Questions about why my prime (select) rib came out overdone

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albow

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Original poster
Apr 30, 2024
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I did an 11# 4 bone one. I prepped it 2 days before. Day of cooking I left it out for 2 hours (which I won't bother with next time as the temp essentially did not change) before placing on the fully preheated to 500 degree pellet smoker for 20 minutes and then turned it down to 325 degrees. After 1 1/2 hours, I placed 4 probes in it from different directions but trying to reach the center with all of them and got fairly divergent readings, which really didn't concern me at that time. No, I haven't ice and boil tested my probes, but at room temp they all read the same. I pulled it at 4 hours total cook time, actually pulling because my lowest thermometer was now reading 131 Degrees. I also had one reading 133 and the other to were mid to high 150's. I also tried pushing all of them in further late in the cook to check if they were centered and they didn't change temp up or down. Also, I smoked it with the bones cut off, but still tied to the roast and smoked it rib side down. I also did not remove any fat that the butcher left on.

Well, it came out gray, with so little pink that it was very hard to find (thought for sure I was going to get some in the middle at least). I was shooting for medium rare in the middle and figured if the ends were a little more done that it would please the ones who don't understand eating medium well steak. It tasted good but of course it could have been better. I understand I could have pulled it a little earlier and will at about 125 next time, which will also probably only be about 7# 3 bone. What concerns me is the discrepancy in temps, considering all of them should have been near the center. I always thought you were supposed to go by the lowest temperature you saw to avoid undercooking or raw meat (more important with poultry and pork I know). Any thoughts besides the ice and boil test I'm going to do?
 
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Hello albow!

First, I'm sorry your PR didn't turn out - that's an expensive hunk of beef, and from your description, you put a lot of work into it.

I'll echo what jcam222 jcam222 already said...it sounds like you can't trust your thermo probes. With something like PR that is a bit finicky and that needs to be pulled at a fairly exact internal temp (IT), it's critical to have a reliable thermometer that you know for sure to be accurate.

However...I will add that it's also important to remember this: with a big hunk of meat like that - especially one that's been cooked fairly hot n fast - the IT will have a pretty significant carry-over during the resting period....maybe as much as 6 or 7 degrees. So if you want it cooked to medium rare (generally accepted IT of somewhere between 126 and 130, depending on who you ask), you'd want to pull it quite a bit sooner than when your coolest reading is 131. By the time the carry-over finishes, that's a roast that may be closer to medium than it is to medium rare.

Hope any of that helps...

Red
 
The interior of a 4 bone sized rib roast is going to take a good amount of time.
Try doing the interior to 125° and letting it rest covered and insulated
 
My thermometers weren’t remote. I went out and checked every 10 minutes when it hit 120 degrees
 
Hello albow!

First, I'm sorry your PR didn't turn out - that's an expensive hunk of beef, and from your description, you put a lot of work into it.

I'll echo what jcam222 jcam222 already said...it sounds like you can't trust your thermo probes. With something like PR that is a bit finicky and that needs to be pulled at a fairly exact internal temp (IT), it's critical to have a reliable thermometer that you know for sure to be accurate.

However...I will add that it's also important to remember this: with a big hunk of meat like that - especially one that's been cooked fairly hot n fast - the IT will have a pretty significant carry-over during the resting period....maybe as much as 6 or 7 degrees. So if you want it cooked to medium rare (generally accepted IT of somewhere between 126 and 130, depending on who you ask), you'd want to pull it quite a bit sooner than when your coolest reading is 131. By the time the carry-over finishes, that's a roast that may be closer to medium than it is to medium rare.

Hope any of that helps...

Red
I had about 20 minutes of resting time and figured it added a few degrees but not what I ended up with but I’m pulling at 125 next time. The couple of times I did one before in the oven ended up undercooked. I’ll just have to keep on trying
 
Definitely agree with jcam222 jcam222 , there is a problem with some of your probes. Your description of the resulting meat being basically grey and very little pink suggests the 2 probes reporting in the mid to high 150sº were the accurate ones. A calibrated reporting thermometer is an important piece of equipment every smoker should have. Opening up a smoker multiple times really extends the cook time due to amount of heat that's lost each time it's opened. There are a few good ones to choose from. I rely on those from Thermoworks.

