Prime Rib - Low & Slow?

[Scott Eisenbraun]

Cooking a 6.5lb bone in prime rib today for out of state relatives. (My old fishing and hunting partner) I have always done prime rib in the house oven at 325f.

I have decided to use my Yoder pellet smoker this time for a different take on this special piece of meat. Used the search bar for smoked prime rib and noticed several of you are smoking at 225f for 3 to 5 hrs. Is there a big difference between the flavor and juices retained when going low and slow? Reverse Sear also?

 

[phathead69]

Follow bears thread on prime rib and you cant go wrong

 

[hillbillyrkstr]

I have always done prime at 225ish and then seared on a hot grill to finish it and get some crust on the outside. Always great results.

Scott

 

[SmokinAl]

I never bothered with the sear part, just smoked it at 225-250 until done. We like ours rare to med/rare, so I pull it off at about 125-130 IT.
Al

 

[Scott Eisenbraun]

Thanks guys. I'm putting it in the smoker now. Luckily, everyone likes med rare. Will let you know how it came out.

 

[chilerelleno]

Thanks guys. I'm putting it in the smoker now. Luckily, everyone likes med rare. Will let you know how it came out.

So, how'd it turn out?
We need Qview of this.

 

[Scott Eisenbraun]

So, how'd it turn out?
We need Qview of this.

OK - Put on at 3pm @ 235f. Took it off smoker at 120f at 6:30pm. Beautiful color, carved after a 20 min rest. Let's just say it was pretty rare. I'm used to a 15 degree rise in temp during the rest. Low and slow doesn't work that way, evidently. They wouldn't let me put in oven to take it to med rare, we're all carnivores when it comes to red meat. In fact everyone took seconds.

Things I've learned. At 120f would have been perfect time to reverse sear to crisp the exterior. I do like the low and slow smoke flavor, and the juices stayed inside the roast instead of in the pan. It wasn't a failure, but I can do better. I'm hesitant to upload the photos, but oh well.

The next prime rib will be Thanksgiving weekend. I will nail that one!

 

[pc farmer]

OK - Put on at 3pm @ 235f. Took it off smoker at 120f at 6:30pm. Beautiful color, carved after a 20 min rest. Let's just say it was pretty rare. I'm used to a 15 degree rise in temp during the rest. Low and slow doesn't work that way, evidently. They wouldn't let me put in oven to take it to med rare, we're all carnivores when it comes to red meat. In fact everyone took seconds.

Things I've learned. At 120f would have been perfect time to reverse sear to crisp the exterior. I do like the low and slow smoke flavor, and the juices stayed inside the roast instead of in the pan. It wasn't a failure, but I can do better. I'm hesitant to upload the photos, but oh well.

The next prime rib will be Thanksgiving weekend. I will nail that one!

Nothing wrong with that. Abit to rare for me but I have ate steaks that way before. I usually pull at 130.

 

[Scott Eisenbraun]

Yeah, we eat steaks like that too. A bark on the outside would have made a world of difference. But experience is always the best teacher when it comes down to the final product.

 

[chilerelleno]

Looks freaking great, nice smoke color.
I agree, a reverse sear would been the way to go.
I smoke my steaks and reverse sear in cast iron, wonderful crust.
Not too rare for my blood lust. ;)

Also, nice Yoder.

 

[zwiller]

I don't care for smoked rib roast. Sorry. That said, I do about 3-4 per year and tried it a few different temps and didn't find any real difference between them. We like medium and pull 135F. The craziest thing that improved my rib roasts was a looong dry brine (and Lawry's is the s***) One time I dusted one for roasting the next day and next thing you know a week goes by. Holiday pop ins etc. I was actually worried it was bad but it smelled OK so I roasted it. W O W.

You said it, experience. I call failures "tuition". Semi local joint well known for smoked rib roast smokes theirs until just rare. Slices, dusts, and grills theirs. Their rub is similar to Jeff's.

 

[chilerelleno]

zwiller
Lawry's is our preferred seasoned salt too.

