Preparation is also quite simplistic for an entree with such a grand reputation. In fact, with a couple tools, this dish is easier to prepare than any other special event food (roast duck, turkey). The items you'll need are a roasting pan (usually comes with your oven or you can get a large baking pan and a wire rack to place in it), a probe thermometer (like a Polder model similar to the one that I used when I wrote this article or the Thermoworks DOT that I use now), some kitchen twine, and a pair of tongs.
Related Articles
Depending on preference, you can dry age the roast for a few days to bring out additional flavor and produce a more buttery texture in the muscle (aging allows the natural enzymes to break down some of protein in the meat). Age the beef up to a week in the refrigerator by leaving it uncovered on a wire rack over a large pan to catch any drippings for at least a day and no more than seven days. When you are ready to cook the beef, trim off any dried pieces after the aging. It is common for a roast to lose about 10% to 15% of its weight during a week of aging.
Take the rib roast out of the refrigerator and let it sit on the counter for a couple hours to raise the roast temperature to near room temperature. To help cook the roast evenly, we'll need to tie the roast. Using kitchen twine, tie the roast parallel to the rib bones at least at each end. I usually tie between each pair of ribs. Heat the roasting pan or a separate pan on the stove until hot with a little oil. Place the roast on the pan and sear for three minutes on each side. Remove from heat and season heavily with salt and pepper. Place on the grill of your roasting pan or on a wire rack. Now stick the probe of your thermometer into the roast so that the probe is approximately in the middle of the roast (and not touching a bone). Position the pan on an oven rack in the lowest position of your preheated 200°F oven. Yes, 200°F. The low heat will evenly cook the roast so that most of the roast will be at the desired temperature. Cooking at a higher temperature will finish the roast faster, but you will probably result in well-done on the outside of the roast that gradually results in a medium-rare interior (if you are trying to cook a medium-rare roast). Roasting at 200°F will result in almost all the meat ending at medium-rare.
Set your thermometer for 130°F for a medium-rare roast (125°F for rare; 145°F for medium; any higher and it's overdone - you might as well be serving a cheaper piece of beef). When the roast is done (about 45 minutes per pound up to about 5 pounds - anything larger takes roughly 4 to 5 hours), remove from the oven, set the roast aside, and let it sit to redistribute juices for at least twenty minutes. This is a good time to make a jus from the drippings of the roast.
Pour off any extra grease that's collected in the pan. You can save this to make Yorkshire pudding if you wish. Now deglaze the pan by pouring in 1/2 cup beef broth and bring to a boil. After you've scraped off the bottom of your pan and mixed it into the jus, season with salt and pepper. Simple.
When slicing the roast, first cut the rib bones out and then lie the roast on the cut side to carve large slices off the roast.
When properly roasted, the medium-rare pink is uniform to the edges of the roast, giving the diner the maximum amount of tender, juicy beef per slice.Standing Rib Roast
| Preheat oven to 200°F (95°C) | |||
| 1 loin rib roast, trimmed & tied | sear | season | roast at 200°F (95°C) until 130°F (55°C) |
| salt | |||
| pepper | |||
Jus
| rib roast drippings | deglaze | bring to boil | season |
| 1/2 cup beef broth | |||
| salt | |||
| pepper | |||
Yorkshire pudding
| Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C) | |||||
| 1 cup all purpose flour | whisk | beat | pour mixture into pan | bake 450°F (230°F) 15 min. | bake 350°F (175°F) until golden brown (15 min.) |
| 1/2 tsp. salt | |||||
| 2 large eggs | whisk | ||||
| 1 cup whole milk | |||||
| 13 x 9 in. pan | 10 min. at 450°F | melt | |||
| 1/4 cup rib roast drippings or 4 Tbs. melted unsalted butter | |||||
Related Articles
In my mind, a real engineer is capable of working with whatever is given to him. A good engineer might not do an exact sixteenth decimal place conversion, but a good engineer will know when a precise conversion is necessary and an imprecise one is acceptable. Most engineers are capable of working in whatever unit constraints are provided them and can think in US, metric, or SI. I have conversations with engineers from other countries routinely where we will both use inches, microns, degrees celcius, and pounds in the same conversation.
I happen to live (and cook) in the United States where we use a weird system involving seemlingly random and confusing units. So, I present my recipes with these units because I will be using these units when I cook.
Now scientists on the other hand are a different breed from engineers and will require SI units...
Also if you don't have dripping, use lard. Don't use butter.
I use a 250F oven.
I slice under the layer of fat that is traditional on the outside of the roast and slip slices of garlic clove between the fat and the meat. I also do this with any 'center' fat - pierce between the fat and the meat with a knife and slide in garlic.
Then I make a mix of herbs, cracked pepper, and course grain 'kosher' salt. I roll the meat in this mixture, creating a crust. Then I place it bones down into a baking dish and bake until medium rare.
I have made Yorkshire pudding in individual portions using a 12-portion muffin pan with 1 teaspoon of pan drippings/muffin cup per the Good Housekeeping cookbook recipe.
Great site, Michael!
My high school physics teacher would sometimes throw in problems using English units because he wanted the students to be able to solve problems using any kind of units, so he would probably agree with you here.
He did tell us a funny story of a one student who was against using English units. In protest, the student would convert any English units given to metric, solve the problem, then convert back to English units for the answer. =)
As an engineer one is prepared to work in either system, but that also depends on tool graduation. I always use the KISS principle to work, trying to get good results in a short time. Converting units from a system to another is time consuming, so is better for me to work with raw units, be those celsius, fahrenheit, kelvin or rankine.
