Getting ready to roast an outrageous prime rib

[tim]

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??

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Paul,

Busboy began with a high temp sear and finished in a moderate oven. That information really does not relate to your method.

I do know that searing at the beginning and finishing in a cool oven allows for immediate carving with no loss of juices, thereby no carry over heat increase. Even with a rest period, there is also minimal carry over heat from a 200 degree oven.

If you sear at the end, you will obviously add to the carry over heat. Again, I think the stove top sear would be faster and minimize this problem.

Tim

[skipper10]

Today's Washington Post has Michelf Mina's recipe for butter poached standing rib roast

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/recipes...ast/?s_pos=list

and accompanying article: (Michael Mina preparing a holiday meal in a kitchen of a one-bedroom apartment)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...21602544&s_pos=

thoughts?

Edited December 17, 2008 by skipper10 (log)

[judiu]

Today's Washington Post has Michelf Mina's recipe for butter poached standing rib roast

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/recipes...ast/?s_pos=list

and accompanying article: (Michael Mina preparing a holiday meal in a kitchen of a one-bedroom apartment)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...21602544&s_pos=

thoughts?

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Holy bleeping BLEEP!

[paulraphael]

Holy bleeping BLEEP!

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And serve to guests who are recinining in a slowly bubbling hot tub of melted butter.

[catdaddy]

I haven't read a recipe I wanted to try so bad in ages.

Butter poached rib of beef sounds like a bomb with blackeyed peas and collard greens for new years day!

[skipper10]

Holy bleeping BLEEP!

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And serve to guests who are recinining in a slowly bubbling hot tub of melted butter.

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The butter poached roast (is that an oxymoron-?) was also discussed during today's Free Range on Food, a weekly Washington Post food chat. One chatter expressed surprise, pointing out that David Hagedorn has had heart and cholesterol problems. In response to another chatter Hagedorn stated that very little, around 2 tablespoons of the butter, is absorbed into the meat.

He admits that butter-poaching sounds excessive, but says that once out of curiosity he rendered all the fat he trimmed off a roast, it was over a cup, that, he says, would have been roasting into the meat.

He also says that dry roasting shrinks the roast, while butter poaching results in a juicier meat that is red all the way through since the water in the roast has nowhere to go, the density of the butter does not permit it. Shirley Corriher where are you?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...8121102634.html

Edited December 17, 2008 by skipper10 (log)

[Jmahl]

Good thread, you may want to check out several other threads on preparing prime rib including mine

Thread - low and slow - what is best? with photos.

Jmahl

[fiftydollars]

I haven't read a recipe I wanted to try so bad in ages...

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I feel exactly the same way!!

When I first read the title of the recipe in the WaPo food section I nearly soiled myself in delight at the thought of it.

[Raoul Duke]

Craig Claiborne, The "New" New York Times cookbook. Heat the oven to 500 degrees, for a 4 rib, 11-12 # roast cook 55-60 minutes, turn off oven and leave rost in until the oven is lukewarm. At least 2 hours. DO NOT open the oven during this time. Works every time. This is my go to recipe for the past 12 years.

[paulraphael]

There's no doubt that butter poaching is an amazing method. I just think it's more practical in a setting like a restaurant where you can have a stock pot of beurre monte going all day long with batch after batch of food going through it.

People who use this method tell me the beurre monte can't be reused as poaching liquid after it cools (maybe the emulsion breaks and can't be reestablished?) so they typically render it to clarified butter. Which isn't much of a solution ... what am I going to do with 8lbs of clarified butter? I used to use about a pound a year; now I don't use it at all.

I'm betting that sous vide and alto shaam cooking are also technically better than trying to slow roast in an oven, but I'm not going to have access to any of the requisite trickery.

[CtznCane]

Perhaps mine is too simplistic of a view, but if you have a good way that you are use to cooking prime rib, which comes out to your liking with a run of the mill prime rib, won't the same method turn an extraordinary piece of meat into something truly special? Some of these other methods, slow, slow, cooked and poached sound quite intriguing For me with a good roast, be it Prime Rib or a usda prime cross rib or such, I'll just s & P, rub it with olive oil, then rub a coat of stone ground Mustard on it, and cook it till its done, either at 350 or 500 first then 350. Regardless of method though, I do feel to get the essence of a truly fine piece of meat I'd go with whatever method I was use to before. (Of course that is assuming one has a good way or way he's pleased with.) Sounds delicious regardless.

