Reverse Seared Prime Rib Roast

Prime rib is one of my favorite holiday meals.   It is buttery tender, rich in taste, and so....so....beefy.

I've mentioned this before but the "prime" in "prime rib" is just a common term, it is not referring to the USDA grade of prime.  It's also called a standing rib roast or beef rib roast. [Click here for my 20 Tips for Beef Rib Roasts]   

This year I cooked a USDA choice boneless rib roast for Christmas and I used the reverse sear method on my Big Green Egg.   I have cooked rib roasts a variety of ways (high temp roast, low temp roast, sear/roast) and in my opinion, a reverse sear gives the most tender and evenly cooked rib roast.   If you cook it at 350f straight, you'll end up with the outer edges (the "lip" or "cap") a dull grey medium while only the center is medium rare.  Reverse searing a roast creates the same degree of doneness all the way through, edge to edge.

Perfect medium rare, all the way through.  Even the spinalis dorsi is pink.

You can do this on any grill that you are comfortable with holding low temps for several hours.  Heck, you could also do this method in your oven and broiler, but I promise it would be better on a grill or smoker.

Reverse Seared Beef Rib Roast

serves:  8-10

Ingredients

• 5 lb boneless beef roast, left off refrigeration to temper for up to one hour
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp black pepper, coarse ground
• 1 tsp dried minced garlic 
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 cups beef stock
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed but left whole
• 1 sprig rosemary

Instructions

1. Set up your grill for indirect heat and preheat to 225f as measured at the grate (250f dome temp on a Big Green Egg).  
2. Tie your roast and season on all sides with a dry rub made of the salt, pepper, garlic and red pepper flakes.
3. Place the roast on a roasting rack above a roasting pan filled with the stock, garlic, and rosemary.
4. Place the roasting rack/pan on the grill over the indirect (no coals or heat) area.  Roast until the internal temp reaches 10 degrees less than your desired final temperature (see chart).
5. Rest the roast while you raise the grill temp to 500-550f and change to a direct heat set up.  Watch the internal temperature of your roast after it comes off.  You want to "carry over cooking" to finish and you should actually see the internal temperature of your roast start to drop before it goes back on the grill for searing.
6. Remove the garlic and rosemary from the au jus that has formed in the roasting pan and discard.  Season au jus with salt and pepper as needed.
7. Sear the roast directly over the coals for 1 minute per side on all sides.
8. Allow roast to rest another 10-15 minutes after the sear.  Slice and serve.

Notes

• For your guests that want more than medium rare, a quick "bath" in beef broth in a heated skillet will quickly make the pink disappear and get the slice of roast to their liking. 
• Big Green Egg set up details:  lump coal, no wood, platesetter in "legs up", V-rack set on top of platesetter and stoneware drip pan.
• You can use a bone in rib roast as well but make sure to have the butcher slice the rib bones off.  Make sure to season the roast all over and THEN tie the bones back on.  After roasting and prior to searing, remove the bones so you can sear on all sides.  

Here is the roast rack set up.  Rendered fats will drip into the beef stock below, giving flavor.

Resting on a raised rack avoids steaming the surface of the meat, which loses juices.

Contrary to popular believe, searing does NOT seal in juices but it does create color and flavor.

Don't forget to remove the twine before slicing.  If you do forget, just tell guests that it's floss.

Here is the cooking log for this cook.  Click on the picture to make it larger so you can read it.  

Be sure to check out my posts on Twenty Tips: Prime Rib on the Grill and Tips for Making a Good Au Jus.

Master Forge Wireless Thermometer

Remote probe thermometers are a vital tool for barbecuing and roasting large cuts of meat. Unlike instant read thermometers, these units stay in the meat during the cook and give you constant readings of the internal temperature.

Unfortunately, the hail storm at the end of April broke my drawer containing my remote probe units and all of them were ruined by the rain. I recently purchased my first replacement, a Master Forge Wireless Thermometer (Model0023557). Master Forge is Lowe's Home Improvement Stores' brand of grills and grilling accessories. I purchased it for $29.99 which is about $10 more than the usual wired models I have bought in the past.

Here's what you get for $30.

So far I have used it about 28 service hours. I have used it for bbq and roasting pork butts, brisket, chicken, and beef roasts. It is early but I have formed some initial impressions of this unit. 

• It registers accurate temps. I double check with my Thermapen at the end of cooking.
• It works within the 100ft range advertised. I can leave my grill and get readings on the receiver anywhere in my house, even on the second floor.
• It has a braided wire lead to the probe. The plain braided leads be used in higher cooking temps. Several cheaper units have plastic or rubber sheaths around the cable but those are typically limited to cooking temps below 400f.
• The pre-programmed settings are useless to me, I just use the manual programming mode to set the target temps. For example, the lowest preprogrammed target for pork is 160f. That is pork dust if you are doing a pork loin.
• Battery life is okay so far.
• I like the styling and size of the unit. The downside is that it is the size and shape of a smart phone so be careful not to try to answer your thermometer when your phone rings :)

Love the portability of the wireless receiver.

