Christmas Prime Rib

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meatnbeer

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Aug 25, 2009
146
15
Cross Plains, WI
I need your opinions.  My family has decided to "let" me cook a prime rib for our christmas day dinner.  The problem is, my parents live 2.5 hours from me and I will be going to there house 2 days before we eat.  The best thing would be to take the smoker along and cook it up there, but that is not realistic.  So my thought is to cook the prime rib to 135 degrees, allow it to cool, wrap in foil and put it in the fridge.  Then on christmas day warm it in the oven.

Do you think this will work or will the meat get tough with the reheat?  What temp should I set the oven to for the reheat?  Do I heat it to 135 again during the reheat?
 
I would put a pan of onions and beef stock  under it when you smoke it and use that as an au jus. I would heat the oven to 350 and warm for 30 -40 min with some of the juice to maintain the moisture. If the roast is less than 5# 20 min may heat it  
 
We plan on getting one that is at least 10 pounds.  I will take your reccomendation for the au jus.  I don't want to cook it in the aujus though do I?  I don't want to give it a "boiled" texture.  Just put some in the pan when I warm it up and baste with it?  Really though, if you think it would warm that fast I don't know if the aujus would actually serve a purpose.....
 
I would stay on the rarer side if you are going to reheat it. I would only cook to around 120F, it's gonna rise a little after you take it off and then when you reheat it. You might end up with a tough cut of meat if you start at 135F. You can always cook it a little more if you have to.
 
I would stay on the rarer side if you are going to reheat it. I would only cook to around 120F, it's gonna rise a little after you take it off and then when you reheat it. You might end up with a tough cut of meat if you start at 135F. You can always cook it a little more if you have to.


I was going to say exactly that. I had it all typed out, and I chickened out. I started wondering if you would have to add the time it took to get it from 40˚ to 120˚ on the first day, to the time it took to get from 40˚ to 140˚ on the final day, and maybe the time it took to cool back down from 120˚ to 40˚ on the first day. If you add that up, you would be way far over 4 hours. 

I don't know if this would be a problem, but I think it is, so I think if I was doing it, and couldn't take the smoker with me, I would just make it in their oven. Maybe somebody else would know more about this, but that's my thoughts on the whole thing.

A Prime Rib is too good a piece of meat to play around with, when you're talking about Danger Zones.

I think to be safe, you'd have to take it to 135˚ the first time, and then figure out how to heat it up on the final day, without making it too well done, and I have no idea how to do that.

Sorry, but that's my 2 1/2 cents,

Bear
 
Originally Posted by Bearcarver

"Sorry, but that's my 2 1/2 cents,"


That is why I am asking!  I need all of the input I can get so that I can decide if it is even possible to do this.

Maybe I can make some sort of disposable smoker, sort of in the Alton Brown style. (cardboard box and a hot plate)  He used this for cold smoking.  I wonder if you add a space heater in to the equation if you could hit 240?
 
At the risk of getting hammered, you have to ask yourself if the effort is going to be worth the payoff on this one.  I'd just roast the thing in the oven on the day of.  I realize that this is a smoking website, but I think a cook and re-heat on a piece of beef like that is never going to duplicate the quality of a piece of meat cooked to temp right before serving it.

OR...... buy and ECB for $40.   Use it to cook the rib, and leave it as a Christmas gift for the in-laws.
 
you have already gotten some good advice, so I can't add much! But I would ask that you let us know what you do, how you do it and what the final result was.This could help someone else someday! (Maybe even myself.)
 
I see what you're saying Bear but how is it any different from say I cooked my prime rib to 120F, didn't eat it all, and heated the leftovers up? I do that all the time. Maybe I'm missing something.
 
I see what you're saying Bear but how is it any different from say I cooked my prime rib to 120F, didn't eat it all, and heated the leftovers up? I do that all the time. Maybe I'm missing something.
I can only give you my opinion on that:

Probably not much different at all.

Eating it at 120˚ is bad enough, but all the time involved going from 40˚ to 120˚. Then the time cooling from 120˚ to 40˚. Then the time heating it from 40˚ to whatever you take it to the second time, has got to be a lot worse than just eating meat at 120˚. I like mine about 140˚ (All Pink & bloody).

Bear
 
If you don't have a good thermometer, either way cooking a standing rib roast with one is gonna make your cook a lot more successful and convenient. I use a Polder with a cord you can monitor the temperature outside the oven/smoker with an alarm the goes of when the set desired temperature is reached opening the doors not necessary.

I've never done what you are attempting to do all I'd suggest is getting your roast chilled right away smoking ahead of time. Your inside temp. may be 120-125 degrees but the outside will be considerably different than that of coarse and you don't want it that way for very long at all. If you don't get a smoker to do it at your relatives and you decide smoke it ahead of time, I'd have a cooler chuck with ice to put it in immediately. 

Personally, I would smoke it there or roast it conventionally.
 
I see what you're saying Bear but how is it any different from say I cooked my prime rib to 120F, didn't eat it all, and heated the leftovers up? I do that all the time. Maybe I'm missing something.
I can only give you my opinion on that:

Probably not much different at all.

