Yes, I garden, and no, we are not vegetarian. In fact, Andy always asks for meat in whatever I cook, be it chicken or beef or pork - I usually cook with chicken. One of our favorite indulgence is Prime Rib Eye Roast. Don't be surprised if I cook a five pounder for just the two of us. It's just practical. Cooking a 2-lbs, 5-lbs or a 10-lbs roast involves the same amount of effort to clean up. So why not cook once and have enough leftovers for several days. I love cooking for him, but if I spend less time in the kitchen means I can spend more time cozying with him in the sofa, right? Right.
Anyway, making prime rib is much simpler than you think, if you have the right tools. In this case, the key tool is a Digital Meat Thermometer - get one with extended cable like this one here. Trust me, it is worth it. That's why it is in my Kitchen Essentials list.
If you want to skip to the recipe directly, scroll down and by pass the article. If you feel like listening to my chatter, by all means, read on.
There are different ways to roast a meat and there is no right or wrong way - unless you absolutely doing it wrong. I will talk about two methods for cooking a rib roast, which applies to either boneless or bones, or a thick cut steak (I am talking 2" cut): REVERSE-SEAR and SEAR.
Obviously I am going to talk about Reverse-Sear method as it is what this recipe is called. So let me start with talking about SEAR method. Honestly though, it is not called that! I don't know if there is a certain terminology for it, but considering we all put emphasis on saying "REVERSE-SEAR" means, when one talks about cooking prime rib with out any other clarification on the method, we could safely assume that it is most likely be using the not-reverse-sear method. For ease of writing, I called it SEAR method. Good enough, ya?
Sear or Traditional
This seems to be the traditional meat cooking methods, where the meat is first seared at high temp, then continue to be cooked in lower temp. The searing could be done on a hot pan, or a very hot oven (500ºF usually the highest setting on most residential oven). Then the slow cooking happens in the oven, where the heat is distributed evenly around the meat, at a lower temp (depends on the recipes you follow, it could range from of 275ºF - 325ºF). With this method, calculate roughly about 15 minutes of cooking time per 1-lb of meat for medium-rare. So if you are cooking a 10 lbs of roast then the estimated cooking time would be 2.5 hours for medium-rare, not including prep time.
The benefit of this method is a shorter cooking time. The typical issue here is, it is easy to overchar or burn the surface of the roast, and potentially overcooked the outer layer of the meat (this matters if you prefer medium-rare and doesn't if you like well-done). The roast has to be served almost immediately after it is cooked for best eating enjoyment.
Reverse-Sear
The reverse method is basically what it says, instead of searing the meat first, you sear the meat last. The meat is cooked first in low temp (200ºF) until the internal temp reach a certain degree (115ºF), then the cooking is finished at a very high temp, 500ºF, for about 10-15 minutes, or just until the desired temp (set on the meat thermometer) is reached. The benefit of reverse-searing is typically a more tender and flavorful meat. The slow cooking part allows the seasoning to marinate and tenderize the meat. The thing is, if you are pressed for time, then this method is not for you. For 5 lbs of roast, it takes about 3.5 hours to reach the internal temp of 115º and then another 5-10 minutes to reach the final internal temp. You can also pre-cooked the roast halfway done and finish it when it is closer to serving time. It gets a bit tricky if you choose to do this, but totally doable.
Cooking time noted above is based on the meat already at room temp. If the meat is colder then cooking time would be longer. That's just logical.
Cooking time varies, depending on the thickness of the meat and whether the meat is aged as well as the aging method. In the video above, the meat I used have been aged for several days at in a cool room. This resulted in a faster cooking time. I will talk about aging the meat in a separate article (coming soon).
Which cooking method to do?
Do SEAR method: If you are short on time. But watch it not to burn the surface. A way to prevent that is, if the surface seems charred already, cover the top of the roast with aluminum foil. This method is convenient when you have no time to prep ahead of time, and only have the day of to cook. You can calculate the cooking time as it is usually pretty spot on.
