- Aug 27, 2008
- 5,170
- 409
Hey again, everyone!!! Nothing says Christmas dinner quite like a massive beef rib roast, cooked to perfection.
Thought I'd share a little ride in the smoke today for others who may be on the fence on whether to do a beef rib roast for Christmas dinner, or, for those needing ideas on how they'd like to cook it. Today, mine will be smoked, of course, with a little twist from the normal treatment...yet, simple and easy to prepare with a great looking finished whole beef rib. Some may think that these are hard to cook...they are anything but...they're one of the easiest things to cook on the planet earth. Just use your meat thermometer and cook to temp...even if cooking in the oven...it's all about temp, not time.
I had a bit of a surprise this morning when I transported my gear and meat to my daughter's house for cooking dinner...actually 2 surprises. We ordered a 16-18lb rib roast. I didn't bother to look at the label very close when I dropped it in the fridge a couple days ago after my better half brought it home...it's a 21.5lbr, not 18 or under. The second surprise is that my son in law's immediate family could not attend, so I was planning for 11 adults...now there will be 8, with a possibility that one of my daughter's friends will stop by this evening so we can share more of this goodness in the form of PR and twice-baked potatoes (one of my daughter's sides for today).
So, on with the whole beef rib, shall we?
The typical wet-aged 7-bone whole beef rib:
Helluva price, especially around here...can't go wrong, right?:
I lightly trimmed the fat-cap and cross-hatch scored the cap down through the silver skin and in places, into the meat just a bit. This helps keep the cap over the meat when shrinkage starts, instead of pulling away from the edges of the roast, or, towards one side, etc. It also allows more surface area for pre-cook treatments, and more smoke penetration through the fat-cap, as well as allowing the rendered fat to cling to the meat longer:
Rubbed with sea salt, then minced dried garlic, then fine ground black pepper...simple...this cut of beef doesn't need much done to it to taste great, IMHO. I've used complex dry rubs in the past, and couldn't really taste it, except around the outside of the slice, of course. But, hey if you're doing Au Jus (and we are today), does it really matter?:
Wait...what?...AP Flour...why?...it grabs hold of some rendering beef fat and keeps it on the surface to crisp it up a bit...the more the better!!! The flour creates a fantastic, golden brown, caramelized crust that is just beautiful, and offers a bit of texture variation to the dining experience as well...think chicken-fried steak, only MUCH BETTER, because it's crispy fat...hmm, yeah, you drooling , too? I used about 1/3 cup on this 21.5lbr:
Work it into the cross-hatch scored fat-cap, press it into every nook & cranny, just like the dry rub...don't be shy:
10:15am and ready for smoke...hickory chunks in the Weber OTG 26.75" with briquettes in baskets for indirect heat will do the job just fine on this balmy mid-30's Christmas Eve day. BTW, yes, this is beautiful weather...less than 2 weeks ago it was -23*. This beef rib is too far big for the WSM 18, anyway. I started out cold, as usual, and let the temp build up over the first 30-45 minutes. Cold start = GREAT smoke reaction up front:
2-1/4hrs in @ ~235 grate temps (meat probe installed after pics)...110* I/T...just getting ready to stoke the fire a bit. Now you're starting to get a glimps of what the flour crust and cross-hatch scoring can do for your masterpiece:
Getting some nice pull-back from the bone already...it's got a bit to go before resting time:
It is now 1:30pm and dinner is slated for 5:00ish, depending on when the rest of the family arrives. So, today's creation may be resting for an hour or so...but in any case, it will be worth the wait. I/T is now 133*...cooking a bit on the fast side, but it may hit a stall before much longer...hope so, anyway. I don't smoke these often enough to know exactly how long at what temp, and if I had to guess I'd say this is the 1st one I've smoked in the Weber OTG 26...so, smoke & learn.
Hate to leave you hangin' on the edge of the cliff with no rope like this, but I'll be back later with finished, sliced and plated pics for your drooling enjoyment!!!
