Getting ready to roast an outrageous prime rib

[paulraphael]

My butcher is setting me up with a 7lb, USDA prime rib roast that he's aging for me for 10 weeks. I checked it out today; it already has 8 weeks on it. The marbling is out of this world. I've never roasted a piece of meat like this, and am wondering if anyone has experience with it.

Most of the roasting I do is high temperature, short time. I'm thinking this lovely hunk of meat might benefit from longer cooking. It's a tender cut, and it will already have had a stupefying amount of enzyme activity, so I don't see any need to cook it for ten hours. But maybe for several.

It will be done in a home oven, so I'm assuming 170 to 200F is the lowest it will go.

Searing at the beginning is generally recommended for safety reasons; searing at the end will most likely give a crisper crust. Has anyone compared methods?

And does anyone have an estimate of cooking time (not counting sear) at say, 200F?

I'll bring a remote probe thermometer, but want to be able to time things reasonably so the roast isn't done way early or way late.

[Dave Hatfield]

Here's a method I recently tried. It was astoundingly good.

I doubt that my beef was as good as yours sounds so I would expect your results to be even better.

Here is a link to the BBC food site. The recipe is by Heston Blumenthal of "The Fat Duck" fame, He's a bit of a nut, but an absolute perfectionist. His methods work!

Good luck!

[Marlene]

My butcher is setting me up with a 7lb, USDA prime rib roast that he's aging for me for 10 weeks. I checked it out today; it already has 8 weeks on it. The marbling is out of this world. I've never roasted a piece of meat like this, and am wondering if anyone has experience with it.

Most of the roasting I do is high temperature, short time. I'm thinking this lovely hunk of meat might benefit from longer cooking. It's a tender cut, and it will already have had a stupefying amount of enzyme activity, so I don't see any need to cook it for ten hours. But maybe for several.

It will be done in a home oven, so I'm assuming 170 to 200F is the lowest it will go.

Searing at the beginning is generally recommended for safety reasons; searing at the end will most likely give a crisper crust. Has anyone compared methods?

And does anyone have an estimate of cooking time (not counting sear) at say, 200F?

I'll bring a remote probe thermometer, but want to be able to time things reasonably so the roast isn't done way early or way late.

←

I haven't done a prime rib that low in the oven, but did recently on our smoker. It was set at 200 and took about 3.5 hours. Ours was 9lbs. We seared it on the BBQ afterwards.

[mydogbites2]

In my prefered method for prime rib is start low temp and finish high temp..

The low heat will allow the meat to come to temp internally and give you the lovely pink center that you (I assume) desire.. And that last blast at 500-550 will get you the tasty browning on the outside surface.. Thats how I do it.. Good luck regardless.. Sounds like one tasty hunk o' cow.

Kevin

[CalumC]

Any pictures of that? Sounds like a monster.

[Lindacakes]

There is a recipe for a standing rib roast on epicurious that is so delicious, I had guests who had cleaned their plates and were asking for seconds before I had everyone served. It has this remarkable crust composed of peppercorns and allspice . . .

If you are interested, PM me and I'll dig out the recipe.

[sickchangeup]

How thick/long is this thing? Does you butcher have a vacuum sealer?

My instinct when seeing a) Low and Slow and b) Seeing the 100% beautifully uniform red center (i.e. not like a bullseye pattern/degrade of greys to red) on sous-vided steak is that it would make one hell of a prime rib.

The main concern is if you want to cook it whole, where can it fit.

[Qwerty]

If you temper the meat, then start it in a low oven (say 200) then blast it at the end for a crust, you shouldn't get much (if any) of a bulls eye.

I would invest in a probe thermometer...stick it in the middle of the meat, set the temp you want it (probably about 5-10 degrees below desired final temp) and take it out when the timer beeps. Don't worry about time per pound or anything like that...take it out of the oven when the timer beeps at the temp you want.

You might also look into salting it a day early..I'm sure there is a topic somewhere on the board about that.

Good luck, sounds like a helluva piece of meat (now don't mess it up).

[paulraphael]

Good luck, sounds like a helluva piece of meat (now don't mess it up).

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Ha! That's the short of it right there. And I'm not paying for it. And I stand to suffer the ridicule of my entire family for the next many decades if I do mess it up.

I'm going to guess that the oven there will go as low as 170 or so. Even so I'm inclined to cook closer to 200, since home ovens are often wildly in accurate and cycle unpredictably at their lowest settings.