Do REVERSE-SEAR if you have the time. It is overall resulting in a better roast in my opinion. There is still a small possibility of burning the surface in the end, for example if you still have to keep the meat longer in the oven and the surface is already charred nicely, cover the meat with aluminum foil and lower the oven temp (happened to me once and I lowered it from 500ºF to 400ºF). Reverse searing is also convenient, you can cook the roast halfway and give yourself half an hour before serving (oven is already pre-heated to 500ºF) to finish the cooking process.
Kat's Kitchen Tips: Set the timer on the meat thermometer LOWER than the intended internal temperature, about 5º-10º lower.
After it is removed from the heat, the inside of the meat is still cooking for a while, or until the roast is cut; which then the heat escaped and the cooking process stop. The internal temp easily goes up 10º between the time the roast is "resting" to the time it is served. For Med-Rare internal temp of 135º, I usually take the meat out of the oven at 125º or a the most 130ºF depending on when we start serving.
Resting refers to letting the meat just stay on the counter, covered with aluminum foil in a shape of a tent, to allow the juice to settle. Usually takes about 3-5 minutes.
Are you ready to make some prime rib? :)
REVERSE-SEAR PRIME RIB RECIPE
Prep Time: 15 minutes - not including getting the meat to room temp
Cooking Time: 3.5 hours - use meat thermometer for actual cooking time
Ingredients:
Prime Rib Roast: 5 lbs
Serve: 6-8
Seasoning:
3 cloves fresh Garlic (at least 3!)
2 tbs Butter
2 tbs Black Pepper
3 tbs Sea Salt
2 tbs Thyme
2 tbs Oregano
1/2 tsp Rosemary
Optional: Fresh sprigs of Thyme for cooking and garnish.
* Separate the meat and the rib bones. Typically the rib roast you get from the butcher is either boneless or has already been pre-cut - you could tell by the cooking twines wrapped around the roast to hold the meat in place. If the roast is not yet cut, you can do this yourself. Do it when the meat is still cold and fresh out of the fridge (not frozen, not room temp). Carefully slice the meat from the cut end of the ribs, holding the sharp side of the knife down at an angle towards the bones. Make slow slicing back and forth motion following the contour of the ribs until you reach almost the end of the meat. DO NOT slice through! Hold the meat and the bones together using kitchen twine AFTER you season it (see video on how to).
** Getting the meat to room temp: Put the meat on a plate/tray ribs side down (if bone) and if boneless, use paper towel to line the plate/tray. Let the meat sit on the counter until it reach room temperature. If the meat is frozen, take the meat out of the freezer at least a couple of days before cooking and keep it in the fridge to slowly thaw it out. If you only have a day, set the meat out on the kitchen counter (read above).
*** Cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of the cut and internal temperature at the time it was cooked. While outside of the meat might feel room temp, the inside of the meat will still be colder. Stick in a meat thermometer to check internal temp of the meat. Cooking when the internal temp is still below 65º will add to the cooking time and could lead to over cooking the outer layer of the meat.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 200ºF. Adjust the shelves (one notch below the middle) so when the roast is in, it will be in the center of the oven.
Mix the seasoning ingredients using a food processor into a paste. I am old school and prefer grinding the butter and garlic with stone to get the garlic juice nicely mix in with the butter.
Rub the seasoning paste all over the roast (except the bottom of the roast).
Tie the roast with cooking twine and set it on a roasting tray.
Insert the meat thermometer to the thickest part of the roast. If you have fresh sprigs of thyme, place it above the roast.
Set the digital meat thermometer to 115ºF and put the roast inside the oven.
When the internal temp reach 115º take out the roast, set it on the counter and cover/tent it with aluminum foil.
Set the oven to 500ºF.
Set the digital meat thermometer to 130º and when the oven reached 500ºF put the roast back in, minus the thyme and foil.
At 130º alert, take the roast out, tent it again and let it chill on the counter for about 5 minutes before you start cutting.
Notes:
If you like garlic, feel free to add 3 or 4 cloves to the recipe. Rosemary is quite intense, that's why I only use a little bit of it. That said, if you do not have any herbs, simply use the good old SALT+PEPPER to season the meat. Oh, and butter! This may not be necessary as the roast usually have a fatty cap, but it will add something nice to the flavor.
And that's it! The cooking part is done by the oven. All you have to do is keep watch on the digital meat thermometer.