New from Northwest Metro Atlanta - Smoking Prime Rib in a Salt Dome????

[CharBroilKeg]

Thank you. Relatively new to smoking. Got lucky and got a free Char Broil Keg grill from a neighbor who was moving. Have done Turkey (terrible, used the grill outside thermometer and it was about 100F too low, Smoked a 10 lb turkey at 160-170F. Brother got sick. I now use a internal thermometer for grill temperature), decent pork shoulder and good prime rib. Doing prime rib again at Christmas. I have a problem. Son in Law liked the Prime Rib I made several years ago in a salt dome in the oven. Said it was the best he ever had. However I want the prime rib to have a smoked flavor so want to do it in the keg grill. I am concerned if I put the prime rib in the salt dome, the meat will not get the smoked flavor. If I smoke the prime rib something like to 110F and then cover it with a salt dome, the meat will cool and maybe develop an unhealthy level of bacteria. I guess I could forgo the salt dome if I had some method just as good. Thank goodness my Brother and Sister In Law are not coming. They like their prime rib well done. I was considering a dry rub overnight and smoking in butcher paper. Don't care that much for the crispy crust as much as the juicy meat but would be nice. I was also thinking of heating up the salt mixture with the meat and then cover the meat sometime in the cooking cycle (not sure of what temperature to use). Anyway, any easy idiot proof ideas on how to get a smoked melt in your mouth prime rib. I am buying a modest quality prime rib at Publix so no help there. Thank you in advance for any replies.

 

[Hockeydudde]

Never cooked or consumed anything in a salt dive, but always looked intriguing.
Heavily salted surface aside, what is the benefit of a salt dome?

My first volley would be why not HEAVILY salt the surface, but not dome it to the point that it blocks the smoke.

Interested in the other replies.

 

[Hockeydudde]

Oh! And welcome from New Mexico!
I'm sure other folks have experience. And will be more helpful than my speculation.

 

[JLeonard]

Welcome from Mississippi! Has your son in law had a nicely smoked prime rib? I'd do this one to your choices and see what he thinks.
Please keep us updated on your process and throw some pics in the mix.

Jim

 

[rjob]

Interesting technique.
Link below is one method. Did a search for cooking meat in a salt dome. Quite a few variations are available.

How to Salt-Roast Meat | D'Artagnan

Learn how to cook using a thick, salt crust. This fun method traps heat & moisture for amazing results.

www.dartagnan.com

 

[rjob]

This u-tube shows adding smoke flavor with hay to a salt dome. So would saw dust or wood chips torched and added to the salt provide the wood smoke flavor?

 

[mr mac]

Welcome from Southeast Missouri. Definitely following this one.

Mac

 

[mr mac]

This u-tube shows adding smoke flavor with hay to a salt dome. So would saw dust or wood chips torched and added to the salt provide the wood smoke flavor?

Sorry, but I cringed at lightning the grass on fire.

As suggested earlier, just smoke the roast at 250° F with either hickory, apple, cherry, peach, mesquite or some combination (I like hickory and apple) and then when it hits 120° F stick it in a 500° oven to get the crust. You won't be disappointed.

 

[CharBroilKeg]

The salt dome which is on all 4 sides of the ribeye roast is suppose to keep all the juices in. No drippings for gravy though. The olive oil on the meat is suppose to block the salt intrusion. I think it is a Mediterranean style of cooking. Salt dome hardens and you break apart with hammer which is cool for the guests. I mixed eggs with it and you need the course salt or it falls apart. There are variations. We did it in the oven a few years ago and it was very moist and not salty. I highly recommend it if using an oven. Brother in law said best he ever had but I think he has not been exposed to a smoker. You do have to bump the temperature up in the oven with the salt dome. Think it was 325 F. Seen on TV done on poultry and the cooks praised the result. The salt dome takes a lot of room. I like the wood chips singed in the salt method if going on a smoker. I saw a method using burnt hay and salt mixed in the dome but could not find food grade hay. The 250 F Smoke followed by the 500 F oven looks good but my wife keeps me out of the oven. Maybe I can negotiate but she is a mess on Christmas handled best by keeping out of the kitchen. I could maybe raise the grill to 500 F and try that. Options Options Options. I asked my brother in law if he ever had smoked prime rib and he said he has not so I think I am going to skip the salt dome. I think if you did the salt dome on the smoker, the singed wood chip method or heating the salt in the grill with the meat and them maybe using water to bind it, pack it and then raise the smoker temperature to say 325 is the way to go but have no idea. Probably get burned bad. Thank you. Getting hungry. Good advice.