This seems to be a good unit and I am satisfied with it so far.  It works as promoted.

For about $5 dollars more and plus shipping, I could have bought a Maverick ET-73, the gold standard for remote probe thermometers. That unit includes a dual probe so you can monitor the meat temp AND the cooking temp. I'll get one of those too, it was just easier to buy the Master Forge unit since it was readily available at Lowes.

UPDATE:  I have gone through two of these units and found they aren't durable.  Both have developed quirks, such as displaying some temps as Celsius when the actual temperature shown is actually in Fahrenheit, display blanking out, and locking up.  Others have reported not being able to get any support for this unit in terms of replacement parts or assistance despite it being Lowes store brand.  I would recommend that you look at other units than the Master Forge. 

[Standard Disclaimer]

BBQ Nachos - Super Bowl of Nachos

I smoked a pork butt this weekend (click here to find why this cut from the shoulder is called a "butt"). The cook went pretty much as expected. Here is the cooking log from that cook. It took right on the nose of 1 1/2 hours per pound. (Double click the pic and zoom in to see detail)

One of my favorite things to make with pulled pork other than sandwiches is BBQ Nachos.


I like mine with "built from the floor up" as follows:

• White tortilla chips
• iceburg lettuce (save the fancy stuff for salads!)
  
• Colby jack cheese mix shredded
• pulled pork
• a blend of diced red, green, and white onions
• black olives
• jalapenos
  
• BBQ sauce (something sweet like Smoky Mountain Smokers or Blues Hog)
  
• homemade queso sauce with red peppers, cilantro, and BBQ rub (something hot like Dizzy Pig Jamaican Firewalk)
  

What do YOU like on your nachos?

A few reminders:

• Enter to win a bottle of Fire Ant Juice and a jar of Hobo Howey's Pineapple Jalapeno Chutney. (Or just place an order and Tropical Island Gourmet will give you a bottle if you use the NibbleMeThis code word in the comment section when you order).
  
• Enter yourself in a chance to win a trip to Las Vegas for Kingsford University
  

Twenty Tips: Prime Rib on the Grill

The guest of honor at many dinner tables on Christmas Day is a Beef Rib Roast (aka prime rib, standing rib roast, ribeye roast).

Reverse seared boneless ribeye roast.

I put together this list of 20 tips for a perfect fire roasted beef rib roast. Some of them are ones I have learned by experience, some are from my favorite cooking resources.

Selecting the right beef rib roast

1. How big of a rib roast do you need? Estimate ¾ lb per person for a bone in rib roast or ½ lb per person for a boneless rib roast (Rouxbe).
2. What grade of meat do you want? “Prime rib roast” does not designate that the meat is prime grade automatically, it’s just a name (Lilly 97). You will want to stay with either USDA Prime or Choice grades of beef. Avoid select grade if possible, it is too lean and can dry out.
3. What do you want to look for? Look for a deep red color, nicely distributed marbling, and a nice thick fat cap (about 1/2”) on top of the roast.
4. Do you want a bone in or boneless rib roast? It’s up to you. Generally, a boneless rib roast is easier to find in stupidmarkets, cooks faster, and is easier to carve. A bone in rib roast usually gives a juicier end product, makes a nicer presentation, but it takes a little longer to cook.
5. What do you ask your butcher? Whether you are going boneless or bone in, tell your butcher that you want a roast from the “first cut” (aka short cut, loin cut). The entire roast is from ribs 6 through 12. The meat attached to ribs 9-12 (first cut) is more tender and contains the definitive rib eye (Becker 648). If you are getting bone in, ask your butcher to remove the rib bones and then retie them to the roast. This will make carving easier.

A whole ribeye can easily be broken down into roasts and ribeye steaks.

Preparing your rib roast

1. No bones about it. If using a boneless rib roast, it is important to tie the roast or have your butcher do it for you. This will give you a more compact shape that provides for more even cooking (Becker 648).
2. Remove any moisture from the roast's surface with a paper towel (moisture is the enemy of browning) (Rouxbe).
3. Simply season. You can do fancy horseradish, mustard, or rock salt crusts but if you have a quality roast, it really isn’t necessary. Quality salt and pepper are just fine. Maybe some garlic and rosemary springs. Pitmaster extraordinaire, Chris Lilly advises, “Usually the simpler preparation the better for this cut of beef (97).”
4. Keep your temper. Temper the roast by letting it sit at room temperature (seasoned) for at least one hour, longer for larger roasts. The salt will help prevent bacterial growth during this period (Rouxbe)
5. Rack it up. Use a roasting pan with shallow sides, a heavy bottom, and just big enough to hold the roast (this keeps your drippings from evaporating away) (Becker 649). Raise the roast off of the pan using coarse chopped (1” pieces or bigger) root vegetables or use a roasting rack. You want to roast the meat, not braise it.