This recipee also looks tasty, I'll try to try it before year's end.
keep it up, mike.
KISS: Keep It Simple & Stupid
(I have an enormous piece in my fridge right this minute, just waiting to be cooked and eaten!)
Mr. Cho, Merry Christmas to you and yours!
As an editor, I wish you would use the supercript o with F or C, with a space after the degrees number.
Also, what would help lots of us in uniformizing would be to use Tbsp for tablespoon and tsp for tsp. But this does not hurt one bit your excellent recipes.
Thanks!
Caroline
The cooking time is 3-4hours for the standing rib roast. If I dared to make it the night before, how could I re-heat it without ruining the rare-ness of it (the microwave cooks too well done from the inside out)
Any tips are appreciated - I am a first time S.R.R. cooker!! thanks
Your method specifies a far longer time per pound. How say you to Beard's time/pound? [I have not tried ANY low-heat method, only sear and temp reduce, etc]
Best regards & Happy Solstice: Nick F.
Your method specifies a far longer time per pound. How say you to Beard's time/pound?
My estimate of 45 minutes per pound comes from how long it takes my 200°F oven to bring an eight pound roast to an internal temperature of 130°F. I took the totla time and divided by eight pounds. This has held true for the last two roasts that I prepared. (Usually, I tell my guests to show up at a certain time and that dinner will be done when it's done. I start preparing the final touches of the other dishes when the roast is sitting at 125°F - the last few degrees always seem to take forever.)
The extra ten degrees may account of some of the time discrepancy, but I doubt that it would double the time. I don't know what to say except, in my experience it takes closer to 45 minutes per pound to bring the roast to medium rare. Of course, I've always suspected that the minutes per pound estimate is a really bad hack as it's unlikely that the time it takes to heat a volume of meat is linear and predictable (what if my roast has more surface area than your roast?)... but that means a series of experiments that I cannot afford (both from a time and a money stand point) at this time in my life...
Your site is a total pleasure. Nick F.
PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I recommend you go to Bed Bath & Beyond or your local home kitchen supply store and buy a probe thermometer like this Polder model. Thrust the probe into the thickest part of the roast (parallel to the direction of how you will slice it in order to minimize the chance of having slices with holes in them later). Program the thermometer to go off before your desired temperature (taking into account carryover temperature during the resting period). With a 250°F oven, I recommend setting the thermometer to 128°F. After the thermometer goes off, pull the roast out (leave the probe in) and tent with aluminum foil and let rest about 30 minutes (the final temperature should peak at just above 130°F - I expect about a three to four degree upswing in temperature when roasting at 250°F).
Now, timing is going to be a bit tricky with a roast that big... My semi-educated guess is that you'll need an additional 4-5 hours after your first roast at 450°F (less time if you left the roast in the oven during the cooling period when the oven temperature is dropping to 250°F.
You can also opt to finish the roast early, and then drop your oven to as low of a temperature as you can (mine goes down to 170°F) and keep the roast there to keep warm. When it comes time to serve, pull it out, let it rest for thirty, and serve.
However the Rib Roast of 5KG looms for Boxing Day with some Claret and company. What I am fascinated by is the meat thermometer probe. Unfortunateley Polder can't be had in UK, but I shall have to seek an equivalent? What is the probe wire made of to resist the temperatures of the hot oven as it snakes out, presumably through the door seal?
Probably I won't find a thermometer in time for 26th Dec, but any help on sourcing similar in UK would be a help for next time.
Great fun site!
Iain
(I suggest Donald Russell Direct for UK beef)usual disclaimer
Any equivalent probe thermometer should work. I believe Kitchen Craft and Taylor both make products for sale in the UK.
This one is available from Amazon.co.uk but I'm not sure you'll be able to get it in time for Dec. 25. You may have to go to the old standby of opening the oven door and shoving a thermometer into the roast every half an hour after the first couple hours.
I'm not sure what the probe wires are made of exactly. It looks and feels like the actual wires that conduct electricity are protected by a metal mesh that wraps around an insulator around the wire. The insulating substance is unknown to me. The cable does lead from the probe through the oven door seal to the thermometer unit.
I don't think anyone here would *recommend* pre-cooking your bad-a** standing rib roast, but sometimes one has to make concessions to the world.
I have found that your best bet is to probably cook it, let it rest until cool, and then slice it into the portion sizes you have in mind. Then the next day heat your oven to somewhere between 300oF and 400oF, place your slices between very large leaves of cabbage, then put the cabbage/cow packages into the oven on top of a rack placed within something to catch drippings.
How long? That's the tricky part. Until they are hot. For some reason, though, the cabbage keeps the slices from browning on the outside while they get nice and toasty.[/i]
I was just innocently looking for research notes on the 'perfect' Prime Rib recipe (again) and I googled myself here and got sooo much more...
I am in total awe to witness such a marvelous site as this. I do have the analytical mind (to a fair extreme) surrounded by linear and 'anti-linear' thinking... along with a yearning for visuals, graphs, etc... love the photos and recipe cards.
And, I am LOL ('cuz I soo relate)... the 'engineerist' commentary, criticisms, and especially the temptations for further research and development... I am just baffled by those who forego the research for lack of proper funding? I was always led to believe that I would have had a far wealthier outcome as an engineer (compared to the 'starving' artist route I passed through). I'm wondering what happened... or what else is taking up all that funding that couldn't allow for a few to several prime ribs?
