Monday, December 19, 2011

The Perfect Prime Rib

I don't really know what to do with myself. 

I was home alone when this came out of the oven and I kept looking around with my mouth wide open in complete and utter shock and joy like someone would see me and say "GOOD JOB!"  But no.  All by my lonesome.   Which actually turned out to be the best thing EVER because I could lick this from rump to rib and no one was there to judge me.  Score.

Prime rib is the epitome of comfort food.  It's expensive, but for Christmas, it's time to splurge in every sense of the word.  Buy this and enjoy every nook and cranny and then eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches the rest of the year.  It's worth it.

The trick to making the perfect medium rare prime rib is all in the cooking.  The ingredients are quite simple:

Standing Rib Roast 
Herb Butter 
Sea or Kosher Salt 

I do herb butter for two reason.  To season the beef, obviously, but also to give the salt something to stick to.  You can use whatever herbs you want.  I did dried thyme, garlic powder, and freshly ground black pepper.

After you've made your herb butter, smear it all over the outside of the roast.  Make sure you stand it fat side up with the ribs down in your roasting pan.  You want to add a LOT of salt to the prime rib so don't be shy.

Now, I am so sorry, but we need to do just the littlest bit of math. So pay attention to this part.  

First, make sure your rib roast is at room temperature by leaving it on the counter for 3-4 hours.

Now, take the EXACT weight of your rib roast that's listed on the package and multiply that by 5 minutes.  That is the amount of time you put the roast in a preheated 500 degree oven.  After that time is complete, shut your oven off and walk away.  DO NOT open the door.  Don't look at it.  Don't even think about looking at it.  Don't even breath next to it.  I don't care how many times your fire alarm goes off.  DON'T TOUCH THE OVEN for a total of two hours.

Mine was 5.005 pounds.  So I put it in a preheated 500 degree oven for 25 minutes.  I then shut the oven off and let it sit in there for exactly two hours.

And I got....

...this.  A beautiful GORGEOUS garlicky, crunchy, salty crust with the perfect medium rare center.

This is really the only way to cook your prime rib.  It is so unbelievably tender and juicy.


Eat with some homemade horseradish cream sauce.



And DEVOUR.  Stay merry this Christmas and always stay hungry!! 

The Perfect Prime Rib Recipe 
Standing Rib Roast (about 1-1.5 servings per pound) 
Sea or Kosher Salt
Herb Butter 
Stick of Butter, softened
1/2 Teaspoon Dried Thyme 
1/2 Teaspoon Dried Garlic Powder 
1/4 Teaspoon Fresh Ground Pepper 

Make sure roast is at room temperature by leaving it out on the counter for 2-3 hours.  Preheat oven to 500 degrees.  Smear outside of roast fat side up with herb butter.  Multiply weight of roast by 5 minutes for total cooking time at 500 degrees.  Quickly put the roast in the oven on the middle rack.  As soon as time is reached, shut the oven off and leave untouched for 2 hours.  This will result in a perfect medium rare prime rib.  The cuts on the outside will be more done than those on the inside, so you should be able to accommodate everyones tastes at the table.  Enjoy! 

10 comments:

  1. Looks so good! I'm going to have to try it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This looks amazing. Its so hard to correctly cook a prime rib and this makes it so easy. Your pictures look fantastic. Even better than some of the first posts. Did you get a new camera?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks delicious, but where is the recipe for the cream sauce?

    ReplyDelete
  4. The cream sauce is coming tomorrow :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I was just talking with my mom yesterday about wanting to cook a prime rib but neither of us have any idea how to do so properly. I think I may have just found the inspiration for my New Years Eve meal.

    ReplyDelete
  6. My life is now complete. Ordered the rib today
    what a xmas present.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This looks great! Def going to do this for christmas! pinning now!

    ReplyDelete
  8. My Prime rib is resting on the counter, will be putting it in the oven in another hour. This is my first year trying it this way. I usually do it on at rotisserie but never get the timing right. Can't wait for everyone to arrive and have a great meal. Merry Christmas everyone.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Well, it's three years and a few days after your original post, but I wanted to stop by and say thanks for helping us create the perfect prime rib!! We followed your directions to a 't' and although I was nervous at first, I trusted your recommendations and it was amazing!!! Thank you!!!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking the time to comment!