Sous Vide Rib Roast Questions/ New Member

[mavrick300]

Hi Everyone,

I have been a long time fan of this website and decided to join the pit club today!

I am planning on Sous Vide a rib roast this week for Thanksgiving but have a couple questions.

I am going to follow Meatheads recipe as far as removing fat and season as well as making as round as possible.

Here is my plan as of now let me know if you think I should change it up at all.

1. Dry brine at least 24 hours before
2. Season at least an hour before with Mrs. O'Leary's Cow Crust
3. Sous vide at 6 hours at 131
4. rappidly chill with ice bath then in the fridge
5. Smoke at 225 till it warms up to about 120
6. Sear
7. Enjoy the fruits of my labor

my main 2 questions are sous vide cooking time and about how long do we think it will take to heat up in the grill(charcoal)?

Let me know what yall think!

Roast is probably 4" haven't measured it but it is your average size.

[Potkettleblack]

There is no reason to add the cow crust before processing Sous Vide. It will not add additional flavor.

I would modify your plan as follows.
1- fine. Adjust salt downwards by as much as half. Sous Vide can improve salt penetration from a dry brine, which intensifies it.
2- skip
3- sounds solid.
4- good
5a - whip an egg white. Brush egg white on the exterior of the roast out of the bag, after drying and cleaning. Alternatively, a thin coat of mayo. I’m in the egg white camp, but others swear by mayo. After getting the outside thinly, but well coated, NOW add the Cow Crust.
5- Smoke at 225 to IT of 110.
6- crank heat to Warp 10, but cook indirect. Cow crust will burn on direct sear.
7- carve. Do not rest. Serve straight away.

I would recommend doing something with the liquid in the bag. The Sticky in the Sous Vide thread explains processing it, and I’d recommend making a red wine reduction with all of the filtered purge, about 2 cups of wine and maybe 2 teaspoons of honey. Maybe some rosemary in there. But just filtering it and pouring it back over the beef would be fine. Or seasoning and using as a jus.

[Boydog]

Curious why Cow Crust would not add additional flavor during the sous vide. I'm planning the Meathead method, but sous vide to 120 and then cooking on the grill indirect at warp 10 (no chilling). Does the egg white just make the Cow Crust adhere better?

[Potkettleblack]

Sous Vide is extractive. If you put things in the bag they maybe flavor the surface, but it’s not like you get any flavor penetration. You flavor some purge, but that makes it more complicated to use the purge in any form of reduction.

[Potkettleblack]

Egg white massively improves adhesion of Rub. It’s an old school chef trick.

[mavrick300]

Potkettleblack Thank you for the advice I was not sure to season before or after the Sous Vide!

When you say you use the Egg white does that skip the water herb mix meat head recommends?

Also yes I definetly plan to make an as a jus with the liquid in the bag thanks for the advice on where to find info on it!

Do you have any idea about how long it will take to warm up to 110 on the grill?

[Spinaker]

Thanks for joining up! We really appreciate your support!

I made a killer Prime Rib Roast last Christmas and it was spectacular. I used a little bit of a different method. First, I took a large cast iron skillet and added a high temp oil to the pan. After getting the pan ripping hot, I seared the roast on all sides, adding garlic cloves and rosemary mid way through the searing process. Once all sides were seared, I threw the garlic, rosemary and meat into the bag and sealed it.
Then I went 129 F X 6 hours cooking sous vide. Once the sous vide step was finished, I mixed up Meathead's Mrs. O'Leary's Cow Crust and mixed it with rendered beef fat to make a paste. I applied the paste all over the roast, and then I had set the oven to 550 F with the convection fan on. I think I rotated the roast every 45 seconds or so to make sure I had a nice even crust. (you can do this over the grill too) I used an elevated rack to make sure the roast was not sitting in juices while it was searing.

This was the best prime rib I have ever eaten in my life. Potkettleblack is the man around here when it comes to cooking sous vide, so you won't go wrong following his guidance, but I wanted to chime in and offer another method, just incase you are interested.

[Potkettleblack]

To be fair, your method is equally worthwhile, but I wouldn’t use your purge in any form that requires reduction. But the super hot convection finish is legit.

[treesmacker]

That looks great. Potkettleblack, I don't understand what your reference to a purge is. Did I miss something?

[Potkettleblack]

Check the Sous Vide section of the techniques and there should be a sticky. Purge is the juice in the bag. It’s like liquid fond.

[Polarbear777]

90 minutes and he gets two answers, both with a high likelihood of awesomeness.

Gotta love this place. :-)

I do like the searing indirect for large things . If you can get to say 500F indirect air you’ll get a nice even sear with a lot less fuss and risk of burning or crust coming off.

[Spinaker]

Come to think of it, I think that is what I did. I turned the oven to about 550 F, with the convection fan on. I was trying to remember turning it, but I don't think I did, and this is why. Thanks for jogging the old brain!

[Spinaker]

Here is the original post on this cook. Potkettleblack has some good info here too.

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/the-pit-mastery-program/sous-vide/430217-prime-rib-lessons-learned-successes-earned

Come to think of it. Polar Bear, Have you done this in your PK? I was just thinking that throwing the roast into a well soaked Kamado or PK would be unreal.

[Polarbear777]

Yep. My first cook in the pk360 was a reverse seared rib roast. Did it without the fan controller. Do need a fan to switch from low to 450+ indirect but pretty easy and enjoyable.

[RonB]

Welcome to The Pit.

[Skip]

Welcome to The Pit mavrick300 from Minnesota. Potkettleblack and Spinaker have given you Great advice -- Good Luck with your Rib Roast!

[Donw]

Welcome from Maryland. Whichever method mentioned you adopt or modify, it will be a great roast. Both posters are fantastic cooks and know their stuff.

[mavrick300]

Thanks everyone! So far I love the Pit forum just as much as the regular site!

Last year I did it all on the smoker following meatheads receipt and it was the best I had ever had!

Thanksgiving is not at my house this year so figured having it cooked ahead of time will save me some effort!

[Boydog]

Thanks. I have a gorgeous dry-aged, grass-fed number ready to go for a Monday evening dinner. Cow crust after the sous vide. Cooks Illustrated recommends searing both before and after the sous vide. Your thoughts, members?

[Potkettleblack]

I generally don’t sear before. They’re trying to build more flavor, and ChefSteps does it, but my main concern with a rib roast is not overcooking the spinalis muscle on the outside, so double sear seems counter productive to me.

[Potkettleblack]

But Spinnaker does presear and his looks amazing, so I might presear my next one (or pre-smoke) and see how I feel.