RecipesCharles Sieg

Smoked Prime Rib Roast

A bone-in rib roast crusted in parmesan and garlic, smoked low for about five hours, and rested under foil.

Smoked Prime Rib Roast: A bone-in prime rib roast with a deep brown parmesan and garlic crust, two thick slices cut away to show a rosy medium center, resting on a dark walnut carving board with a carving knife laid beside it
Smoker
225°F
Total time
6hr 45min
servings
8
Pull at
147°F

Method

A line, step, tool, or note tagged Filled in was added by the editor because the original left it out.

  1. Take the roast out and bring to near-room temperature.
  2. Apply parmesan garlic crust rub until fully coated in every surface and crack.
  3. Preheat smoker to 225 and turn on Super Smoke.
  4. At 225, put the roast in the smoker.
  5. Put the probe deeply into the roast.
  6. Smoke the roast for approximately 5 hours but remove roast when the internal temperature hits 147 degrees or so (medium+).
  7. Allow the roast to rest under foil for 20-30 minutes before slicing and serving.

Notes

Tips

  • Set the roast in the smoker bone side down, fat side up, and push the probe into the center of the thickest part without touching a bone. A probe against bone reads high.
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  • The clock is only a guess. A smaller roast finishes sooner and a bigger one later, so the probe decides when it comes out.
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  • The temperature keeps climbing under the foil. ThermoWorks says a large roast can rise as much as 10 to 15 degrees as it rests, so pull it early if you want it closer to medium.
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  • To carve, cut the rack of bones off in one piece, following the curve of the ribs, then slice the roast across the grain.
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Substitutions

  • No parmesan garlic rub in the pantry? Stir together 1/2 cup of finely grated parmesan, 2 tablespoons of garlic powder, 1 tablespoon of kosher salt, 1 tablespoon of coarse black pepper, and 1 tablespoon of dried parsley. Rub the roast with a thin coat of olive oil first so the blend sticks.
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Safety

  • An hour on the counter takes the chill off a roast this size. Do not go past two: the FDA’s limit for perishable food between 40 and 140 degrees is 2 hours.
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  • The federal safe minimum for a beef roast is 145 degrees with a 3 minute rest. The 147 degrees in this recipe clears it.
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Scaling

  • For a bigger crowd, smoke two roasts side by side with a probe in each. One giant roast takes much longer and cooks less evenly.
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Nutrition Facts

8 servings per recipe

Serving size1 thick slice

Amount per serving

Calories1,190

% Daily Value*

  • Total Fat 102g131%
  • Saturated Fat 42g210%
  • Trans Fat 0g
  • Cholesterol 260mg87%
  • Sodium 1,010mg44%
  • Total Carbohydrate 2g1%
  • Dietary Fiber 0g0%
  • Total Sugars 0g
  • Includes 0g Added Sugars0%
  • Protein 60g
  • Vitamin D 0mcg0%
  • Calcium 60mg4%
  • Iron 6.5mg35%
  • Potassium 1,010mg20%

* The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

How this label was figured
Ingredient lineCountedUSDA foodNote
1 bone-in beef rib roast, 4 ribs, about 8 lb.2,903 gBeef, rib, whole (ribs 6-12), separable lean and fat, trimmed to 1/8" fat, choice, raw80% of its weight is counted as edible.
Parmesan garlic crust rub59 gA home blend of parmesan, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, and dried parsleyFigured at ½ cup.
  • The label counts the meat and fat of an 8-pound bone-in roast and all of the rub. The bones are figured at one fifth of the roast’s weight and left out; that fifth is an estimate.
  • The rub is figured as a home blend of parmesan, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and parsley. A store-bought rub will change the sodium.
  • The USDA lists no trans fat for beef rib roast, so that line counts none from it.
  • The USDA lists no vitamin D for beef rib roast, so that line counts none from it.

The prime in prime rib

Prime rib is a cut, not a grade, with roots in English roast beef and a Beverly Hills dining room built around one entrée.

The “prime” in prime rib is not the USDA grade. A standing rib roast is a cut from the primal rib, which runs from the sixth rib through the twelfth, and a roast can hold anywhere from two to seven of them. The USDA does not require it to come from Prime-graded beef, and the Certified Angus Beef brand puts it flatly: “’Prime rib’ does not mean ‘Prime grade’ of beef.”

The roast itself is English at heart. Henry Fielding wrote “The Roast Beef of Old England” for his 1731 play The Grub-Street Opera, and it became a patriotic ballad that theater audiences sang before, after, and sometimes during a new play.

Its American home is Lawry’s The Prime Rib, which Lawrence Frank and Walter Van de Kamp opened in Beverly Hills in 1938. For many years the menu had a single entrée, standing rib roast, carved to order at the table from rolling silver carts.

Sources

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