I’ve been traveling quite a bit over the past few months and have spent very little, if any, time with my smoker (CS008). Now that I’m grounded for a couple weeks I thought I’d reacquaint myself with the unit this past weekend. Also, since it was our daughters first home visit during her freshman year in college, and my FILs birthday, I thought I’d splurge a little and smoke a prime rib.
I picked up a “prime” grade prime rib that was dry aged for 28 days - a little over 13 lbs. I sprinkled it generously with some kosher salt and let it air dry in the refrigerator on a rack overnight. The following day I let the roast come to room temp and applied a paste/rub containing salt, freshly ground black pepper, Montreal seasoning, rosemary, garlic confit, Dijon, EVOO, and red wine vinegar.
I pre-warmed the smoker to 180°F with 4 oz. sugar maple. I cooked the roast continuously at that temp to an internal temp of 121°F then pulled, foiled and rested it for about 40 minutes. I didn't pay strict attention to the cook time, but it was around 4 to 4 ½ hours to get to the pull temp. During the rest, the internal temp rose to 126°F. Following the rest, the roast was placed in an oven pre-heated to 550°F for 10 minutes to sear the exterior. I then removed, carved, and served it.
The results were perfect. Nice crisp exterior, and pink and moist throughout with just a miniscule hairline of grey at the outer edge which was brought on by the high temp sear. After trying a variety of ways to cook a prime rib over the past few decades, I settled on this method many years ago and have not looked back. It’s simple with guaranteed excellent results 100% of the time.
As many others do, I keep a sauce pan of simmering au jus (or beef stock) infused with garlic juice and rosemary on the burner for those that like their meat more well done. I dip the meat in the pan for a couple minutes to color it, not to cook it much, if any more, at all. It’s funny how some folks find that their meat tastes so much better when it’s grey all the way through.
I took some pictures, but can’t find my card reader to transfer them. When I find it I’ll return and post the pictures.
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