 

[CharBroilKeg]

The salt dome which is on all 4 sides of the ribeye roast is suppose to keep all the juices in. No drippings for gravy though. The olive oil on the meat is suppose to block the salt intrusion. I think it is a Mediterranean style of cooking. Salt dome hardens and you break apart with hammer which is cool for the guests. I mixed eggs with it and you need the course salt or it falls apart. There are variations. We did it in the oven a few years ago and it was very moist and not salty. I highly recommend it if using an oven. Brother in law said best he ever had but I think he has not been exposed to a smoker. You do have to bump the temperature up in the oven with the salt dome. Think it was 325 F. Seen on TV done on poultry and the cooks praised the result. The salt dome takes a lot of room. I like the wood chips singed in the salt method if going on a smoker. I saw a method using burnt hay and salt mixed in the dome but could not find food grade hay. The 250 F Smoke followed by the 500 F oven looks good but my wife keeps me out of the oven. Maybe I can negotiate but she is a mess on Christmas handled best by keeping out of the kitchen. I could maybe raise the grill to 500 F and try that. Options Options Options. I asked my brother in law if he ever had smoked prime rib and he said he has not so I think I am going to skip the salt dome. I think if you did the salt dome on the smoker, the singed wood chip method or heating the salt in the grill with the meat and them maybe using water to bind it, pack it and then raise the smoker temperature to say 325 is the way to go but have no idea. Probably get burned bad. Thank you. Getting hungry. Good advice.

Thinking on this and I think the Salt Dome is more suited for long cooking times of lean meat like Poultry which tends to dry out before done. I would love to do a side by side comparison with one in salt dome and one on the smoker to see which is moister.

 

[CharBroilKeg]

Ok, did the prime rib on Christmas in my keg smoker without the salt dome. It ended up OK but too well done. Here is what I did to a 8.3 lb Rib Roast. Sorry for all the details but any small hint that makes a better roast would be appreciated. I want a medium rare fork tender smoked rib roast for all the time and expense. Thank you for any assistance.

1. Dry rubbed entire roast 24 hours prior with salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary and chili pepper.
2. Only got to rest it about 1 hour (dinner time moved up), sprayed on olive oil before putting in smoker. I had a water tray underneath with onions, apples, thyme and rosemary. Internal temperature at start was 38 F.
3. Smoker at 230 F average and took about 5 hours to get to 120 F (Note, I see a big variation in the internet on times to cook a roast per lb. Any advice appreciated) . Easy to control the temperature with the water tray.
4. Took roast out of smoker and covered with foil and rested about 1 hour (saw one video that recommeded this before crusting at 500 F but then did not let it rest after the crust before carving) while I got the smoker up to 450 F. I think it would have gone up faster if I had removed the water tray.
5. Could not use the oven. Wife had a ham in it.
6. Drained the water out of the tray. When I put the probe back in the roast it was 135 F. Brushed off all the salt seasoning (not sure why, thought the crust would be salty). I brushed entire roast with butter and put the roast back in the smoker. The keg temp dropped to 400 F initially but went up to 510F during the 15 minutes I had the roast in. The internal roast temperature did not go up during that time.
7. Pulled the roast off after 15 minutes but I pulled the probe so do not know how far the internal temperature went but thinking 140 F plus.
8. Wrapped the roast in foil but due to dinner running late, it rested for about 2 hours.
9. When I carved it the meat, it was still warm with the internal meat looking medium but a lot of the roast looked medium well.
10. Roast was still moist but not fork tender and did have a good smoked taste.
11. Crust was not that well developed.

Sorry for the long post but hoping someone will see a step that hurt my goal and have a suggestion for the corrrect action.

 

[JLeonard]

I've never cooked a prime rib so no real help on that...

3. Smoker at 230 F average and took about 5 hours to get to 120 F (Note, I see a big variation in the internet on times to cook a roast per lb. Any advice appreciated)

But on this point I can say....I just use anything I see on the internet as a guideline.

Jim

 

[BigW.]

My Xmas ribeye roast cooked faster than I wanted using my kettle. Since it did, I skipped searing the outside. My guess after the searing and adding foil tent it cruised up 5-10 degrees.

 

[MJB05615]

Welcome from Dacula Ga.
I usually pull the roast out of the Smoker when the IT hits 120. Then cover in foil, and let it rest or put in oven for the crusting, etc. I keep the temp probe in the entire time to better monitor internal temps. If it gets close to 130' I pull out of the oven and rest for 30 minutes or so. When it is resting it is not uncommon for the IT to rise 5-10'.

 

[CharBroilKeg]

Thinking maybe of pulling it out at 115 F during the above process. rest say 30 minutes and crust to 125 F internal. If not up to 125F could put in a 225 oven after crusting. It was a big roast. I do think is I should have done what the previous poster did. Forget the crusting as the roast was at 135 F internal temperature when I was about to start the crusting.