Thanks in metric and all other sorts of measurably huge amounts,
Cat
p.s. If the post is +/- 3:33pm Christmas Eve 'there'... it's 7:33am here... Curious to know where 'you' are... I'm an ex-wife/now better friend of a UK native (about 8 hours forward from us). In fact, he will be sharing the Rib Roast with me later today... and with far more laughs than when we were married.
I'm not an engineer and I don't play one on tv, but I'm married to the daughter of one and hopefully that counts for something.
My question is;
I've read a lot about cooking rib roasts at the traditional 350 method. Has anyone tried the approach of searing at a high temp, then slow cooking at 200-250? This is supposedly the best approach for cooking a roast that is consistently cooked all the way through.
My boneless rib eye is 14lbs.
Any comments/advice greatly appreciated until count-down time; noonish tomorrow.
clayton01746@yahoo.com
I've read a lot about cooking rib roasts at the traditional 350 method, and just read about the slow cooking 200-250 degree method. Given the two methods, what's the best approach for cooking a roast that is consistently cooked all the way through and tender??
My boneless rib eye is 14lbs.[/b:cb2777c9f4]
My question is;
I've read a lot about cooking rib roasts at the traditional 350 method. Has anyone tried the approach of searing at a high temp, then slow cooking at 200-250? This is supposedly the best approach for cooking a roast that is consistently cooked all the way through.
My boneless rib eye is 14lbs.
Any comments/advice greatly appreciated until count-down time; noonish tomorrow.
clayton01746@yahoo.com
Thank You!
Thanks in advance!
Sue
In answer to the last several questions (in random order):
The best recipe I know of for roasting a prime rib is the one detailed in this article - hands down, no competition.
How long do you need to cook a 12, 14, 19.5 lb. rib in a 200°F, 250°F, or X°F conventional or convection oven? I have no idea - sorry. Please see my earlier comment on the difficulty in assessing the exact time of doneness and the reliance on a probe thermometer. You can do what great prime rib restaurants do - cook it early and then keep it warm for in a really low temperature oven (170°F or lower if your oven can do it).
String nettings? If you want to add a spice rub, remove the netting, apply the rub, and then retie between the ribs.
I hope everyone is having a Merry Christmas regardless of how your standing rib roasts came out. :) It's all about being with family, friends, or your community, right? Speaking of which, mine is calling for me to return to them...
Oh, by the way, I'm in the U.S. Pacific Time Zone. I believe the forums default to GMT if you haven't set your time preferences in your profile.
Signed -- The wife of an engineer in Ohio.
I pulled the roast out of the fridge one hour before cooking time. During this time the center temperature barely changed: started at 43 F and after one hour it was 45 F. No surprising, but clearly the phrase "getting it to room temperature" more of a saying that truth.
I first cooked the roast for 10 minutes at 450 F. The temperature increase picked up. After 10 minutes we were at 47F.
I then lowered the oven setting to 250 F and let it roast slowly. Now the center temperature really began heating up and at a relatively constant rate. From 47 F to about about 100 F the rate was about 1.5 min/deg F. After 100 F it begins to slow at bit, but not dramatically. I had an average rate of 1.9 min/F toward the end of the oven time. We pulled it out when the probe hit 125 F after an oven time of 2 hours 41 minutes (10 min at 450 F, 2 hr 30 min at 250 F).
Average cooking times were:
23.1 min/lb to get to a center temperature of 125 F
21.8 min/lb to get to a center temperature of 121 F
The surprising part of this was how much the center temperature increased after we removed the roast from the oven. I had read in one recipe that it would increase 5 F and in another recipe that it would increase 5 to 10 F. We saw an increase of 13F up to 138F. This occurred over a period of 43 minutes.
I was a bit concerned that the 138 F center temperature would push me past our goal of med-rare and squarely into med territory, but 138 F seemed perfect. The meat was evenly pink throughout and plenty tender.
For future reference, I plan to stick with the 450 F / 250 F method and to estimate times using the average cooking rates above plus an allowance of 45 minutes "set up time" after it comes out of the oven.
Happy eating.
Following the recipe detailed above, you should not have much carryover temperature increase. It might increase 1-2 degrees. Carryover temperature increases are caused by having a temperature gradient within the roast causing the interior to continue to rise in temperature while the exterior just begins to cool. The 200°F roasting method has very little difference in temperature from the very center to the semi-center, so not much carryover cooking occurs.
Excellent recipe. We followed the instructions as posted.
8 lb'er and it turned out perfect. I had so many compliments.
Cooking time was about an hour less than calculated using a coventional natural gas oven.
Next time I do this I will grab the data logger from work and instrument the cooking process.
Reheating without cooking the roast further is a difficulty. Slice off the amount of roast that you want to reheat, slip into a Ziploc bag, seal, and drop into hot tap water (about 120-140°F). The water will gently reheat the meat without pushing it into well done status (like a microwave oven would). The amount of time it takes to reheat to eating temperature varies depending on the thickeness of cut and how cold it was when you started to warm it up. Exchange the water even ten minutes or so to keep the water temperature up.
Thanks
Thanks
Yes, remove the bones first by cutting along the inside of the ribs around the rib roast itself. If you have a small roast, you can cut off all the ribs at once, but if your roast is very large, then you may need to cut off thee or four at a time. After the ribs have been removed, you can separate the ribs by splitting them with a sharp knife (just run the knife between the ribs). These are seriously delicious pieces of meat for the more adventurous party members (meaning - guests who don't mind getting their hands dirty).
Once the ribs have been removed, take the roast and start at the cut end, use a long sharp knife and slice the roast. The slices can be thick or thin, but should be cut straight across the roast. (Two ends of your roast came already cut, just follow the same direction of cut and work your way across the roast.)
