Prime Rib Question

[jlazar]

Got a 4 bone prime rib on sale today. I plan to dry brine and then vacuum seal and freeze until Saturday. Then sous vide on Christmas. Does this sound like a good plan to you or would you skip the freezing? A week in the fridge seems a little long to me. Is that ok if I vacuum seal it first? It is a bone in. Should I cut the bones off before vacuum sealing or leave them on? Thanks for your help. I only get to do this once a year.

[Spinaker]

Do not freeze it. There is absolutely no need for that. I have kept prime rib in the fridge for much longer than that. If you vac-seal it, you will be more than fine and it is not necessary. I would for sure remove the bones. Do not worry about leaving the meat in the fridge for a week or even more. It will be totally fine.

Here is what I do.......

Prep, I make sure the roast is as round as humanly possible. I will roll and work the roast until I can get the done. I think this is really key to a great Prime Rib. And it is one of the best tricks that Meathead has bestowed upon us. Trim as much fat out as you can to make this cylindrical shape. Then I add salt and let it sit in the fridge, at least over night, maybe even two days. (Uncovered, on a wire rack) You want a dry surface on the meat for the searing step. *All you want is salt on the meat at this time.

Pre Sear: Make sure you have a sturdy pair of tongs to flip the meat. Then I will melt tallow, ghee or avocado oil in a large cast iron pan. Make sure it is a high temp oil of some kind. Then add raw, fresh garlic and rosemary to the pan. Make sure your vent hood is on and add the meat. Sear on all sides and the ends until you have the crust you like.

**Tip** I will add fresh garlic and rosemary half way through to add to the bag before the bath. Remove any overly burnt garlic or rosemary from the pan as you sear.

Bag it up! Remove the meat from the pan, and then add fresh garlic, rosemary to the bag. Add the meat to the bag. I will add some garlic and rosemary from the sear pan, as long as it is not too burned.

Bath Temp/Time: 129 F/5 hours (But I will go longer if need be, depending on how things are going in the kitchen)

After the roast is outta the Hot Tub Time Machine: I will coat it with the rub. Use the freshest herbs you can get. Place the roast on a metal rack over a pan.

**Tip About the broil step......I have found this to be easier and better than searing in a pan. This is because of the rub on the meat. When you pan sear it the rub gets really beat up by the direct contact with the super hot pan. This is not an issue when we pre sear, because we don't have the rub applied. Basically, with the post sear under the broiler, all we are trying to do is reawaken that pre sear we did before the bath.

Post HTTM Sear: I like to kick people out of the kitchen before I do this step. Once the roast is on the wire rack, I rotate the roast 90 degrees every 30 seconds or so. Take your time, wear heat gloves and make sure that the broiler is hot. Keep an eye on the roast, if it looks like the herbs are burning, take it out and rotate 90 degrees. Take your time, do not rush things or you can burn yourself. Do this until you have the desired color you like!

I let it rest for 10-15 mins before slicing.

If you have any other questions, please let me know.

[jecucolo]

Spinaker so you don’t smoke your prime rib?

[au4stree]

"hot tub time machine" sent me. Too funny

[Spinaker]

Nope. I way prefer this method. I used to sear it over a live fire, but I went away from that as well. jecucolo

[RlsRls]

You could cover the bone tips with paper towels to prevent tearing, and then vac seal the roast. With no oxygen it should easily last a week in the fridge.

[Mosca]

You’re fine with just vac sealing it.

[jlazar]

Thanks for the advice. Will do.

[jlazar]

Trimmed, tied and ready to vacuum seal until Monday. Then dry brine and prep/cook per Spinaker directions.

[Jim White]

Beautiful already.

[Spinaker]

I would just let it sit in the fridge uncovered. That surface will dry out and it will result in an unbelievable crust after the pre-sear.

You did a great job of rolling and tying that baby! That is text book perfect, my friend.

[jlazar]

Spinaker OK. Thank you.

[jfmorris]

Timely questions and advice. I would have been able to tell you NOT to freeze, but couldn't offer all the prep guidance Spinaker brought.

I just picked up a FULL prime rib roast (23.15 pounds!) today, and am debating what I will be doing with it... thinking I will trim off a nice slab of beef back ribs for the freezer, take off the ribeye cap and freeze as a separate steak or two, then treat half of it as a boneless eye of ribeye roast for either Christmas or New Year's Day, done on the rotisserie, and the other half sliced into steaks.

[captainlee]

I agree that if you can keep it in the frig great. We always get about an 18lb and cut it down before the holidays. I've always vacuum sealed and froze with absolutely no issues. They still come out perfect. The last portion would probably be cooked in March, just as good as December.

[texastweeter]

If not using dry aged beef, I dry brine mine, wrap in cheesecloth, put on a rack and set in fridge 5-7days anyway. Helps develop a good crust.

[Spinaker]

This man speaks the truth!

[wrgilb]

@jlazar Here's the breakdown to get the most different meals out of your prime rib roast. This was a 3 bone piece, first removed the rib bones, then the ribeye cap then the complexes muscle. trimmed up the eye of the rib that was left and tied.

Pictures left to right, the eye of rib roast, the rib eye cap trimmed up, the complexes muscle and then the rib bones.

[jlazar]

How do you folks cook the rib bones? Hot and fast?

[jlazar]

Thanks.

[jfmorris]

I cut the bones off in a slab of beef back ribs about the size of pork baby back ribs, and smoke/treat them like I would baby backs.

[jlazar]

Mine were precut by the grocer. So, most of the meat is just between the bones. I will probably go hot and fast with these. Will look at a low and slow when I cut my own.

[jlazar]

Spinaker Did the Prime Rib following your directions. Only difference, I did the final sear on the Grilla Primate with all burners set to high. I apologize for the lack of pictures, but folks were ready to dig in.

Did initial sear outside using an induction hot plate and a cast iron pan at 6:30 this morning. Appreciate the heads up on how much smoke is produced. Then sous vide for about 7 hours at 129F/

Here is the prime rib after the second sear.



Here is the only pic I was able to get after cutting.



Impressions:

Sous vide is the way to go if you want an easy way to control the temp without worrying about going over target IT. Very consistent from edge to edge and end to end. Searing at about 700F on the Primate only took about 5 minutes and did not seem to change the IT of the prime rib at all.

When I asked opinions of sous vide compared to smoking, a couple said they missed the flavor smoking gave to the meat, but the rest liked it this way.

Next year, plan to sous vide the same way again. Only difference, I will try cooking at 132F vs 129F to see if a little firmer texture is liked better. Otherwise, I am pretty sold on the Spinaker method.

[Spinaker]

Great to hear. I did mine at 134 F this year, I do think I like that better. It is a little more firm but still has great color. I am glad this worked out for you and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

[jlazar]

I really appreciate all your help with this. I will go 134F next year.