 

[uncle eddie]

I never bothered with the sear part, just smoked it at 225-250 until done. We like ours rare to med/rare, so I pull it off at about 125-130 IT.
Al

Ditto above

 

[Bearcarver]

OK - Put on at 3pm @ 235f. Took it off smoker at 120f at 6:30pm. Beautiful color, carved after a 20 min rest. Let's just say it was pretty rare. I'm used to a 15 degree rise in temp during the rest. Low and slow doesn't work that way, evidently. They wouldn't let me put in oven to take it to med rare, we're all carnivores when it comes to red meat. In fact everyone took seconds.

Things I've learned. At 120f would have been perfect time to reverse sear to crisp the exterior. I do like the low and slow smoke flavor, and the juices stayed inside the roast instead of in the pan. It wasn't a failure, but I can do better. I'm hesitant to upload the photos, but oh well.

The next prime rib will be Thanksgiving weekend. I will nail that one!

Nice Job, Scott !!
Like.
Yes, if you look at any of my "Many" Prime Rib Step by Steps, you will see that the normal "Carry-over" from a 220° Smoking of a Prime Rib is about 2°, not 15°. So if you want 135°, pull it at 132° or 133°.
I don't get any AuJus from my Prime Ribs, because there are no juices in the pan after Smoking for 4 or 5 hours at 220°, but who needs AuJus when all of the juices are still in the meat itself.
The main advantage of a complete 220° Smoke is that whether you finish your IT at 130°, 135°, 140° or my favorite 142°, you always get the same Pink color all the way from Bark to Bark. There is no Gray Medium or Well Done meat around the outer one or two inches of the Roast that you see in so many roasts that have been cooked in temps of 300°, 350°, or even higher Temps.

Here is a collection of proof to the Pink from Bark to Bark:
Prime Rib Calendar (14 Smoked Prime Ribs)

Bear

 

[Scott Eisenbraun]

Nice Job, Scott !!
Like.
Yes, if you look at any of my "Many" Prime Rib Step by Steps, you will see that the normal "Carry-over" from a 220° Smoking of a Prime Rib is about 2°, not 15°. So if you want 135°, pull it at 132° or 133°.
I don't get any AuJus from my Prime Ribs, because there are no juices in the pan after Smoking for 4 or 5 hours at 220°, but who needs AuJus when all of the juices are still in the meat itself.
The main advantage of a complete 220° Smoke is that whether you finish your IT at 130°, 135°, 140° or my favorite 142°, you always get the same Pink color all the way from Bark to Bark. There is no Gray Medium or Well Done meat around the outer one or two inches of the Roast that you see in so many roasts that have been cooked in temps of 300°, 350°, or even higher Temps.

Here is a collection of proof to the Pink from Bark to Bark:
Prime Rib Calendar (14 Smoked Prime Ribs)

Bear

I checked out your calendar of prime rib. They are perfection. You pulled those at 142f? I would have thought they would be about med to med well at that temp. The photos prove me wrong. What is really impressive is the juiciness retained in the meat. I agree that too much variation within the roast when oven roasted at 300f or above.

Still looking forward to warming up the left over slices in Au Ju for prime rib toasted sandwiches tonight.

 

[Bearcarver]

I checked out your calendar of prime rib. They are perfection. You pulled those at 142f? I would have thought they would be about med to med well at that temp. The photos prove me wrong. What is really impressive is the juiciness retained in the meat. I agree that too much variation within the roast when oven roasted at 300f or above.

Still looking forward to warming up the left over slices in Au Ju for prime rib toasted sandwiches tonight.

142° is our final goto after sampling all of those.
The calendar has a range of from 135° to 144°---142° being our favorite.
Me & Mrs Bear agreed on 142°.

Every one of those in the counter has a Step by Step to go with it.
If you go to my Step by Step Index, you can click on each one & look at the final Internal Temp, and look at the Pics to see what it looked like.
I used 220° on most of them, but anywhere from 220° to 260° should give you the even color from Bark to Bark.

Bear