I've never made Prime Rib before and I've decided to do it for Christmas Eve. Smoking it with an herb crust.

Anyway, I'm trying to time it with the church service, 5:30 - 6:30p. We'd leave the house at 5:15 and return at 6:45p.

So I'm thinking of trying to time taking the roast off at 5p to rest and we'd eat at 7p. Is 2 hours too long?

Should I do a reverse sear when I get home? 5 minutes in the oven at 500? To get a good crust and warm it back up.

I think 2 hours is way too long. Issue is you are not cooking it to a really high temperature to where you can wrap it and throw it in a cooler and still be above the danger zone.

You are cooking it to a temperature right at the danger zone and then letting it sit and drop from there. That is also why I don't think the reverse sear is going to help you. The meat will be back at room temperature by the time you are ready to sear it.

Thanks. How about keeping it in the oven on "warm"? My oven manual says this is 170 deg F.

My assumptions were you are cooking the prime rib to 120-130. Medium rare to medium. You throw that in an oven at 170 and leave it for two hours and you will come back to a well done prime rib.

Just do a reverse sear instead of smoking and let it cook while you're gone. Probably skip the herb crust too if you're going to finish with high heat.

GAC06 said:

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Just do a reverse sear instead of smoking and let it cook while you're gone. Probably skip the herb crust too if you're going to finish with high heat.

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This is good advice. Plus, a lot of herbs just end up tasting like smoke anyway; especially the longer your cook.

If you cannot do it in the smoker, do it in the oven. Does your oven have a baking timer where it shuts off after the timer goes off?

Prime rib is just a great cut of meat; it is awesome no matter what method you use to cook it.

I've thought about doing it in the oven and cooking while we're gone, but I won't be able to monitor meat temps and afraid it will overcook.

https://www.seriouseats.com/perfect-prime-rib-beef-recipe

Going by this, it shouldn't be an issue unless you really really want to eat as soon as you get home. The only downside of the reverse sear is it can vary a bit on timing due to differences in ovens. I also don't think 90 minutes between low heat and sear would be too bad as long as you don't leave it in the oven or something

The closed-oven method sounds like the perfect solution to your problem. While I have not personally used this method I know others that have and swear by it. I'm going to try it on New Years Day this year.

https://www.thespruceeats.com/closed-oven-prime-rib-roast-method-995286

That's also a good idea. Although all their pictures of it sliced up look horribly over done. Exact same recipe as in this video which looks awesome though so who knows

Agasaurus Tex said:

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The closed-oven method sounds like the perfect solution to your problem. While I have not personally used this method I know others that have and swear by it. I'm going to try it on New Years Day this year.

https://www.thespruceeats.com/closed-oven-prime-rib-roast-method-995286

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Interesting. I would try this given my timing, but your link says not to do it if my oven has a cooling fan which mine does.

My oven also has fans that circulate air when convection roasting but not conventional roasting.

No, this is a fan that I can hear running for ~20-30 minutes after the range is turned off, regardless of what setting was used to bake.

Oh okay. Then you probably can't use that method.

I'm also reading my oven has a built in meat thermometer that can shut off the oven after reaching a target temperature.

Set oven to 250 F and thermometer to 120 F.
Plan for 30 minutes per pound to reach 120 F at 6p.
Oven shuts off and cools down while roast increases to 125-130F and rests.
Sear at 500F when I get home.

?

Also, skipping the herb crust, just use salt and pepper?

I feel your pain. For me this is one of those situations where it is easier to give advice versus follow it.

I usually cook a whole prime rib and a ham or turkey (sometimes all three depending on the crowd size). I love doing this for my family because when I was growing up, we couldn't afford much. It feels great being able to make prime rib and treat them every year. I want to make sure it is perfect.

If you are not going to be home, trying to sear when you get home after an undetermined amount of time could be tricky. Being that it is Christmas Eve, you are going to run into a bunch of church CEO's (Christmas Easter Only) friends you have not seen in a while and want to talk. You will hit every red light and …. Your stress will go up on Christmas Eve and you will get a talking to from your wife about your tone (enough about me).

Just plan on eating a bit later. Most people expect delays. Bust out an extra charcuterie board and snacks to hold people over.

Maybe keep your original plan but start a little later. Plan on the cook ending just after you arrive home. That way you are there to see it end or were very close.

