The Perfect Prime Rib Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do restaurants make prime rib so tender? ›

How do restaurants make prime rib so tender? The secret to restaurant-style prime rib is cooking the meat super slow at low temperatures. I recommend cooking prime rib at no higher than 200 degrees F. This cooks the meat very slowly, turning the fat into butter and rendering the proteins juicy and soft.

Let it sit on the counter for 4 hours before cooking. Bringing the roast to room temperature is especially important here because a cold roast will take much longer to cook.

Brown the roast at 500°F (or as high as your oven will go) for 15 minutes. Lower the oven to 325°F to finish roasting: Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F. Roast in the oven until the thermometer registers 115°F for rare or 120° for medium rare, and 130°F for medium.

Cook the Rib

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Place the roast fat side up, bone side down, in a large roasting pan. Cook for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 325°F. This allows the heat to sear the roast, trapping the juicy flavors inside while the rest of the meat cooks.

Leaving prime rib roast uncovered while roasting allows the meat to develop a nice brown crust. You should only cover the roast with aluminum foil if it is becoming too brown.

Cooked low and slow in the oven and finished with a blast of heat for the juiciest, most flavorful, evenly cooked prime rib roast. Kenji is the former culinary director for Serious Eats and a current culinary consultant for the site.

Rub a good quality kosher salt all over the meat the day before you want to cook it. Now, place it in the refrigerator overnight, UNCOVERED in order to enhance the beefy flavor while dissolving some of the proteins, which yields a buttery-tender, juicy roast.

The salt helps trap the heat to better cook the prime rib. “It conducts the heat and seals it,” says Betz.

Put the roast on a rack (or on top of some carrots, celery and sliced onion, which will flavor the drippings nicely) in the roasting pan, and add just a little water to the bottom of the pan — it shouldn't touch the meat.

Step 1: Season Overnight

This is a hefty cut of meat. Because of its density, it requires extra time for the salt in your seasoning to penetrate deep into the roast. The day before you plan to cook, you should generously season it with salt and pepper (and we mean generously).

Is it better to cook prime rib at 325 or 350? ›

Cook Time and Temperature:

Start by cooking your prime rib at 500°F for 15 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 325° F and cook for 10-12 min per pound for rare, or 13-14 min per pound for medium rare, or 14-15 min per pound for medium well. A meat thermometer is essential to ensure you cook it perfectly!

In the end, the thicker crust that we got from the final sear was not worth the vast swaths of rosy pink meat that were lost. We recommend a low, slow cook preceded by a good sear. Whatever crust you may get from the final sear is just not worth the risk to the rest of this exquisite cut of meat.

Prime-grade prime rib costs about $17 a pound, while Choice-grade prime rib goes for about $13 a pound. Additionally, some butchers offer dry-aged prime rib--Prime-grade rib roasts that have been aged for up to a month to tenderize the meat and concentrate its flavors. Dry-aging adds another $2 to $3 to per pound.

Resting the Prime Rib – Achieving Your Desired Finish Temperature. Tent the roast with aluminum foil and allow the rest for 20 minutes. As we said before, the residual heat will move from the surface of the meat to the center resulting in a 5 to 8° temperature increase.

Fresh Herbs: In addition to fresh garlic, fresh herbs like rosemary and thyme really give this prime rib its perfect flavor. Onion Powder: A dash of onion powder is simple, easy, and really kicks this prime rib up a notch.

For best results, salt your prime rib on all surfaces with kosher salt at least 45 minutes before you start cooking it, and preferably the day before, leaving it in the fridge uncovered overnight. Initially, the salt will draw out some moisture and end up dissolving in it.

If it is the main course for a sit-down dinner, plan on one pound per person or one rib for every two diners. For example, you can plan on a four-bone roast generously serving eight guests. When in doubt, err on the side of buying too much. Using leftover prime rib is just as tasty when prepared the following day.

Overcooking the Prime Rib

That's why prime rib is so expensive: it's a huge piece of extremely good beef. Therefore, it's important not to cook it beyond medium-rare. Going past that temperature means the roast will no longer be tender.