Thanks for the advice, y'all

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chef k-dude

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Mar 11, 2015
797
646
Central Virginia
Christmas day...killing time until the step-kids wake up from napping and eat a ham dinner before they head back home.

Wanna thank the community and specifically Civilsmoker and Thirdeye for all the advice and feedback on a standing rib roast/prime rib. I haven't cooked a lot of them and while I'm real handy in the kitchen, I still wanted the best shot at success I could get. There was a lot of inspiration to be had here.

Decided to use my MES30 as an oven, not a smoker, to free up the oven for scalloped potatoes and ham, and a broccoli casserole...and the rolls right before serving. Civil raised the idea of purposely getting the roast done well ahead of time and holding it in the smoker (or oven) till ready to rest and carve. A 4.75lb boneless roast I cut off the bone, I planned to get it going around 2pm, figuring it might take as much a 3.5 hours to cook at 235. Got a late start and the box wasn't hot until 2:30.

To my surprise and worry, it was registering 125 by 5:15 (2:45 hours). No worries, the box will hold temps as low as 100 if I want...but then the scalloped potato casserole decided to take twice as long as expected. Yep were weren't eating till quarter till 8! I had been monitoring the box temp and IT by remote and watched as the roast held 125 easily and thats what I had the box at, then I decided to bump the temp up to 140 because it had sat so long. Next thing I knew it was 135IT, and I was worried I had overcooked it.

Turns out, holding the roast like that essentially was "resting" it. It ended up bieng fine and the juices had all re-gathered back in to the meat. All was well!

Rubbed and dry brined for two days. Think I'll do a week next time, the salt didn't make it in to the center of the meat, but the meat was as tender as could be.
Rubbed.jpg

It got a fine "crust" on it (for me at least) without any searing or high temp roasting. Yes, we are in need of a kitchen reno, but the green countertops ARE very "Christmassy"!
Roasted.jpg

I was stunned when I started cutting. I could not believe my eyes after holding it warm for so long. Christmas dinner was saved!
Carved.jpg

This is not USDA "prime"...what are those weird striations along the fat line?
closeup.jpg

Wife did a great job on the table setting. Who knew there are actually online communities with people obsessed with setting the table? She insisted on the china and silver this year.
Table setting.jpg

Plated, with scalloped potatoes and ham (note to self, Yukon gold potatoes take forever!), broccoli casserole (I had green beans, not in this photo...dont care for broccoli casserole), wife's homemade cranberry sauce (stuff is outstanding) and horseradish. Out of view was also pickled beets, yeast rolls and beef consomme for dipping the beef.
Plated.jpg


So, thanks to the community here for helping me pull off a great Christmas Eve dinner!

Edit: I also discovered that the probe on my MES30 is within 1 degree of my Thermapen! Nice to reassure I can trust it.
 
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Well done!!! Looks like you had an amazing Christmas. Crazy thing about this site, some of the best friends you will never meet are right here. 99.5% of the people are incredible and would give you the shirt of their backs. Merry Christmas and enjoy your ham.
 
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