aug 27, 2008
- 5,170
- 409
Another look at the whole beef rib or prime rib, and what you can do with it other than just smoke it up whole...
Thought I'd toss in a late round...my internet router crashed on Friday evening (12-21-12...hmm, end of the world? LOL!!!) and I just got a replacement up and running a couple nights ago and have been trying to play catch-up ever since, so, better late than never.
I ran with a dry smoke chamber all the way on this smoke, mainly for the benefit of juicy no-foil ribs, with a pea-gravel filled water pan and a foil drippings catch on the gravel. I separated the ribs from the eye, trimmed the eye fairly lean and removed most of the fat-cap leaving nearly no surface fat, then lightly cross-hatch scored the surface muscle for a pre-shrinkage tear starter so the meat would hold it's shape a bit better after it did begin to shrink on the surface...worked out pretty well, overall
I had a nice subject for this project, at 21.75lbs...second largest I ever smoked...this was on sale, btw, and we see these sales about 3-4 times anually...
...reg 10.99-11.99/lb...
:
Separating the ribs almost down to the bone...onto the bone here and there, but I wasn't after the super-meaty slab of ribs this time around...just wanted the bones out for a little belly teaser snackin' before the real deal hits the plate:
Ribs rubbed with a red bell pepper and tart cherry based rub I concocted for the occasion...had a touch of cumin, thyme, rosemary, garlic, pepper, among several other spices:
Rib eye with the same, only a quite bit heavier application:
3 hours into the smoke, with 3+ hours of heavier smoke provided by cherry, pecan and a bit of hickory in the Smoke Vault 24 @ 250*....just stabbed the beast and I/T's were 107* on the left (small end) and 118* on the right (large end)):
Almost 6 hours, and I/T's were 135* left, and 143* right:
Resting in wait for my steel and carving knife after 6.5 hours...gave it about 30 minutes to relax a bit:
The small end with a heavier cross-section...147* internal finished temp...(large end was 154* finished temp)...notice how the scoring opened up with meat shrinkage...also, a nice bark, just hard enough to make me work a little to make a nice slice:
We kept this meal simple and a bit lighter, as we had eaten breakfast and lunch with family and friends, so we had just enough appetite for some ribs and eye, with taters au gratin on the side...no au jus wads really needed here...tasted fantastic all by itself, and natural juices were plentiful:
Easy prep, easy no-fuss smoke...didn't touch a thing, other stab probes into the eye...just let it do it's thing...great eats!!!
I didn't get finished pics of the ribs...they came out when I yanked the eye and we munched 'em up while the eye rested...they were a nice appetizer before the main course, though, and went rather quickly...juicy and tender inside, with a medium-light bark outside.
All in all, that was a very nice way to top off a day of celebration.
Two days after, I shaved the remaining 5lbs of rib eye with a heavy-weight chef's knife (semi-soft frozen from storing in my Q-fridge @ 26*) and tossed into a pot of au jus to reheat, with sautee'd onion, then, strained the meat, retaining the au jus for dipping on the side and tossed onto crusty hoagie rolls and topped with fined grated mozz and cheddar for some great, tender cheese-steak/french-dip combo sammies...and the crusty rolls held up like a champ with au jus and offered a nice contrasting texture in the bite and chew...mmm-mmm-mmm! (if only I had remembered the digi-cam that night...I guess that's what I get for sleep deprivation from going to work @ 1:15 am on Christmas morning just so I could smoke dinner...took me 3-4 days to recover from that...grrrrr!!!)
So, next time you're thinking prime rib, take it to another level...and this is only one of several ways you can get more bang for your buck. If you can buy a whole beef rib on sale as we often do and can't eat it all in one meal, bone it out and steak out a portion of the eye to marinate for smoked or grilled eye steaks the next day. This is a primo cut of beef, so get it when you can, and with a little imagination, you can use it to it's full potential for 2-3 or more fine meals. This is our favorite cut of beef, and for good reason.
Thanks for peekin'!
Keep your smoker(s) warm and happy!
Happy New Year to all to all a good night!