Pad
Also, if switching to a roasting pan, do you lightly oil the pan first or not?
Or do you brown on the stove in a roasting pan rather than cast iron?
Also, if switching to a roasting pan, do you lightly oil the pan first or not?
Or do you brown on the stove in a roasting pan rather than cast iron?
I usually sear on a different pan than the one I roast on. You can definitely use the same pan, but remember to elevate the roast on a grill so the drippings can fall into the pan (away from the roast).
I do not bother to oil the pan that I am searing on. When you sear the roast, just let it sit for a minute or two on each side. When that side has seared, it will release from the pan easily.
This was one of the first articles I wrote for Cooking For Engineers. Upon rereading it, I think I'm going to have to rewrite parts of it and add more information (and definitely a lot more pictures).
I've only done two roasts at the same time once. That time, the roasts took the same amount of time as when I roast one - about 45 minutes per pound - so about 4-1/2 to 5 hours.
I'd appreciate others who have tried this to comment on their experience.
Your site has come to my rescue. It if perfect for the analytical mind.
We are planning on posting a bouncer (6'2" hockey player/ civil engineer) nearby, but fear his legendary appetite might create a conflict.
I will post our results.
HOT ROAST BEEF - Make a good gravy, get it bubbling hot, slice the meat thin, make a great slice of toast, use tongs to dunk the slices and load them onto the toast. The goal is to get them hot without further cooking.
ROAST BEEF DIP - Make a good au jus, get it bubbling hot, slice the meat thin, slice open a hearty sanwich roll, dunk it and then dress it as desired (we add nothing), use tongs to dunk the roast slices and load them onto the sandwich. As always, the goal is to get the sliced meat hot without further cooking.
Time to take it out of the oven. (ha ha)
Chuck, Manufacturing guy.
ps: I really like the garlic idea. Niuce touch!
That's why I recommend the use of a probe thermometer. That way, I can set it and forget it as I argue / discuss with my friends about the merits of using low heat vs. high heat roasting and start a pool going with the various estimates of when it will be done. If we get carried away, the BEEP BEEP BEEP from the Polder will tell me to come back to reality and pull the roast out of the oven. :)
Your method specifies a far longer time per pound. How say you to Beard's time/pound?
My estimate of 45 minutes per pound comes from how long it takes my 200°F oven to bring an eight pound roast to an internal temperature of 130°F. I took the totla time and divided by eight pounds. This has held true for the last two roasts that I prepared. (Usually, I tell my guests to show up at a certain time and that dinner will be done when it's done. I start preparing the final touches of the other dishes when the roast is sitting at 125°F - the last few degrees always seem to take forever.)
My convection oven at 200°F took 4 hours to roast a 9.5 pound rib roast from 37°F to 130°F, as measured by both a thermocouple (accurate to +/- 0.1°F) and a remote sensor digital oven thermometer (Pyrex professional brand +/- 1°F). Another thermocouple with a 'gas' (open grid) sensor confirms that the thermostat on the convection oven is accurate.
So, I have to go with James Beard (and the New Joy of Cooking) for these times, at least in my convection oven.
Delicious! Thanks for the article and the comments!
The sirloin tip roast (AKA round tip roast, AKA beef knuckle) is cut from the front of the leg, the area from the hip to the knee. It is not associated with the rib.
I'm an engineer and always looking for the "right" way to do things...so this site is very helpful. Last night I did a 3-rib (6-lb) roast on a VT Castings BBQ grill - my first cooking on it! It was for a guests 60th birthday, so I was a bit nervous, but went for it anyway. After letting the roast come to room temp and tying it up, I rubbed-on some olive oil and seared the roast over direct flame for 3-minutes on each side. Then I rubbed it with coarse sea salt, fresh ground pepper and a little paprika. I placed the roast on a rack in a pan over the center of the grill (no cover on the roasting pan of course), shut off the two center burners and left the two outer burners on their lowest settings. An oven thermometer placed on the "floor" of the rack inside the roasting pan measured 200F, and the thermometer on the exterior of the grill hood measured 350F. Now, mind you, the grill thermometer is up high near the end of the hood so it was measuring directly over a burner. At any rate, the meat was done to 130F in exaclty 2.5 hours. At that point I opened the grill lid, placed the cover on the roast pan and let it sit for 30-minutes.
I carved the roast by slicing the ribs off the back, and then sliced nice "typical" rib cuts to serve. OUTSTANDING! I was a little worried because the roast cooked faster than this site suggests, but except for the outer 1/8-inch around, EVERY BIT of the roast was perfectly medium rare. The guests went nuts. My wife loved it, and my two young children couldn't get enough.
Tonight I basted the ribs up with BBQ sauce and grilled them for about 7-minutes on each side. They were super-yummy, although next time 'round I'll cook them a little longer - I like my ribs done more than I do my prime rib.
Most restaurants that serve prime rib keep the cooked rib roast under heat lamps or in a special "oven" that maintains the temperature at around 120°F so it stays hot but doesn't rise in temperature.
Some restaurants will prepare several roasts of varying doneness while other restuarants will cook the roast at higher temperatures to get a larger area of medium vs. medium-rare vs. rare and will cut the roast at different points to serve depending on your request. This usually means the rare or medium-rare roasts are not as good as they could have been where a restuarant specifically prepared an entire roast for that target temperature.