We smoked a 4 bone PR ( 9.9# before trimming) for xmas running at 225-230º grate temp. Pulled when the IT hit 130º. Let it rest for 10 min on the counter to stop the cooking then into a holding oven at 145º until dinner time. Med-rare in the center with the outer slices closer to medium for two in the group who prefer it that way.

 
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Low and slow is the best approach to PR roast. 500* is a no go and can cause big carry over temp rise and very quickly.
 
I agree with the carry over cooking being the problem. The higher the cook temp, the higher the carryover. People are cooking high to try to get a crust on the prime rib I guess. But the inside is way more important on that particular roast than the minor improvement you get on the outside.
 
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If you want a crust then pull the PR around 128º and put it under the broiler for a couple of minutes.
 
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I agree with the others. Cook at a low temp for several hours, then use broiler, torch or hot grill etc for several minutes to get the crust at the end if desired.
 
500 degree pellet smoker for 20 minutes.

I pulled it at 4 hours total cook time
4 hours at 500 degrees ?

Here's the 500 degree oven method . I know this won't transfer over to a smoker , but I saw comments on that temp . It works when done correctly .
Meat total weight X's 5 minutes is the length of time the oven is on @ 500 degrees .
Oven preheated to 500 degrees .
Seasoned roast goes in the preheated oven , probe inserted .
11 pound roast at 5 minutes per pound is 55 minutes .
After the 55 minutes , the oven is turned off . Keep the door closed , and watch the carry over to desired temp .
Pull roast , no need to rest .
Here's a small one I did as a test of this method .
20220923_085919.jpg
20220923_160547.jpg
20220923_172214.jpg
 
Will agree to a potential therm issue as well as starting at 500 is a no go for edge to edge doneness, same with reverse sear after at temp. Preheat to 235 and let it roll, 3.5 to 4 hours for a roast that size. I always verify my RT probes with a thermapen one...... just note that one lost roast will easily justify the price for one...

final note if you open your pellet often it will cause the bottom plate to run way hotter because it's always playing catch up to get the hot air that is lost back up set temp and therefore will "cook" whatever is on the grate way faster than normal.....
 
4 hours at 500 degrees ?

Here's the 500 degree oven method . I know this won't transfer over to a smoker , but I saw comments on that temp . It works when done correctly .
Meat total weight X's 5 minutes is the length of time the oven is on @ 500 degrees .
Oven preheated to 500 degrees .
Seasoned roast goes in the preheated oven , probe inserted .
11 pound roast at 5 minutes per pound is 55 minutes .
After the 55 minutes , the oven is turned off . Keep the door closed , and watch the carry over to desired temp .
Pull roast , no need to rest .
Here's a small one I did as a test of this method .
View attachment 711339
View attachment 711340
View attachment 711341
I will revise......Chops is a 500 then carry over cook..... much different then an hour of 500 then 225 for 4......
 
I think some confusion here is where you left out after 20 mins., what temp did you drop it to for the rest of the cook? Some are assuming you cooked the whole time at 500.

Did you check it with a high quality thermometer like a Thermapen separately from the probes when you pulled it? That would have told the story that it's a probe thing.

I hadn't used my MES30 smoker for a while and could not remember the accuracy of it's internal probe, but I found when I did my Christmas prime rib that it is actually within 1 degree of my Thermapen. Some of those smokers are known to be way off, but mine is apparently accurate. I was able to use the MES probe with the remote (the remote comes stock on my unit)and now I know it can be trusted, but I always Thermapen everything nearing the end to make sure nothing is out of whack. The MES30 box recovers pretty fast from bieng opened very quickly to check temp.
 
I think some confusion here is where you left out after 20 mins., what temp did you drop it to for the rest of the cook?
I read it as he didn't . He waited 20 minutes to put the therms in . My take is he went 500 for 4 hours , but maybe not .
 
4 hours at 500 degrees ?

Here's the 500 degree oven method . I know this won't transfer over to a smoker , but I saw comments on that temp . It works when done correctly .
Meat total weight X's 5 minutes is the length of time the oven is on @ 500 degrees .
Oven preheated to 500 degrees .
Seasoned roast goes in the preheated oven , probe inserted .
11 pound roast at 5 minutes per pound is 55 minutes .
After the 55 minutes , the oven is turned off . Keep the door closed , and watch the carry over to desired temp .
Pull roast , no need to rest .
Here's a small one I did as a test of this method .
View attachment 711339
View attachment 711340
View attachment 711341
Love this method. Makes flawless prime rib.
 
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