Eric
EDIT: Wiki Article: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/wet-to-dry-no-foil-smoke-chamber-method-for-smoking-meats
Thought I'd toss in a late round...my internet router crashed on Friday evening (12-21-12...hmm, end of the world? LOL!!!) and I just got a replacement up and running a couple nights ago and have been trying to play catch-up ever since, so, better late than never.
I ran with a dry smoke chamber all the way on this smoke, mainly for the benefit of juicy no-foil ribs, with a pea-gravel filled water pan and a foil drippings catch on the gravel. I separated the ribs from the eye, trimmed the eye fairly lean and removed most of the fat-cap leaving nearly no surface fat, then lightly cross-hatch scored the surface muscle for a pre-shrinkage tear starter so the meat would hold it's shape a bit better after it did begin to shrink on the surface...worked out pretty well, overall
I had a nice subject for this project, at 21.75lbs...second largest I ever smoked...this was on sale, btw, and we see these sales about 3-4 times anually...
Separating the ribs almost down to the bone...onto the bone here and there, but I wasn't after the super-meaty slab of ribs this time around...just wanted the bones out for a little belly teaser snackin' before the real deal hits the plate:
Ribs rubbed with a red bell pepper and tart cherry based rub I concocted for the occasion...had a touch of cumin, thyme, rosemary, garlic, pepper, among several other spices:
Rib eye with the same, only a quite bit heavier application:
3 hours into the smoke, with 3+ hours of heavier smoke provided by cherry, pecan and a bit of hickory in the Smoke Vault 24 @ 250*....just stabbed the beast and I/T's were 107* on the left (small end) and 118* on the right (large end)):
Almost 6 hours, and I/T's were 135* left, and 143* right:
Resting in wait for my steel and carving knife after 6.5 hours...gave it about 30 minutes to relax a bit:
The small end with a heavier cross-section...147* internal finished temp...(large end was 154* finished temp)...notice how the scoring opened up with meat shrinkage...also, a nice bark, just hard enough to make me work a little to make a nice slice:
We kept this meal simple and a bit lighter, as we had eaten breakfast and lunch with family and friends, so we had just enough appetite for some ribs and eye, with taters au gratin on the side...no au jus wads really needed here...tasted fantastic all by itself, and natural juices were plentiful:
Easy prep, easy no-fuss smoke...didn't touch a thing, other stab probes into the eye...just let it do it's thing...great eats!!!
I didn't get finished pics of the ribs...they came out when I yanked the eye and we munched 'em up while the eye rested...they were a nice appetizer before the main course, though, and went rather quickly...juicy and tender inside, with a medium-light bark outside.
All in all, that was a very nice way to top off a day of celebration.
Two days after, I shaved the remaining 5lbs of rib eye with a heavy-weight chef's knife (semi-soft frozen from storing in my Q-fridge @ 26*) and tossed into a pot of au jus to reheat, with sautee'd onion, then, strained the meat, retaining the au jus for dipping on the side and tossed onto crusty hoagie rolls and topped with fined grated mozz and cheddar for some great, tender cheese-steak/french-dip combo sammies...and the crusty rolls held up like a champ with au jus and offered a nice contrasting texture in the bite and chew...mmm-mmm-mmm! (if only I had remembered the digi-cam that night...I guess that's what I get for sleep deprivation from going to work @ 1:15 am on Christmas morning just so I could smoke dinner...took me 3-4 days to recover from that...grrrrr!!!)
So, next time you're thinking prime rib, take it to another level...and this is only one of several ways you can get more bang for your buck. If you can buy a whole beef rib on sale as we often do and can't eat it all in one meal, bone it out and steak out a portion of the eye to marinate for smoked or grilled eye steaks the next day. This is a primo cut of beef, so get it when you can, and with a little imagination, you can use it to it's full potential for 2-3 or more fine meals. This is our favorite cut of beef, and for good reason.
Thanks for peekin'!
Keep your smoker(s) warm and happy!
Happy New Year to all to all a good night!
Eric
EDIT: Wiki Article: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/wet-to-dry-no-foil-smoke-chamber-method-for-smoking-meats
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