Give it a try
Dr. J
Source: Whole Foods
Cost: $62
Size: 7lbs (3 ribs, cut from the loin end, which the butcher was happy to do)
Preparation: wrap in towel, place in fridge for 3 days
Day of consumption:
09:21 - 34° - removed from fridge
11:00 - 38°
11:30 - 41°
12:00 - 44° - browned 3 minutes per side, 5 sides on med-high heat
12:30 - 49° - into a 200° oven
13:30 - 78° -
14:00 - 93° -
15:00 - 114° -
16:00 - 130° - removed from oven
16:15 - 134° -
16:30 - 134° - undercooked - returned to 200° oven
17:00 - 138° - removed from oven and carved
Browning and cooking were done in a 10" Cast Iron Dutch Oven in which the roast barely fit. After browning, I inserted a heavy foil pie pan, inverted and cut to fit, with hole punched in it so the juices could drain. Browning rendered a fair bit of fat.
Temperatures were measured using the oven thermometer (+10/-1°), a calibrated over thermometer (+/- 1°), and a Maverick remote probe thermometer (+/- 2°, tested with ice & boiling water) inserted between two of the ribs, with the end of the probe centered in the roast.
After going back in the oven for 1/2 hour and raising the temp to 138°, we had perfect deep pink prime rib, all the way through. I just finished warming up a piece in a ziplock, in hot water, like Michael recommends. Excellent.
I just now happened upon your Cooking For Engineers site. I am so glad you created this for us analytical minded people. I am about to prepare a standing rib roast for Thanksgiving for some friends. I have a handwritten (by me) recipe from my father who was a cook in the army in WWII. He loved to cook and continued in that industry all his career after the war. He died several years ago and this is the first time I am attempting this recipe without him here to call on the phone for walk-through advise.
My notes on how to cook the standing prime rib are jumbled - out of character for an analytical mind. But it is because I had to take notes as he talked. He spoke like an artist but he had analytical spurts. I am also a map (visual) person, so you can see why the notes are a mish mash of analytical-visual-artistic learning/communicating styles. Because of this I had to check out the web for help to interpret my own notes. And miraculously there's your website - waiting just for me. I love it! Your link is now saved to my desktop! I am now able to rearrange my notes and answer my question marks (200 degrees or not) (Kosher salt before or after searing) etc. Thank you for this website!
Robyn
from Florida
your reponse is perfect. Lazy engineers complain about conversion when dealing w/ international "algorithms or recipes". Lucky for me, i'm a lazy engineer, that happens to use the same units as you do. (SWEET). Great recipe. I agree whole heartidly, all ya need for a good cut of meat is salt, pepper and and a low temperature.
Thank you!
Anyway, in addition to Michael's searing-and-200 method (with the searing coming either through a skillet or a 500-degree oven), I have found two other methods that have produced interesting results (still not Grandma's though):
Wannabe food scientist Alton Brown reverses the searing-and-200 method with a long, slow cook, a rest and then a quick 500-degree flash at the end: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_17372,00.html Without the terracota pot I tried this to OK results; maybe you really need the pot.
Ina Gartner (Barefoot Contessa) is a 350-degree gal, though she varies that a bit as well: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_25276,00.html. I found the meat less tender than in the sear-and-slow method.
The aforementioned James Beard also proposes that a three- or four-rib roast can be cooked thusly: For a 7:30 p.m. dinner, do the normal seasoning and place the roast in a 375-degree oven at 11:30 a.m.; shut off the oven (but leave the roast inside) at 12:30 p.m. At 6 p.m., turn the oven again at 375 for another hour, pull the roast out and let it rest for 30 minutes. I've never tried this one.
I've given up on both analog and digital quick-read thermometers and am ordering a Poulder today, with the understanding that the Poulter probe wires eventually burn out. A new wire and probe costs $15, while the whole shebang costs $10. You've got to love American consumer society.
Thanks.
\dmc
Wow michael, 22lbs? I seriously doubt your roast will take 10 hours. The largest one I roasted was 12lbs. That one took 5 hours @150*F. My experience is that as rib roasts get larger they get longer but not much thicker. The largest rib roast I've seen had a diameter of about 8".
Your oven heat has to penetrate a thickness of 3 to 4 inches of protein (the radius of the cross section of the joint), regardless of weight.
This year I have an oven that allows me to roast as low as 125*F. I plan on searing the roast in the oven at 525*F for 15 minutes then turn the temperature to 125*F (my target internal temp) for the remainder of the cooking time.
I'll start it earlier than usual. If internal temperature reaches 125* early, no big deal, I'll just leave it in the oven until we serve it. Internal temperature is not going to rise any higher. At that temp. the roast won't need to rest.
Michael, my 12 pound roast was about 16" in length. I'm really interested in knowing the dimensions of your roast when you get it (length/diameter).
Thanks
azmomof5,
Provided that you're serving side dishes and trimmings, 0.75lb servings should be adequate. That translates to 13 to 14lb roast.
.
If Prime Rib is your only entree - expect to feed 2 people per rib. Usually, my dinner guests end up consuming only about 1/4 to 1/3 rub per person with a mixed group and a variety of food available (some take 1-in. cuts while others split a 1/4-in. cut). If all your guests are hearty eaters - you'll basically need two roasts going at the same time.
Thanks
I have some leftovers and would like to serve it again, but I have always had trouble with the meat getting too tough and/or too dry. What is your suggestions in reheating the perfect medium rare meat????
The very best method that I've used is bagging the meat in a zip top bag and weighting ti down so it's submerged in very hot (but not boiling) water. The time it takes to reheat varies according tot he thickenss of the cut and the temperature it was when it went into the water, but, generally, after 30 minutes or so, the meat is nicely warmed up without continuing to cook it.
