Newbie question regarding Reverse Sear and Pime Rib

[BartenderAL72]

Hello Everybody. You guys have one heck of a great resource here for guys like myself to learn from and I thank all those who have gone before me for freely imparting that knowledge. I've been reading a ton of great info here in the SMF threads over the last week or so...and I've tried (and succeeded) in garnering my own answers from previously posted questions...but I'm having difficulty deducing something regarding Reverse Sear and Prime Rib. My in-laws shipped us a Traeger Pro 22 for Christmas. I wasn't looking for it, probably wouldn't have bought it if I was shopping for a smoker, but I now own it, so I'm putting it to use. I cooked 2 pork butts over the weekend...and while doing so, all I could think about was how ideal this contraption potentially could be for making prime rib. I have my trusty ol' Emeril Lagasse prime rib recipe that I've been using for 25 yrs...mainly for the seasoning...and I've been incorporating a slow and low oven temp from another recipe. Emeril has me searing the Prime Rib before cooking, which I do. Which brings me to my question...do you guys reverse sear because searing prior to smoking limits the smoke penetration? If that is the case, then I suppose it doesn't matter much for pellet grill owners as this forum has taught me I'm not alone in being disappointed with the amount of smoke flavor imparted from my grill (yes I now have a few bags of better pellets arriving and also a smoker tube, and I'm teetering on the fence about getting a Smoke Daddy P.I.G.). As of now, I see this Traeger as more an outdoor heat source (potentially great for prime rib), and less a smoker. I know no-one asked, but if you don't mind, I'd like to share what I was planning to do. If anyone see's a flaw, would you mind pointing it out to me? Remove roast from bone, rub with kosher salt and let set in the fridge uncovered for a few days on wire rack in sheet pan. The day of the cook, rub with pepper and sear it in a cast iron skillet on all sides (except cut side), cut some 2 inch deep slits into the roast and stuff with pealed garlic and fresh thyme, tie roast back to ribs, then slather the entire roast in a dijon mustard and jarred horseradish mix, preheat the grill, and then cook her slow and low...in a pan with roast rack to catch juices...as low a temp as I can maintain...until I hit the 120-125ish mark. Rest for an hour. Potentially crisp up the exterior with a 5 minute trip under the broiler in my oven. In the off chance my Traeger does give off a smokey flavor - and the pre-smoke sear won't limit smoke penetration - which pellet compliments PR best: Pecan, Apple or Hickory? That's the pellets I have on hand. Thanks for your time, and I apologize for being so verbose. Happy to be here! Have an awesome day guys and gals!

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Sounds like you already have a pretty good handle on the prime rib as far as cooking and seasoning it goes. My only suggestion would be to reverse your order. Why not smoke it first and then sear it? I would leave all of you seasonings and method that same but instead of searing in a cast iron right off the bat throw in the traegar with hickory pellets as low as it will go. Take the roast to 110-115 and then sear the crap out of it on a super hot gas grill if you have one. If not CI pan will do the trick. This will give you the smoke penetration you are looking for and also the sear. You aren't going to get much if any smoke on it searing first then smoking, Take some pics when you decide to do this I will be following!

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

Reverse sear the PR after smoking.
You may also find that you won't even need to reverse sear it.
Every thing else you intend to do sounds like a solid plan.
As for the pellets, any of those flavors will be good.
Though personally, I would lean more toward pecan.
With the addition of the tube, you just might find that it does the trick for smoke production on your Traeger, so don't discount it just yet.

 

[jcam222]

Welcome aboard from Ohio. Congrats on the Traeger. I’m in the smoke then sear camp as well.

 

[thirdeye]

I see no real flaws and your plan will work very well; the best part is using a low pit temp, this will guarantee an even doneness from end to end and across each slice.

But since you asked.... I favor the reverse sear too and since I cook over live fire sometimes I don't need the end sear, because I get the color I want. I smoke them at 215° to 225° pit temp. To give you an idea of subtle differences in technique, here is how I prep and cook a prime rib. First, I remove the bones and smoke them them separately, which takes more time, but they come out very tender. I start them earlier than the roast. I trim up the roast removing any loose tags of meat or heavy fat, and tie the roast trying to make it uniform. Removing more fat gives me more bark, and tying makes it cook more even.

Seasonings are a personal choice and I change those up all the time. I don't think I've ever made a bad choice, and I've tried some pretty extreme rubs and slathers. Even a Mexican prime rib with a spicy basting sauce.

Inject? I usually do, even a jazzed up beefy broth helps with flavor. Is it mandatory? No, injections are a tool, not a rule.

I prefer to hang meats in my smoker, but in your Traeger you can cook on the grate, or even in a foil pan with a rack.

I will spray a couple of times during the cook to keep the roast moist, and to set the bark. Plain water works fine, or I might add some Wooster to the water, or pickle juice, just nothing sweet. Here is what the roast looks like right off the smoker, this one doesn't need an end sear so I took the internal to 125° or so, and rested 20 or 25 minutes.

I'm guessing the internal rose to 130° or 134° during the rest.

 

[BartenderAL72]

Why not smoke it first and then sear it? I would leave all of you seasonings and method that same but instead of searing in a cast iron right off the bat throw in the traegar with hickory pellets as low as it will go. Take the roast to 110-115 and then sear the crap out of it on a super hot gas grill if you have one. If not CI pan will do the trick. This will give you the smoke penetration you are looking for and also the sear. You aren't going to get much if any smoke on it searing first then smoking, Take some pics when you decide to do this I will be following!

If I don't coat it in mustard, then that is what I will do. Thanks SmokinVolfan.

 

[BartenderAL72]

Reverse sear the PR after smoking.
You may also find that you won't even need to reverse sear it.

Thanks SecondHandSmoker. I can see I'm going to have to make 2 now...I reverse sear, and then at a later date one not seared, just to be able to compare.

 

[BartenderAL72]

Welcome aboard from Ohio. Congrats on the Traeger. I’m in the smoke then sear camp as well.

Thanks, jcam22. I'm going to give it a try.

 

[BartenderAL72]

thirdeye : That looks amazing. I never would have considered injecting the roast. Not sure how I feel about that, But I suppose I'll have to cook a third one eventually giving that method a try as well! Thanks!