I'm intrigued by Blumenthal using a blowtorch. Especially since I just got one. It would serve the dual purposes of efficient browning, and scaring everyone out of the kitchen.

What I'm actually leaning towards right now is cooking at 200, starting around 5 or 6 hours before serving the meat, and pulling it out when a probe thermometer reads 117 or 118 in the center. Then I'll cover with foil, and let it rest for at least an hour. Finally, I'll baste with butter and pop into a 500 or 550 oven (with the roasting pan preheated) to put a crust on it and rewarm it, right before serving.

The torch sounds fun, but I think browning in the hot oven will do more to rewarm the outer part of the meat, which will let me have a very long rest if the timing requires it.

Does this sound reasonable?

I'll definitely take some pics when I take possession of the meat.

[SeanDirty]

ok....

SO

Box of Kosher Salt,

Rub meat with spices... (rosemary Garlic paste Pepper Salt)

Take Kosher Salt, dump it out into a bowl with Eggwhites... enough so the salt sticks together and can form.

Cover meat with salt.

Bake at 400 for seems like maybe 2 hours... for yours... Remove from oven let sit, break into salt shell, move meat to cutting board, slice slice slice.... Make sandwiches!! mmmmmmmmmmm

PULL IT at 120 Degrees and ALLOW it to Sit for at LEAST 15 minutes. The meat will finish at 125 and be rare. If you want it more cooked slice off the portion and sear it on the stove. Cuz once you cook it past rare you cant uncook it

[tim]

What I'm actually leaning towards right now is cooking at 200, starting around 5 or 6 hours before serving the meat, and pulling it out when a probe thermometer reads 117 or 118 in the center.

Does this sound reasonable?

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Paul,

To clarify, I assume that this roast is being wet aged. Is that correct.

In my experience, dry aged beef cooks much faster than you would think. Much of the moisture has been eliminated in the aging process and your roast, if dry aged, was aged for a long time.

If you roast your prime rib after cooktop searing, (my usual practice) it should take about 30 minutes per pound, at 200 degrees to reach 130 degrees. For your roast this is about 4 1/2 hours. That tells me that your 5 - 6 hour roast is too long, way too long if you roast is dry aged.

You should also understand that roasting at 200 degrees eliminates the necessity for a rest period before serving. The juices stay well distributed at that low temp.

Tim

[paulraphael]

Oh no, dry aged all the way.

I didn't realize this reduced roasting time (the only dry aged roasts I've done were tenderloin, which probably had a maximum of 10 days age).

How big a difference do you think a lot of dry age makes?

Paul,

To clarify, I assume that this roast is being wet aged.  Is that correct.

In my experience, dry aged beef cooks much faster than you would think.  Much of the moisture has been eliminated in the aging process and your roast, if dry aged, was aged for a long time.

If you roast your prime rib after cooktop searing, (my usual practice) it should take about 30 minutes per pound, at 200 degrees to reach 130 degrees.  For your roast this is about 4 1/2 hours.  That tells me that your 5 - 6 hour roast is too long, way too long if you roast is dry aged.

You should also understand that roasting at 200 degrees eliminates the necessity for a rest period before serving.  The juices stay well distributed at that low temp.

Tim

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[Qwerty]

Could you imagine a 10 week old wet aged steak? lol

I'll re-iterate...don't pay attention to time per pound or anything like that...the most important thing is the internal temperature. I would seriously invest in a probe thermometer--it will eliminate a lot of the anxiety that goes with cooking something like this.

Ten weeks is a long time...are you sure your dining companions are up for it? That is going to be one funky chunk of meat. Make sure you get the butcher to trim it before he gives it to you..or do it yourself. There is going to be a "skin" on the outside that needs to be trimmed off.

[paulraphael]

Could you imagine a 10 week old wet aged steak? lol

I'm trying hard not to!

And I'll be bringing a probe thermometer; the reason I'm asking for guesses on cooking time is that I'd like to be able to tell people when dinner will be ready. Much friendlier to say "7 O'clock" than "whenever this thermometer says 120 degrees, and not a minute sooner or later."

I am not sure my companions will be ready for such a funky piece of meat, so I've started warning them well in advance. For that matter, I don't actually know what we're getting into. The most dry age I've had is 6 weeks. It was amazing and delicious and like nothing else I've ever had. No idea how this will be in comparison.