Just tell everyone you will be eating a bit later because you are doing a prime rib. Eat earlier and have ham or later and have prime rib. I think people will be ok waiting.

My HEB has bone in Select for $3.88/lb ($9 off), Choice for $13.99/lb ($3 off), and Prime for $15.99 ($3 off).

That Select is enticing.

Unless you're going to use it for cheesesteak sandwiches, don't fall for it.

I've done choice and prime many times and they are both awesome every time. Never done select, but there's probably a reason for the price difference

HTownAg98 said:

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Unless you're going to use it for cheesesteak sandwiches, don't fall for it.

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Dang are they that bad? I was just telling my wife last night I was inclined to buy one of those select roasts just to try the method mentioned above with little financial risk.

How many pounds are you going to cook?

Do not buy the select.

Check out Cowboy Kent Rollins prime rib video on YouTube. He let's it sit for 2 hours in the oven after turning it off

I got voluntold to cook for like 24 dudes for a friend's bachelor party last month and the request was a "steak night". I had no idea how to cook 24 steaks in a reasonable amount of time so we opted for prime rib. I think we got one 13 and one 11 pound rib from HEB. I drug my Traeger to the Airbnb and we smoked them.

Dont remember how long the time was but having never done this before they made it to 130 degrees WAY faster than we planned. I was aiming for 7:00pm and I think they were approaching 130 by 4:00. I basically treated them like brisket and wrapped in pink butcher paper and coolered them (and said a prayer that i wasn't going to eff up $300 worth of beef) until about 6:00. there was a natural gas grill at the house that had some impressive heat and we gave them a good sear and ate around 6:30. I was super proud of how they turned out, especially having never done them before.

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This guy knows. i did the same thing 10 years ago with a $150 PR from Petes fine meats. Smoked it because Levi Goode told me that was the best way to do it - and then it was done about 3 hours early. FTC'd it for 3-4 hours and it was fine.

If you've never had smoked PR, you dont know what youre missing.

rononeill said:

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This guy knows. i did the same thing 10 years ago with a $150 PR from Petes fine meats. Smoked it because Levi Goode told me that was the best way to do it - and then it was done about 3 hours early. FTC'd it for 3-4 hours and it was fine.

If you've never had smoked PR, you dont know what youre missing.

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I smoke about 70 pounds of prime rib once a month for the wine bar in Smithville. I have it down pretty good and it is delicious.

What about sous vide and sear at 550 when I get home?

That should work except it might be difficult to seal a chunk of meat that big.

Look up Thomas Keller (French Laundry et al) blowtorch technique. I've used it multiple times and bought my prime roast at HEB yesterday and will use it again this year. Basically, sear roast with a propane torch (bought mine at home depot) and then season with salt & pepper and roast at 275 degrees (4.5 lb roast takes about 2 hrs, pull at 128 degrees). Works like a charm, plus you have a propane torch for making creme brulee.

Dr. Venkman,

I am guessing you are in the middle of your cook no matter which direction you went.

I wish you and your family a low stress and high quality Christmas eve dinner. Let's us know how it turns out

Koko Chingo said:

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Dr. Venkman,

I am guessing you are in the middle of your cook no matter which direction you went.

I wish you and your family a low stress and high quality Christmas eve dinner. Let's us know how it turns out

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I went the sous vide route and it turned out pretty chewy. Not very tender. My 7 year old daughter loved it. She LOVES "bloody" steak. I could tell she had to chew it a lot though. My 4 year old son ate it and liked it. My wife isn't a big prime rib person and thought the same as me - not tender. I may do a pork loin or something else next year.

I documented what I did. Here's the cut:



Salted and "dry aged" for 6 days.



Out of the refrigerator.



Sous vide at 132F for 7.5 hrs.


Rubbed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and herbs de provence.


Seared at 550F for 10 minutes.


Nice color, very little grey.

Looks great but I've always wondered about sous vide for ribeye. I feel like real heat helps render the fat but I have no science to back that up. I sous vide filets and strips all the time then finish in a skillet. Ribeyes I prefer on the grill and I guess I'm biased for rib roasts in an oven.

yah, I pretty much always prefer meat on the grill, especially beef and chicken. I may try it again sometime when I'm not in a time crunch and I can smoke it like I wanted to originally.