Eating it at 120˚ is bad enough, but all the time involved going from 40˚ to 120˚. Then the time cooling from 120˚ to 40˚. Then the time heating it from 40˚ to whatever you take it to the second time, has got to be a lot worse than just eating meat at 120˚. I like mine about 140˚ (All Pink & bloody).

Bear
I can only tell you that you know I love you like one of my brothers but I do violate the beef rule and pull it at much lower temps  cause I like mine really rare. I used to joke in a restaruant that I wanted them to grab a pair of tongs and pass it over the fire 3 or 4 times to warm it up then plate it.   I know - I know - I know. This is for me not for the forum and for food safety. Maybe Cheryl and I need to open a raw beef comune LOL

 
 
I see what you're saying Bear but how is it any different from say I cooked my prime rib to 120F, didn't eat it all, and heated the leftovers up? I do that all the time. Maybe I'm missing something.
I can only give you my opinion on that:

Probably not much different at all.

Eating it at 120˚ is bad enough, but all the time involved going from 40˚ to 120˚. Then the time cooling from 120˚ to 40˚. Then the time heating it from 40˚ to whatever you take it to the second time, has got to be a lot worse than just eating meat at 120˚. I like mine about 140˚ (All Pink & bloody).

Bear
I can only tell you that you know I love you like one of my brothers but I do violate the beef rule and pull it at much lower temps  cause I like mine really rare. I used to joke in a restaruant that I wanted them to grab a pair of tongs and pass it over the fire 3 or 4 times to warm it up then plate it.   I know - I know - I know. This is for me not for the forum and for food safety. Maybe Cheryl and I need to open a raw beef comune LOL

 
i usually pull MY (for me) rib @ 120.......................but then sometimes i wake up and look like this.

d812ca2e_vampire-power-1.jpg

 
 
LOL---I know, I know, a lot of people eat Prime Rib at 120˚. I doubt it would hurt you.

However I still don't think cooking a Prime Rib one day & finishing it another day is in any way a good idea (The original question).

I always eat ALL of our left-over Prime Rib, and though I still love it, it is nothing like when it was fresh. The whole thing would be a "Left-Over".

BTW:   This is my 142˚----Rare enough for me----Hot---Pink---And Bloody ! (no comments please---family oriented site!)

30fa69d2_1000x500px-LL-f46592e4_DSC01572.jpg


Thanks,

Bear
 
This right here was going to be my EXACT suggestion. Give the gift of food *AND* you'll always have a way to do more stuff there and ready for you for future Family Gatherings.  I would LOVE that!!

Having never done what you are wanting to do, I cannot comment on taste. :(

I do not want to wade into the Food Safety conversation, and I do not know the guest list of your party, *BUT* I would like to remind:

When cooking for small children, pregnant women, the immuno-compromised and elderly persons ALWAYS err on the side of caution.
 
OR...... buy and ECB for $40.   Use it to cook the rib, and leave it as a Christmas gift for the in-laws.
 
Thats a nice lookin piece of meat Bear.  I second the buy the cheap smoker, EARLY so you can season and cook on it. Then if you leave as a gift it will be seasoned, cooked on and most off all you can explain how to use it.  Good Luck -  They (the family) will always remember how awesome it was watching and learning something and then eating it. I can hear " You the Man".  OR they will remember that Xmas that they all had sore jaws from chewing on a overcooked, dryed out chunk of expensive beef AND got sick.  Just my 2 cents. 
 
I also prefer Smoke 2 Geaux's suggestion if possible. I think you'll end up with a much tastier piece of meat. I did a 14 pounder about 5 yrs ago for Christmas dinner, and needless to say there was about half left over. I warmed it up the next day for another dinner and it definitely wasn't the same. Even though I only brought it up to 140, I found that the colour had changed and it looked a lot more well done.
 
At the risk of getting hammered, you have to ask yourself if the effort is going to be worth the payoff on this one.  I'd just roast the thing in the oven on the day of.  I realize that this is a smoking website, but I think a cook and re-heat on a piece of beef like that is never going to duplicate the quality of a piece of meat cooked to temp right before serving it.

OR...... buy and ECB for $40.   Use it to cook the rib, and leave it as a Christmas gift for the in-laws.


Dude you nailed it, I was thinking the same thing why go through all the worry, risk and trouble. Smoking is supposed to be a relaxing enjoyable event.
 
If you have a turkey fryer, bring that and deep fry that thing, Apply your favorite beef rub and drop in hot oil until you reach your desired doneness temperature. I know it isn't smoked but really good. I have also done a salt encrusted rib roast in the oven that was delicious, got the recipe off the food network. I also like the idea of buying an ECB for the ocaisian. Although those little buggers need some mods to make them run good, also if you are in a cold climate it will be hard to get it up to temp and take a ton of charcoal or lump. I have also done rib roast on the gas grill with some pretty good results. The thing to remember is it is pretty hard to mess up a prime rib, the main thing is to not overcook. I would cook to 130* max, if people preferr it a little more done drop thier cut in some boiling aujus for a bit.
 
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