[paulraphael]

Perhaps mine is too simplistic of a view, but if you have a good way that you are use to cooking prime rib, which comes out to your liking with a run of the mill prime rib, won't the same method turn an extraordinary piece of meat into something truly special?

maybe so, but i've neve roasted one before

also, a lot of the trickery we're discussing is about the same simple goal ... how to keep as much of the meat rare/medium rare as possible, while still browning it well. the nicer the piece of meat, the more obsessive you might be about this.

[olicollett]

Personally i'd go with Heston's method as mentioned earlier - it's what i always use when cooking beef, i just wish i had access to such extroadinary beef! The results however are always perfect - the beef will be uniformly pink throughout and the texture is amazing

Coat each end of the meat with some sea salt, leave for 30-40mins, wash off salt, blowtorch the outside until browned and then into the oven for 24hrs+ at 55C! You could skip the salting part if you like. This is obviously a problem if your oven can't go low enough though If you're not using this method, i'd echo some of the earlier comments and invest in a probe - you don't want to ruin a piece of beef like this!

[paulraphael]

Alright, I do have a blowtorch, but have never used it on meat.

The thing burns REALLY hot. I tried to brown a peeled pear with it and it just charred the outer fringes while leaving everything underneath untouched.

Is meat easier? And someone mentioned the propane leaving petroleum flavors behind ... is this a real issue?

[JoshEKG]

I just picked up a 16 lb 7 rib standing roast. Prime and dry-aged for 30 days, so not even half the aging of your roast. I'm cooking it Sunday. Tonight (Friday) I am going to rub it with a decent amount of course sea salt & pepper and place it on a platter (uncovered) in the fridge to sit until Sunday.

Sunday morning, I will take it out of the fridge and give it a few hours to warm to room temperature. Then I will sear it on the stove top in some clarified butter and place it in the oven at 200 degrees and will remove it when it reaches 125 degrees (I would prefer to remove at 120, but I don't think my guests would be happy). Then I will let it rest for 15-30 minutes while I prepare Yorkshire puddings. I also will be making horseradish, bernaise and bordelaise sauces. Will try and post up some pics of the process - would love to see the 10 week aged.

[Tom Gengo]

Today's Washington Post has Michelf Mina's recipe for butter poached standing rib roast

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/recipes...ast/?s_pos=list

and accompanying article: (Michael Mina preparing a holiday meal in a kitchen of a one-bedroom apartment)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...21602544&s_pos=

thoughts?

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Holy bleeping BLEEP!

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That butter poached prime rib of beast must have been written by a cardiologist who is feeling the current economic squeeze, lol.

Paul, regarding the blow torch, you will not get any flavor from the fuel. Firstly, it uses propane more than likely, not gasoline, and as you can see from the flame it is burning very efficietly. The blowtorch flame will be blue, which is highly efficient combustion of the fuel, if it is predominately yellow then the torch is not burning as efficiently, but still no harm nor foul regarding flavor, just a lower temp.

I use my blow torch for creme brulee to just brulee or burn the sugar on the top without heating the creme. No flavor transfer, and I am certain that with creme brulee you would be able to taste petroleum contamination very easily.

Regarding your pears, a torch will not cook food (unless it is wafer thin), it will only sear the surface. I would recommend poaching the pears first, draining well and putting a light coat of sugar on the pears prior to torching them. A little fyi, the adiabatic (without heat transfer from the flame) temperature of the propane flame is in th area of 3600 F. AS such, the distance of the flame from the object is important and requires practice to avoid charring rather than carmelizaton.

Edited December 21, 2008 by Tom Gengo (log)

[paulraphael]

Regarding your pears, a torch will not cook food (unless it is wafer thin), it will only sear the surface.

Oh, I get that. My issue is that it wasn't even searing the surface. It was blackening the irregularities tht poked above the surface. Kind of like if you ran your arm past a hot flame ... it would instantly singe all the hairs before it started searing your skin.

I was ending up with cool, unbrowned pear that had a speckling of charred texture.