Microwaving also works fairly well if the meat has relatively warm to begin with (or has warmed up froma bagged soak in hot water). If it takes longer than 1 minute to heat up with the microwave, it's not a good solution - but if the meat is room temperature and you want to quickly bring it up to eating temperature, about 30 seconds in the microwave works without over cooking parts of the beef.
I cooked 2 such roasts lately: one on Christmas day and one night before last for a party. I used the recipe in the December 2006 Gourmet which cooked in 2½ hours at 350º F. The experiment I did was to use a 4 rib piece of real prime beef for Christmas and choice beef for the party. The choice beef was half as expensive at $9/lb and it tasted better. I know that the pleural of anecdote is not data, but I will not feel like I am missing anything by using choice beef again.
Sincerely yours,
Ed Warren
There are only 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binaries and those who do not.
Keep up the good work! :)
Did the cooking time of 14 hours at 200 F work out?
Last night I found this site and imediately felt at ease. I printed the entire chat log and decided to get up early on the morning of my maiden prime voyage and decide a plan of attack for my 5:30 dinner for 15. After reading the entire chat log I decided to use a little of everyones input. With only 6 hours until crunch time a 200 temp was out, even so I read one entry championing a 250-275 temp and from what I learned on this site it seemed the lowest temp possibility at my disposal.
Used a minced garlic, prepared mustard, powdered mustard, worschestershire, red pepper, chile pepper, onion salt, "If it sounds good it probably is rub".
Set my propane grill up to high used extra virgin olive oil in an aerosol can to coat the roast and generously sprinkled the roast with course salt and fresh ground pepper, then seared it over the flames on all sides.
Preheated indoor oven to 265, rubbed seared roast with afore-mentioned rub and placed on a "rack" of onion slices one-half to three-quarters an inch thick. I made a rack of onion because I didn't have a metal rack and thought the au jus would benefit anyway. "side note, temp of 265 will not burn onions".
Roasted in convection oven at 265 for 5 hours until internal thermo read 125. Served with a 1cup mayo, 1half cup horseradish, 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice and salt to taste sauce to be slathered, au jus also.
Knocked everyones socks of including mine. Thank you everyone who shared their experience it truly made ours.
Anyway, I tried my very first prime rib last night. Thanks to all who have contributed to this site. The truth is that my cooking of it didn't match my plan...the evening got all crazy...but despite this, the roast turned out fabulous and I figured I'd add to the data.
It was a 4.34 lb choice standing rib roast...4 bones I think. A little roast.
I preheated the oven to 450 degrees F (conventional). As soon as I put the roast in, I turned it down to 200 degrees F. I skipped the searing on the stove...running late..and didn't use a rack...just put in a baking pan and that seemed to work fine. There wasn't that much grease.
It cooked at 200 degrees for 2 hours 27 mins. Then I panicked and turned the oven up to 350 degrees because it was getting really late. It cooked at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. At that point, my cheap thermometer said it was 120 degrees in the center but I took it out anyway. I didn't let it rest, and just served it. It came out nicely pink nearly throughout, with good browning on the outside. About 1/2" around the outside edge was well done. It was somewhere between rare and medium-rare...perfect for me. When I went to slice the remainder of the roast after supper I noticed it was much more done...medium-rare or maybe a bit more...light pink throughout but no red...so clearly the center had heated up a bit more while sitting on the serving plate (if it had rested, I think the whole thing would have gone to that).
So...don't be overly intimidated by your first attempt, and know that all is not lost if your plan goes awry.
I just ordered a probe thermometer (they had it at Bed Bath & Beyond and Target) that includes a wireless remote unit you can take with you to monitor the temp of the roast and hear the alarm sound (I would have trouble hearing a timer go off in the kitchen). You can even clip this device to your belt so you don't wander away from it. (I'm still pretty easily flustered in my attempts to entertain people in my home).
I just thought I'd add to the data (even if the whole thing was a bit haphazard!)
I'll do this again!
Ellen
1. Burn the meat. i.e. Letting the internal temp get above 140F.
2. Not letting the meat rest after cooking.
3. Burn the meat. i.e. Turning the outside to charcoal.
The first one is easy. Use a probe thermometer and count on carry-over heating: I usually count on about 3% of the difference of the temperature. e.g. 200F oven for a 125F roast results in 75F x 3% = 2.25F carry-over. 300F oven for a 125F roast results in 175F x 3% = 5.25F carry-over. This is most valid for large roasts which are longer than they are thick. Your mileage may vary.
The second one is a little more tricky. When do you know you've let it rest enough? I wait until the inner temperature finishes rising and drops back to the temperature at which I pulled it out of the oven. e.g. I pull the roast at 125F. It rises to 128F. So I have to wait until the temperature drops back to 125F. Note: This could easily take an hour or more on a large piece of meat.
<scienceContent>
The third one is simple in execution but complex scientifically. It has to do with the complex chemical reactions of the Maillard and caramelization reactions. The process turns the proteins and sugars in the meat into more complex compounds which are generally brown in color. Cook too hot for too long and the outside will turn black and burn.
These reactions start at temperatures as low as 230-250F and occur at a faster rate as the temperature goes up.
</scienceContent>
So generally it is a good idea to not roast at a temperature above 250F. Also, remember that a lower temperature is better because cooking a roast is not all that different from cooking a custard:
The faster you cook, the more protein coagulation you're going to get and as a result you will wring out more water from the meat. This usually means that even with a proper resting period, more of the juice of the meat will run out onto the plate when the roast is served.
So if you have the time, cook slower. Even slower than 200F if your oven can manage it. Just make sure that you set the temperature at or above the final doneness temperature of the meat (i.e. above 127F for medium-rare).
