Insanely Delicious Prime Rib Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do restaurants make prime rib so tender? ›

How do restaurants make prime rib so tender? The secret to restaurant-style prime rib is cooking the meat super slow at low temperatures. I recommend cooking prime rib at no higher than 200 degrees F. This cooks the meat very slowly, turning the fat into butter and rendering the proteins juicy and soft.

Prime rib has a large “eye” of meat in the center, which is juicy, tender, and marbled with fat. This eye has a fat-marbled muscle around it, and the whole thing is surrounded by a thick cap of fat. This means that prime rib is tender, juicy, and extremely flavorful because the muscles aren't heavily used.

How to Season Prime Rib. A roast is a large cut of meat: it needs more seasoning than you might expect. Season it generously with kosher salt the day before roasting it and let it sit in the fridge uncovered overnight. When you take it out of the fridge before roasting, add pepper and any additional herbs.

Remove the beef roast from the refrigerator 3 hours before you start to cook it. Sprinkle it with salt all over and let it sit, loosely wrapped in butcher paper. Roasts should be brought close to room temperature before they go into the oven to ensure more even cooking.

Cooked low and slow in the oven and finished with a blast of heat for the juiciest, most flavorful, evenly cooked prime rib roast. Kenji is the former culinary director for Serious Eats and a current culinary consultant for the site.

Overcooking the Prime Rib

That's why prime rib is so expensive: it's a huge piece of extremely good beef. Therefore, it's important not to cook it beyond medium-rare. Going past that temperature means the roast will no longer be tender.

The salt helps trap the heat to better cook the prime rib. “It conducts the heat and seals it,” says Betz.

Make small slits all over the prime rib and fill each slit with a slice of the garlic. Season liberally with the salt and coarse pepper, place on a rack set inside a roasting pan and roast for about 2 hours until medium-rare, or until a thermometer inserted into the center of the meat registers 135 degrees F.

Place the roast fat side up, bone side down, in a large roasting pan. Cook for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 325°F. This allows the heat to sear the roast, trapping the juicy flavors inside while the rest of the meat cooks. On average, each pound of rib needs 15 minutes to cook (i.e., a 4 lb.

Searing is an important part of roasting a prime rib. Searing the roast first will kill the surface bacteria, which is a nice touch, especially when you are roasting at lower temperatures.

How many people will a 3 pound prime rib feed? ›

A good rule of thumb for purchasing bone-in prime rib is to buy one pound per person. A bone-in standing rib roast will feed about two people per bone. But if the roast is part of a bigger spread with plenty of other food, you can plan on 1/2 to 3/4 pound of prime rib per person.

Prime rib is comparatively expensive because it's a highly desirable, highly delectable cut of meat that's known for being very juicy, flavorful, and tender. It's also a case of supply and demand — prime rib roasts are much more limited in number, while individually cut ribeye steaks are more plentiful.

Black pepper, kosher salt, and garlic powder are usually all the flavors you want with a prime rib.

Heat the oven to 250°F with the rack in the lower middle position. Cook for 4 to 5 hours or until the internal temperature in the thickest part of the roast is 125-130°F for medium-rare prime rib, or 135-140°F for medium. Take out the roast and tent it with foil.

Salt the Prime Rib Overnight

Rub a good quality kosher salt all over the meat the day before you want to cook it.

A good rule of thumb for purchasing bone-in prime rib is to buy one pound per person. A bone-in standing rib roast will feed about two people per bone. But if the roast is part of a bigger spread with plenty of other food, you can plan on 1/2 to 3/4 pound of prime rib per person.

Do you cover prime rib roast when cooking? You can cover rib roast when cooking after searing it to help it retain some of its moisture, but it's not necessary. For the best results, leave the roast uncovered until you remove it from the oven or grill and place it at room temperature for resting.