Thanks for peekin'!!!
Eric
Thought I'd share a little ride in the smoke today for others who may be on the fence on whether to do a beef rib roast for Christmas dinner, or, for those needing ideas on how they'd like to cook it. Today, mine will be smoked, of course, with a little twist from the normal treatment...yet, simple and easy to prepare with a great looking finished whole beef rib. Some may think that these are hard to cook...they are anything but...they're one of the easiest things to cook on the planet earth. Just use your meat thermometer and cook to temp...even if cooking in the oven...it's all about temp, not time.
I had a bit of a surprise this morning when I transported my gear and meat to my daughter's house for cooking dinner...actually 2 surprises. We ordered a 16-18lb rib roast. I didn't bother to look at the label very close when I dropped it in the fridge a couple days ago after my better half brought it home...it's a 21.5lbr, not 18 or under. The second surprise is that my son in law's immediate family could not attend, so I was planning for 11 adults...now there will be 8, with a possibility that one of my daughter's friends will stop by this evening so we can share more of this goodness in the form of PR and twice-baked potatoes (one of my daughter's sides for today).
So, on with the whole beef rib, shall we?
The typical wet-aged 7-bone whole beef rib:
Helluva price, especially around here...can't go wrong, right?:
I lightly trimmed the fat-cap and cross-hatch scored the cap down through the silver skin and in places, into the meat just a bit. This helps keep the cap over the meat when shrinkage starts, instead of pulling away from the edges of the roast, or, towards one side, etc. It also allows more surface area for pre-cook treatments, and more smoke penetration through the fat-cap, as well as allowing the rendered fat to cling to the meat longer:
Rubbed with sea salt, then minced dried garlic, then fine ground black pepper...simple...this cut of beef doesn't need much done to it to taste great, IMHO. I've used complex dry rubs in the past, and couldn't really taste it, except around the outside of the slice, of course. But, hey if you're doing Au Jus (and we are today), does it really matter?:
Wait...what?...AP Flour...why?...it grabs hold of some rendering beef fat and keeps it on the surface to crisp it up a bit...the more the better!!! The flour creates a fantastic, golden brown, caramelized crust that is just beautiful, and offers a bit of texture variation to the dining experience as well...think chicken-fried steak, only MUCH BETTER, because it's crispy fat...hmm, yeah, you drooling , too? I used about 1/3 cup on this 21.5lbr:
Work it into the cross-hatch scored fat-cap, press it into every nook & cranny, just like the dry rub...don't be shy:
10:15am and ready for smoke...hickory chunks in the Weber OTG 26.75" with briquettes in baskets for indirect heat will do the job just fine on this balmy mid-30's Christmas Eve day. BTW, yes, this is beautiful weather...less than 2 weeks ago it was -23*. This beef rib is too far big for the WSM 18, anyway. I started out cold, as usual, and let the temp build up over the first 30-45 minutes. Cold start = GREAT smoke reaction up front:
2-1/4hrs in @ ~235 grate temps (meat probe installed after pics)...110* I/T...just getting ready to stoke the fire a bit. Now you're starting to get a glimps of what the flour crust and cross-hatch scoring can do for your masterpiece:
Getting some nice pull-back from the bone already...it's got a bit to go before resting time:
It is now 1:30pm and dinner is slated for 5:00ish, depending on when the rest of the family arrives. So, today's creation may be resting for an hour or so...but in any case, it will be worth the wait. I/T is now 133*...cooking a bit on the fast side, but it may hit a stall before much longer...hope so, anyway. I don't smoke these often enough to know exactly how long at what temp, and if I had to guess I'd say this is the 1st one I've smoked in the Weber OTG 26...so, smoke & learn.
Hate to leave you hangin' on the edge of the cliff with no rope like this, but I'll be back later with finished, sliced and plated pics for your drooling enjoyment!!!
Thanks for peekin'!!!
Eric
