Prime Rib

[eLemke]

I'll be smoking a 14lb prime rib for easter on pellet grill. I'm not new to smoking but have not had time in between like this before on a roast. We live a little over an hour from where I'm going for Easter. We are Rare to medium rare folks for our meats. My plan is to take the roast to about 125, wrap in tinfoil and put in a cooler for the trip. I don't want the middle of the roast any higher than 130. When we get to easter, I will put it in the oven at broil to get a nice crust on the outside. My question is will this work ok? With a piece of meat this expensive I don't want to mess it up. I'm thinking an hour rest in a cooler should be ok. It is a rib in prime rib roast, butcher has taken ribs off already and tied it back onto the roast. I'm planning about 6.5 hour at 225 to get me to the 125 mark. Appreciate the insight!

 

[JLeonard]

Bearcarver can you help him out?
JIm

 

[Bearcarver]

Your plan looks good, except for the time in smoker:
Even using only 220° Smoker Temp, it only takes a 5 to 6 pound Prime Rib 3 1/2 hours to get to 130° IT.
And the weight of a Prime Rib has nothing to do with the time. The thickness is what matters. So if a 5 pound PR and a 14 pound PR are both the same Thickness, they should both take the same length of time cooking. Possibly the 14 pounder could take an extra half hour, just because of the initial shock to your smoker in the beginning, from the big hunk of cold meat being added. But that should be the only difference.

Here's what I'm going by:
Smoked Prime Rib (47th Anniversary Dinner)


Bear

 

[thirdeye]

I agree with Bearcarver in that the shape of the roast (and if it's bone-in or boneless) has a big effect on cook time. But generally after about 8 pounds, the cooking time levels off because of the length to diameter ratio. For example a foot long hot dog takes the same amount of time as a 6" hot dog. I have a log of prime rib cooks that might help you with a guesstimate of cooking time, but always trust a thermometer first because all pit cook a little differently. And be sure to account for a few degrees of carry-over temp. In your favor is the fact that a roast cooked at lower pit temps has less carry-over than a roast cooked at high pit temps.

Standing Rib Roast Estimated Cook Times
7 pound roast - 220°-228° pit temp - 3 hours 30 minutes to reach 125°
7.9 pound roast - 230° pit temp (dome temp) - 4 hours 5 minutes to reach 125°
8 pound roast - 250° - 275° pit temp - 4 hours to reach 122°
10 pound roast - 220°-228° pit temp - 3 hours to reach 120°
11 pound roast (4 bones) - 215° average pit temp - 4 hours 54 minutes to reach 125°
14 pound roast - 220°-250° pit temp - 4 hours 30 minutes to reach 125°
15 pound roast - 220°-250° pit temp - 4 hrs 50 min to reach 127°
19.5 pound roast (prime grade) - 240° pit temp (dome temp) - 4 hours 25 minutes to reach 124°

 

[eLemke]

I appreciate the information! My biggest concern was the rest time and that sounds ok. For a rare to medium rare center do you think 125 is a good spot to pull it out?

 

[Bearcarver]

I appreciate the information! My biggest concern was the rest time and that sounds ok. For a rare to medium rare center do you think 125 is a good spot to pull it out?

125° definitely isn't too early.
We don't like Prime Rib Raw, but Mrs Bear & I like it pink all the way from bark to bark.

The 14 Prime Ribs in the link below were all pulled between 137° and 142°IT.
The Carry-over was already done too.
Link:
Prime Rib Calendar (14 Smoked Prime Ribs)


Bear

 

[eLemke]

Last question...I hope!
How many degree's can I expect the roast to go up sitting in the cooler for the hour long trip? If I pull it out too early, when I get to destination for easter is it going to be ok to put in the oven to warm up to temp? Any suggestions to a temp for oven when re-heating when I get there if I need to do more than just sear?

 

[Bearcarver]

Last question...I hope!
How many degree's can I expect the roast to go up sitting in the cooler for the hour long trip? If I pull it out too early, when I get to destination for easter is it going to be ok to put in the oven to warm up to temp? Any suggestions to a temp for oven when re-heating when I get there if I need to do more than just sear?

Carry-over depends on how high a Temp you cooked it at. I smoke mine at 220, and back it down gradually when I get close to my target. Once I pull it out, mine doesn't go up more than 1° or 2°. If you cook yours at 225°, and take it right out, wrap it in towels & into the cooler, it might carry-over 4° to 6° in the first half hour. Nothing after that.

As for warming it up, if you like to keep it Pink from Bark to Bark, don't put it in anything that's higher than 240°, or the meat will get gray around the outside near the Bark.

Bear