Need Roast Advice

[CDN Smoker]

There is a restaurant where i started going to as a child with my parents. My Dad always had the Kings cut prime rib. Later when I could handle it, I started to order the same. It is a massive hunk of beef with Yorkshire pudding. The Vegetables don't matter. The owner lost his restaurant (didn't know when to fold them  ). He has since opened a smaller, not as fancy but still is doing prime rib.

Now I need the assistance of the butcher. Is a standing rib and a prime rib roast the same thing?

Now his roast always is supper tender, almost don't need a knife but just a fork. I'm assuming to get this tender it would be the same as doing a pork butt in a smoker but how would I go about this in an oven.

Has anyone done this? Open to all and any suggestions.

Thanks,
CDN

[Rummm]

The standing rib and the prime rib are essentially the same thing.

I've always cooked my beef standing rib, prime rib, boneless rib, etc, at 325°......grill or oven and never had a tough piece of meat. Of course there are variations.......1) start at 400° for 30 minutes and then drop back to 325° 2) Reverse sear, start at 225° and finish at 450° and a myriad of other instructions along the way from  other folks.

For what you are looking for I'd put in the oven at 225° until you get about 10° away from your final finishing temp, remove from  the oven, then bump the oven to 450°, put the roast back in and finish it off.

Only thing that would ruin the rib would be to over cook it 

The 'Prime' Rib can be either boneless (Rib Eye roast) or with the bone-in (Standing Rib Roast). Technically speaking, a cow has 13 ribs, 1 to 13. 1-4 are left in the Chuck and #13 is left in the loin, leaving us ribs #5 thru #12.

All bone-in whole ribs come from the packer (in the US) with 7 rib bones. For reasons of familiartity and simple butcher talk, we will refer to them as ribs One (near the Loin) through 7 (next to the Chuck).

Also, for all intents and purposes, ONE rib will serve two 'normal' people.

For presentation and prettiness, the first three or four ribs (small end or loin end) will do the job. Less marbling and leaner, but still tasty and tender. They are also the 'prime' of the Rib, hence the name, which has nothing to do with the USDA Grading. However, I would always make sure it's Choice or Prime, no Select. The last three or four ribs (large end or Chuck end), 4-7 or 3-7, more marbling, more fat, less attractive, and in my opinion, MORE flavor. All the ribs roasts I cook are from near the Chuck end. If I get a three rib roast, I like ribs 4,5,6, a four rib roast 3,4,5,6. Nothing wrong with #7, it's just plain ugly (trimmed up it makes a nice steak for the grill).

[CDN Smoker]

Many Thanks Mr. Rummm for taking the time. Greatly appreciate your comments

[smokeasaurus]

I forgot to send you a pm CDN Smoker that I moved your post to Ask a Butcher.  You can see by the fast informative response why I moved it here 

[Ka Honu]

We had this discussion last year and the bottom line on cooking prime rib perfectly is to cook it low and slow (I do it in a 170^o oven - as low as mine will go) till almost done.  Foil wrap and rest for 30-90 minutes.  Sear at end (500^o for about 6 minutes).  Carve and eat.



Here's more than you need to know about prime rib and the resulting recipe, both from seriouseats.com.  If you have a sous vide setup, it's definitely worth exploring but I haven't got mine yet so won't talk more about that. Trust me on this one (but read the article and recipe to verify).

[TentHunteR]

The last three or four ribs (large end or Chuck end), 4-7 or 3-7, more marbling, more fat, less attractive, and in my opinion, MORE flavor.

I agree. That end (sometimes called a Second Cut Rib Roast) is my favorite too, and usually costs less.


I like to coat it with a spicy brown mustard as a glue for the seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic powder & rosemary). The spicy mustard gives a nice hint of horseradish-like flavor to the coating.

That article Ka Honu referenced is the absolute best read I've ever seen on cooking prime rib, and it works best if you like your rib roast more on the rare to med-rare side. I used to follow it to a tee, but now I just cook at around 250° or so, take it off at about 132° - 134° and don't even bother with the final sear anymore. It gives us a nice upper end med-rare just the way our family likes it.

The rest period is CRITICAL! The best advice I was ever given (by scooter) was to stick a thermometer in it when you tent with foil and DO NOT cut into that roast until the temp has stabilized and just started to drop. That's how you know the muscle fibers are starting to relax and your roast will be tender and juicy beyond belief.



We also do strip loin using the exact same method.

[Pappymn]

If buying a rib roast how would a person which end of the rib rack they are buying? Is it labeled?

[muebe]

All those pictures of great looking roasts is driving me crazy!

Here is Phil's easy roast instructions...

Have the butcher remove the meat from the ribs and season well.  I use Awake-a-Steak.  Tie back on the ribs.  Have the exact weight. Dust the fat cap with flour and put in fridge. Keep in fridge until moved to the oven. When ready to roast, preheat oven to 500 degrees. Now do the math. 5 minutes per pound. 10 pounds equals 50 minutes. Take from fridge and put in oven and start timer for the amount of minutes needed. Be sure that you rest the roast on its ribs in the pan. When the time expires, turn off the oven.  Do not open the door for another 90 minutes. When finished you have a browned roast that is perfect med rare and very juicy.  Never fails. Try it just once.  Best  Phil

I have yet to try it but he told me it works every time! Man I sure miss that guy

[GusRobin]

Here's more than you need to know about prime rib and the resulting recipe, both from seriouseats.com. 

I've used this recipe for the last couple of years and always had a great roast. (with that said, Capt Jack's recipe seems interesting.)

[CDN Smoker]

I forgot to send you a pm CDN Smoker that I moved your post to Ask a Butcher.  You can see by the fast informative response why I moved it here 

No Problem Smoke, I am sure others ask the same questions. Need to make posts easy to find.

Ka Honu, this is what I want to try. I have a digital Jenn-Air oven. I can do the 150F so this should be fun.

Capt, that roast colour is perfect. Did you cut garlic into the roast?

Tent, I'm going to start hunting for a 4 -7 standing rib

Pappy, good question.

Muebe, I have seen that one before. Going to try the low and slow first.

Gus, glad to hear someone else has tried this before.

Thanks fellas for all the great comments. Now time to start planning

As the saying goes "If you fail to plan you plan to fail".

[Rummm]

If buying a rib roast how would a person which end of the rib rack they are buying? Is it labeled?

The loin (small) end almost looks like a bone-in strip steak.....the chuck (large) end is larger and looks almost like a bone-in fatty rib eye

These are boneless, but you get the idea..........

[Saber 4]

Great post and information, I did a 2 rib choice roast in my Bradley for New Years eve and it turned out great, now I have some other options to try.

[RAD]

The last couple of one's I've done I followed the links from Ka Honu and glad I did.

interesting to me is that I never know anything about the cut and bones, thank you Rummm for this post and the information you provided.

Take a look at the below pics I took and you can see what Rummm is talking about. (I think)





This looks like the loin (small) end to me



And this looks like the chuck (large) end to me



And this looks like dinner 

[Rummm]

interesting to me is that I never know anything about the cut and bones, thank you Rummm for this post and the information you provided.

Take a look at the below pics I took and you can see what Rummm is talking about. (I think)



This looks like the loin (small) end to me



And this looks like the chuck (large) end to me

What you think is the 'loin' end is actually the Chuck end cut.

The second pic is the center cut. Notice the deckle muscle on top? The small end does not have that. The muscle will appear about 3 bones in and then get larger towards the chuck end.

[Rummm]

OK...............


Rib loin end (small)



Rib chuck end (large)