Prepping the Prime Rib?
All of these are optional and not completely necessary:
- Remove the bones before cooking
- Remove large kernels of fat that won’t render
- Remove silverskin that can shrink and ruin crust
- Use butcher’s twine to tie the roast
For this roast all I did was trimmed excess fat and the silverskin.
The Twine is For Presentation Purposes
This prevents the “spinalis” or “cap” muscle from separating from the ribeye muscle – but even in my case, this didn’t happen because I didn’t sear the fat.
The bones help stand the roast up, removing them after you can turn them into beef back ribs and have a snack later in the night.
Rub and Dry Brine for Prime Rib
A day in advance, make the following rub:
- 1 cup Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
- 4 teaspoons dried rosemary
- 1.5 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1.5 teaspoon dehydrated minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon dehydrated lemon peel (or zest of 1 lemon)
In a spice grinder, add the rosemary, thyme, minced garlic, and lemon peel; Pulse this 5-10 times.
Then add it back to the salt and mix until well combined.
Take this seasoning and apply to all sides of the prime rib, liberally.
Put on a wire rack and into your refrigerator overnight OR if the roast has bones, standing it on the bones.
The Next Day, Get Your Grill or Kettle to 200-225F in a 2-Zone Fire
Once at temperature, add your favorite hardwood.
Before putting on the grill, cover the roast with olive oil – you could opt to add more fresh herbs at this point, but it’s totally optional.
Put Prime rib on the grill indirect with the fat facing the fire. Now is also the time to probe the thickest part of the meat.
Add a new piece of wood every hour.
Cook the Roast Until 10F Under Your Target
So say you’re goal is medium-rare (~125-130F-ish) – take off at 115F.
Then cover loosely with foil and rest for 20-30 minutes.
The reason for doing this is to allow carry over cooking to do its job and so that when we go to sear at the end, it won’t overshoot our target.
While resting my prime rib went from 115F > 127F in 30 minutes.
While the roast is resting, get 3/4 of a charcoal chimney lit, this will take 15 minutes.
We’ll be using this to sear with.
Return to the Grill to Sear
I like to put over the coals with an elevated grill grate, but you could sear directly over the fire.
Sear for 30 seconds, flip to the other side sear for 30 seconds.
Repeat 3-4 times until the crust is nicely browned.
Rest Again for ~5 Minutes While You Set Your Table
During this process my roast went to 129.8F internal.
Remove the bones by slicing close to them and then slice your prime rib into 1-1.5″ thick pieces.
Enjoy!
Weber Kettle Prime Rib
Ingredients
- 7 lb Bone-in Prime Rib 2-3 bones
Rosemary Salt
- 1 cup Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
- 4 tsp dried rosemary
- 1.5 tsp dried thyme
- 1.5 tsp dehydrated minced garlic
- 1 tbsp dehydrated lemon peel or zest of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Take prime rib out of packaging and pat dry with a paper towel.
- Remove excess hard fat near the backside, near the bones. Remove silverskin from the top of the roast.
- You could opt to: Use butcher twine between each bone OR remove the bones completely. I didn't do either of these.
Make Rosemary Salt for Dry Brining Overnight
- To a spice grinder or pestle and mortar, add your dehydrated thyme, minced garlic, and lemon peel.4 tsp dried rosemary, 1.5 tsp dried thyme, 1.5 tsp dehydrated minced garlic, 1 tbsp dehydrated lemon peel
- I did roughly 9 presses on my spice grinder.
- Add this mixture to your kosher salt.1 cup Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
- Liberally apply this rosemary salt to all sides of the roast. Put on a baking sheet and into your refrigerator overnight.
The Next Day, Get Your Kettle to 200-225F in an Indirect Setup
- Before putting on the grill, cover the roast with olive oil – you could opt to add fresh herbs at this point too – totally optional but will build a better crust.
- Once at temperature put the prime rib on indirect, with the fat cap pointed at the fire.
- Probe the thickest part of the prime to monitor internal temperature.
- If you want to smoke the meat, add your favorite piece of hardwood.
Cook the Meat Until 10F UNDER Your Target Temperature
- My goal is ~125-130F or Medium-rare. So I took the meat off at 115F.
- While the meat is resting, get 3/4 of a charcoal chimney lit to sear the roast later. This will take ~15 minutes.
- Rest the meat covered loosely with aluminum foil for 20-30 minutes. During this rest the internal went to 127F.
Sear the Meat
- Sear the meat on one side for 30 seconds, then flip to the other for 30 seconds.
- Do this back and forth until you're happy with the exterior.
- Rest for another 5 minutes while you set your table, remove the roast from the bones and then slice into 1-1.5" thick slices. Enjoy!