Also, use an oven thermometer. Ovens suck, especially at low temperatures. At least borrow one from a friend to prove to yourself that you actually need one. I'm betting you do.
2. Let it get at room temp.
3. Place the portions in an aju on a low simmer until heated through
4. Serve
That would be how we did it at the restaraunt I worked at.
I a not an "engineer" by education, but I am an "engineer" by motherhood. LOL...Great site. I do this Prime Rib Roast. I leave mine frozen, crust it in course salt and fresh course ground pepper. Wrap it in tinfoil and I cook it @ 250 degrees for 6 hours. It is GREAT!!!! Crusted with flavor and juice. It turns out med rare. Just wanted you to know.
:P
This is actually an excellent way to prepare a steak if you're not doing it on a grill. Just sear both sides of the steak in some butter or oil - about 3 to 4 minutes each side. Slip it into a 200°F oven until done to degree you desire. Because it's not easy to get a probe thermometer to sit in the steak and produce accurate temperatures, I recommend using a fast thermometer, like the Thermapen, and measuring every few minutes (depending on how close you are to your target temperature). There will be minimal amount of carry over cooking, so you can take it out when it hits your mark. If the steak it too thin, then the high temperature sear might put you over your intended doneness, so watch out for that.
Thanks for the great website.
In my mind, a real engineer is capable of working with whatever is given to him. A good engineer might not do an exact sixteenth decimal place conversion, but a good engineer will know when a precise conversion is necessary and an imprecise one is acceptable. Most engineers are capable of working in whatever unit constraints are provided them and can think in US, metric, or SI. I have conversations with engineers from other countries routinely where we will both use inches, microns, degrees celcius, and pounds in the same conversation.
I happen to live (and cook) in the United States where we use a weird system involving seemlingly random and confusing units. So, I present my recipes with these units because I will be using these units when I cook.
Now scientists on the other hand are a different breed from engineers and will require SI units...
I flipped to this thread because I am making a standing rib roast on the grill using a rotisserie this afternoon and needed to check on a couple of details. My post here is completely off topic, but being a metric-o-phile, is there is such a word, I had to respond. I've said before I detest the system of weights and measures we use in the US, and can't wait for a change, but I know we are going to be stuck with it for a long time. BUT, with regard to accuracy and precision in engineering and architecture, everyone should be reminded that the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge (among many other structures in the modern world) and going to the moon, were all done with a slide rule (what's that? say the kids), and three significant figure accuracy, not to mention a lot of know-how. Cooking is one of those things where know how (or knowing where to get the information) is what makes the difference between a cook that knocks out mediocre meals, and a cook, trained or not, that seeks out information that they need to know to produce a delicious meal that everyone will enjoy.
Thanks to everyone for this great thread!
Now the Reaumur scale is just as detestable to me as the Fahrenheit/Rankine scales. Where do these guys get their motivation to make these ridiculous scales? Lets here it for Celsius and Kelvin. Go metric!
I have to say I am VERY impressed that you have Reaumur scale thermometers. They are probably extremely valuable, at leasts to nuts like us.
I wouldn't age a defrosted prime rib before cooking it. I don't anyone who has the facility to truly age a piece of beef at home. Besides, if I was going to take the time and go to the significant expense of preparing a prime rib/standing rib roast, and then take the credit or blame for its outcome, I would just purchase exactly what I wanted when I was ready to prepare and serve it.
Since I am not living in US, it is very hard to find unfrozen USDA Prime beef. The roast selling here is un-aged, frozen one, so I just want to find out is that any way I can improve it favour. Anyway, thanks for your comment.
Anonymous wrote:
I happened to have a view of the kitchen, over a counter,and watched as the chef took what appeared to be an already cooked cold roast,cut off a thick piece and that was all I could see. My meal came and the prime rib was as I had ordered it. Any ideas as to how it was heated back up?
Most restaurants that serve prime rib keep the cooked rib roast under heat lamps or in a special "oven" that maintains the temperature at around 120°F so it stays hot but doesn't rise in temperature.
Some restaurants will prepare several roasts of varying doneness while other restuarants will cook the roast at higher temperatures to get a larger area of medium vs. medium-rare vs. rare and will cut the roast at different points to serve depending on your request. This usually means the rare or medium-rare roasts are not as good as they could have been where a restuarant specifically prepared an entire roast for that target temperature.[/i:8fec73f8db]
[b:8fec73f8db]I've probably cooked a thousand standing rib roasts for restaurants across the country and I have always used very similar methods as this recipe. Lots of different rubs, but always prefer the low temp method. I've also added wine, different vegetables, and stocks.. but mostly to setup for the jus I make later. I've also managed to alter the natural flavor of the meat but don't think thats a good thing. To the point of why I am even posting... there is many techniques restaurants use to serve prime rib, but the most common from my experience is cooking the roast to rare and maintaining that temperature during service. Once the customer orders their desired temperature, its usually brought up to the desired temperature in a jus thats usually then served along side it.
This is the first forum I've read so far on this site, but I am very impressed and find it very informational.