[Qwerty]

Well, I certainly understand that. I think your idea of starting it around 5-6 hours before the party is a good idea. If it doesn't take as long...no harm in letting it rest for an hour or two then popping it back in to crust it and re-warm it. I would prepare to be a little flexible if things don't go 100% to plan (have some extra canapes or something), but if you build in that buffer you should be fine.

10 weeks is a long time to dry age something...but not unheard of. It will be pretty funky but should be nice.

Let us know how it turns out and snap some pictures if you can.

[tim]

If it doesn't take as long...no harm in letting it rest for an hour or two then popping it back in to crust it and re-warm it.

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Hi,

This is a very special cut of beef and I will disagree with the above idea. You do not want to be careless or casual with something this extraordinary.

You made the statement that the roast weighed about 9 pounds. Is that the current or original weight?

It would be nice to call on a restaurant chef who has cooked a roast with this kind of age. How about Lobels?

This is one of those times you could use an Alto-Sham and hold the finished roast at 120 degrees. How low does that oven go?

I'll take a guess at 3 hours with a sear. An internal probe with an external alert is essential.

You should also know that a cooked roast will brown much faster than an uncooked roast. It is already dry and hot. I really think you want to do this when the internal temp is at 120 and minimize the time. That is why I suggested searing on the cooktop, less waiting.

The idea of using a propane torch is likely to give your roast an extra dimension, gasoline flavor. Not a good idea..

Good luck

Tim

[paulraphael]

it weighs 7lbs now (8 weeks dry age). will lose a bit more weight over the next week and a half.

don't have an alto sham; will be a home oven that probably goes down to 170, but i doubt it will work reliably at this temp.

what drawbacks do you see to resting and then crisping in a very hot oven at the end?

[Qwerty]

I'm curious as well what the drawbacks would be as well....I can't see any problem with it as long as care is taken not to overcook it (which I know won't happen )

[gregnz]

I have personally cooked (and eaten!) both beef roasts and pork ribs cooked in conventional home ovens at the temperatures you're talking about. Ribs cooked at 80degC (176degF) for 12 hours and roasts at just above 60degC (140degF) for 8 after a quick sear.

What I would say is that it can be done (though at your own risk!). I have found that the ability of ovens to keep a constant temp that low is a bit wobbly (+/- 10% at normal cooking temperatures may not matter, but at the temperatures we're talking about, it can be the difference between rare and well done.

My vote would do it at a "normal" low temperature, around 180degC (350degF), and sear it at the end (in butter!).

Personally, I don't think that holding it at temperature for a few hours will cause a significant loss in quality.

[Magictofu]

Some people talk about cooktop searing... how do you deal with such a monster roast on the stove?

[tim]

Some people talk about cooktop searing... how do you deal with such a monster roast on the stove?

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Hi,

In a roasting pan over two burners. The advantage is speed and less heating of the interior.

I am now thinking this roast may cook in two hours. But, I really don't know.

A two hour rest would eliminate the advantages of the finishing sear. Remember, that searing at the end is faster because the meat is hot and dry. Your rested meat exterior will be cold and wet. The oven sear will cook some of the interior of the meat.

Where are our professionals with experience with dry aged roasts.

Paul, go look at that oven and find out the lowest temp. Do you have a digital convection oven? The best solution is to ship the roast to me and I will hold it at 100 degrees or 130 degrees! We will hope for the best.

How about beginning with a sear and cooking it to 118 degrees. Letting the oven cool to 115 degrees and putting the roast back in the oven, closing the door and proceeding.

How about a contest on cooking time. I'll go for 2 hours.

Tim

[paulraphael]

I'm still puzzling this one out.

Another basic question is how much to expect the temperature in the center to rise during rest, both after the long slow roast and short fast browning.

My wild guess is to pull it out of the low oven at 118 or so, and expect it to not rise all that much. And to pull it out of the hot oven at 122 or so, and expect a bit of rise.

Thoughts??

[Busboy]

We did a humungous roast for Thanksgiving and, as I recall, it came out of the oven at about 125 and may have crept up to almost 130. We were worried that we'd left it in a bot too long, but it was pretty much perfectly cooked.

We also left the roast our for about 4 hours beforehand, to get the internal temperature up, which lead to an incredibly evenly cooked roast.

[paulraphael]

Busboy, how big was the roast and what was the roasting temp?

[Busboy]

I believe it was about 12 pounds -- seven ribs.

We started at 525 and then turned it down to 350.