I'm guessing that the water content of the fruit was the problem, and that the surface of cooked meat would brown more easily. I might bring the torch just for fun and see if it seems useful. Anything that costs under $20 and can scare the whole family out of the kitchen is a good thing, right?

By the way, the torch I have is the most basic bernz-o-matic pencil flame model. Is this the type people use in the kitchen, or is there a model with a mellower flame?

[tim]

By the way, the torch I have is the most basic bernz-o-matic pencil flame model. Is this the type people use in the kitchen, or is there a model with a mellower flame?

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Paul,

I used to have problems with the basic BernzoMatic torch going out when the flame was pointed down, as in caramelizing creme brulee. It was the pressure regulator.

BernzoMatic says:

"When a non regulated brass torch is tipped upside down, the liquid propane in the torch works its way through the torch and blows out the flame. We recommend a pressure regulated torch, such as the TS3000T.'

I bought the trigger start TS3000 ($24 - $32) and it works very nicely. It is fun to pull that trigger and grin....

Tim

[Marlene]

I'll be picking up a 22 lb prime rib USDA prime, dry aged 26 days, tomorrow. We'll cut it into two roasts. One 17lb for New Year's eve and the other for our Christmas dinner. We'll be putting the 17 lb one on the smoker.

[paulraphael]

22lbs!

that must look like the opening scene in the Flintstones.

[Marlene]

When I get it, I'll post a pic.

[Octaveman]

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??

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I've read various reports of a 5 degree change and one as much as a 12 degree change but that one was tented. I can't recall how much increase I had last time I cooked a roast but I would expect at least 5 degrees untented.

BTW, I started home aging last Thursday. Outside is nice and hard not yet turning pretty colors like last time other than darker shades of red. I'm going the low and slow method at around 200 until done, take out at 115 or so to rest, then blast to sear at end.

Also, I have read a bunch of experiences with cooking ribs on and off. Last time I cooked it with the ribs on but this time I cut them off before aging. I wanted to try this so I would get even drying all over the roast. The bones are aging too. I did have a question about making a basic Au Jus. Can I just take beef stock, add the bones, pepper and parsley and simmer? Can anyone give me tips on making a decent Au Jus? Thanks.

Good luck on your roast, Paul. Hope it comes out great.

Edited December 22, 2008 by Octaveman (log)

[Magictofu]

I'll be picking up a 22 lb prime rib USDA prime, dry aged 26 days, tomorrow.  We'll cut it into two roasts.  One 17lb for New Year's eve and the other for our Christmas dinner.  We'll be putting the 17 lb one on the smoker.

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Could you explain how you intend to smoke this roast?

[Marlene]

I'll be picking up a 22 lb prime rib USDA prime, dry aged 26 days, tomorrow.  We'll cut it into two roasts.  One 17lb for New Year's eve and the other for our Christmas dinner.  We'll be putting the 17 lb one on the smoker.

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Could you explain how you intend to smoke this roast?

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Sure. I haven't done one this size, but have done a 9lber on the smoker. We use apple wood, sparingly, and smoke it at 200. When we did the 9 lb, it took a little over 3 hours, then we seared it on the grill afterwards. I'm thinking maybe 4 1/2 hours for this one, but who knows. It will be very very cold up there, so it could take a little longer. No rush, as long as we eat before midnight! We do use a thermometer, so I'll be able to monitor in terms of timing for other dishes.

[Magictofu]

I'll be picking up a 22 lb prime rib USDA prime, dry aged 26 days, tomorrow.  We'll cut it into two roasts.  One 17lb for New Year's eve and the other for our Christmas dinner.  We'll be putting the 17 lb one on the smoker.

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Could you explain how you intend to smoke this roast?

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Sure. I haven't done one this size, but have done a 9lber on the smoker. We use apple wood, sparingly, and smoke it at 200. When we did the 9 lb, it took a little over 3 hours, then we seared it on the grill afterwards. I'm thinking maybe 4 1/2 hours for this one, but who knows. It will be very very cold up there, so it could take a little longer. No rush, as long as we eat before midnight! We do use a thermometer, so I'll be able to monitor in terms of timing for other dishes.

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I know very little about smoking and BBQ, does this mean your roast will be far from rare but closer to, say, BBQ ribs?