Thanks[/b:8fec73f8db]
Anyways how far in advance can I buy a roast and not worry abut it spoiling or whatever?
from my butcher I always see them bring it out in the vacuumed sealed "big cut" -
I typically specific amount by number of ribs - I would not recommend less than three ribs for this method.
then I do the home method of dry aging.
place on smallest platter/low rimmed pan I can fit, on a rack, covered with a cloth towel, bottom back of refrigerator.
rotate 180 degrees every 24 hrs; change towel as / if it becomes bloody/soiled.
allow to stand for five days. because the home fridge is not as well controlled (temp & humidity) as 'professional' dry aging,
max five days is recommended for safety.
the meat can lose up to 20% of it's weight - water evaporating.
trim any hard crusty spots, season with rub of choice, low temp (275'F) roasting.
results are fantastic - tender and very flavorful.
sw
0:00 – removed from refrigerator
1:30 – insert probe thermometer (36F) and put in 200 F convection roast oven
2:00 – 38F
4:00 – 86F (at this point, my roast was going to be done too early so I reduced temp to 190F convection roast)
4:30 – 99F (I reduced again to 175 convection roast)
4:45 – 107F
5:30 – 121F
6:00 – 128F
6:15 – 130F
6:25 – 132F, removed from oven and allowed to rest
7:00 – 135F
7:25 – 136F, this is the highest temperature achieved, back in oven at 500F convection for crust development
7:40 – 136F, removed from oven for rest
8:10 – 136F, cut and served. A bit too done for my taste of medium rare.
Some notes of interest:
1) Taking the roast out of the refrigerator early to warm to room temperature achieved absolutely nothing. To get “near room temperature” would take far longer than a couple of hours.
2) At 200 F, my cook time is less than 30 minutes/lb to achieve desired doneness.
3) At 175F, my temperature carry-over was 4F.
4) The doneness was very uniform.
5) Before putting it in the oven, I rubbed with oil, 2 tsp. kosher salt, and 2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper, the crust was amazing.
6) Next time I get a loin end roast, cook at 175F, remove from oven at no higher internal temperature than 128F for rest prior to cooking at 500F to make the crust.
200'F is a bit more on the meat smoking scale than roasting - I'd suggest upping the oven temp to 275'F.
that low temp long heat soak also resulted in the "done thru and thru, and too much done, at that" result.
when you think about it, if you want outer layer crisp&crusty, to some depth of brown done, but inside medium rare - you can't let the whole chunk of meat come to a stable / steady state temperature. at that point, it's all done "the same"
convection vs. conventional: convection circulates the air more vigorously; with long roast time, not recommended. the whole purpose of convection is "make it happen faster" which is not what you set out to do.
that low temp long heat soak also resulted in the "done thru and thru, and too much done, at that" result.
when you think about it, if you want outer layer crisp&crusty, to some depth of brown done, but inside medium rare - you can't let the whole chunk of meat come to a stable / steady state temperature. at that point, it's all done "the same"
Dilbert, it looks like Ken did a pretty good job at following the directions - In fact, I'd still recommend 200°F for the oven temp, but since he's using a conventional oven, you'll have to either disable the circulation or reduce the cooking time. Now that Ken's got a set of data points, his next attempt will probably be timed differently.
Evenly cooked is the point of this recipe. Pulling out at 130°F would give Ken as much meat as possible at medium-rare. I like forming the crust earlier with a sear in the pan or on a grill over high heat and then performing a slow roast to get as much of the interior at the desired temperature.
Yep.
Actually I was trying to achieve the maximum amount of medium rare, basically medium rare through and through with a crust on the outside - any other way than the lowest possible temperature wouldn't achieve this same result. Once you got past the depth of the crust, which was just on the ouside, you got some slightly more done in the next 1/4", and the remainder of the roast was very uniform - exactly as I had hoped. However very uniform 136F (132F removal temperature with 4F carry-over) was still more done than I like, apparently I prefer rarer than this (this was my first time cooking standing rib roast, although certainly not my first time eating prime rib). The results as to uniform doneness were as I had hoped and my process is not likely to change next time except that I will try with convection disabled and will remove the roast at a lower temperature.
I had never convection roasted this low before. In the past on smaller roasts and more conventional temperatures, I have found that convection roast cycle doesn't appreciably reduce cooking time so much as it really forms a nice outside crust. Perhaps my cooking times are reduced, but at relatively small amounts that fall into the point of being negligible? However with a much longer and lower temperature roast time the convection factor is perhaps no longer negligible (I could only verify this by cooking another standing rib roast without it - yum). I can certainly disable the convection fan, however there is something clearly more to convection than simply a fan as my oven has four different convection cycles.
This is a great site.
"ye olde kitchen oven" is subject to temperature striations - you've certainly heard the ye olde standard line "rotate the xxxx to ensure even cooking / browning / whatever"
[[something clearly more to convection]]
yes and no; and of course the ever popular "mebbe"
convection is simply forced air circulation attempting to put the entire oven volume "more closer to the set point"
there's slow air fan, fast air fan, separate heating element 'boosters' to heat the air while it's circulating, low booster heat, high booster heat, and of where from it sucks and whereto it blasts.
for 'exposed' items, drying - ala the crust formation - is more pronounced. convection cooking a roast in a covered pot will not dry it out. . . .
if you have a heat booster in the convection air stream, that can affect 'crust' as the air exiting the convection ports is higher than the set point.
the low temp is indeed suited to your aim for medium rare (xCrust) throughout. I misread your initial post - I actually prefer Crust+Medium+Rare outer to bone - and have found the high temps help create that gradient.
1. Cook roast to medium rare (or rare if that's what you like)
2. Heat-up some au-jus in a large pot, keeping it at low heat ( you'll need enough to completely cover a carved piece of your roast)
3. Dip any piece you want cooked more into the au-jus and wait
I don't have cooking times, but it will only take a couple of minutes to change the done-ness "level".
It's also a good way to give everyone a nice warm piece since you can do a quick dip right before serving.
Anyone try that method?
link:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_17372,00.html