Tying the roast helps maintain its shape and facilitates more even cooking.

I have 2 cups of broth, 2 garlic cloves and a sprig of rosemary in the drip pan.

If you want a less smoky au jus, remove and reserve the liquid in the container after 45 minutes.  Heat to a simmer for 5 minutes.  Taste and add salt/pepper as  needed.

Searing your beef rib roast

1. Direct heat method – Set up your grill for direct heat and preheat to 500f. Sear the meat for 2 minutes per side for the top and bottom. Sear the sides and ends for 30 seconds each.
2. Indirect heat method – Set up your grill for INDIRECT heat and preheat to 450f. Roast until the meat begins to form a crust on the outside, about 20-30 minutes.
3. For either of these two methods, after searing the meat, remove it from the grill (or oven) and reduce the heat to your roasting temperature (see next section). If you used the direct heat method, change your grill set up to indirect heat. Also add wood chunks at this point if you are using them.
4. Reverse Sear method - This is the method I prefer for easy of cooking and quicker times since you don't have to wait for the Egg to cool down.  Roast first (see next section), pull when the roast comes within 10 degrees of your target  temperature and then sear over a very hot grill (500f or so).  Read more about the Reverse Sear. 
5. TIP FOR REDUCING CHARCOAL GRILL TEMPS – Normally you reduce charcoal grill temps by slightly adjusting air flow. But in this case, you are trying to reduce your heat by up to 250 degrees and do it quickly. ADD MORE COAL. Yeah, I know that doesn't make sense. I got this tip from a class taught by Chris Lilly in May 2010 and I thought he had lost his mind. I finally tried it last night after my temps wouldn’t get down from 340f and it immediately knocked my Egg’s temp from 340 to 210. I guess it's the combination of adding cool mass to the fire and smothering it slightly at the same time.

The sear doesn't take long, only about 45 seconds to 1 minute per side.  Make sure to get all sides seared, including the ends.

Roasting your beef rib roast

1. Set up your grill for indirect heat (click for info on how). Roast at 250f for a more evenly cooked and juicy rib roast. This is important for rare or medium-rare (Rouxbe).
2. Roast at 350f if you want a quicker cooking time and a roast that has a varying degree of doneness (done on the outside, medium, then med rare at the center)(Rouxbe).
3. General rules of thumb such as so many lbs per pound or time & temp charts are ONLY an estimation. It is difficult to generalize when so many variables affect cooking time, such as; size/shape of the roast, bone/boneless, actual temperature of the cooker, and the internal temp of the roast when it began (Rouxbe). To get a properly cooked roast you must go by internal temps, so a fast instant read thermometer or remote probe thermometer is necessary.
4. Warning – Once your roast gets up to an internal temperature of 100f, don’t turn your back on it for long. It can jump up in temperature very quickly so keep an eye on your temps. That’s how mine got over done to almost medium last night.
5. Carry over cooking – Once you take your roast off, it will continue to rise in temp approximately 5 to 10 degrees more so you need to adjust what internal temp you are pulling off the roast. For example, I target medium rare (130 to 135f) so I pull my roast off when it hits 125f. Unless I screw up like mentioned above!

Resting your beef rib roast

1. Rest your roast on a raised rack above a drip pan. Placing a roast on a flat surface will steam the surface of the meat, opening the pores, and allow the juices to flood out.
2. For the same reason, don’t wrap the roast in foil, that will steam it. After 5-10 minutes on the cooling rack, you can loosely tent it with foil but tear a hole or two in the top of the foil.
3. Let rest like this for at least 15 minutes but up to 1 hour, it will stay warm. The redistribution of the internal juices will also help an overcooked or undercooked roast to a certain extent.
4. Flip the roast over half way through the resting period. This helps the redistribution.

Chef's Treat

1. If you used a bone in roast, to carve it the first thing you do is slice off the rib bones. When no one is looking, steal them, brush them with some BBQ Sauce and toss them back on the grill for a little while. Keep them for yourself, absolutely delicious. Forget giving them to the dog, remember that time he threw up in your shoe or chewed up your newspaper?

Here's the cooking log from a sear first cook. (Click picture to enlarge for detail)

And here is one from a reverse sear cook (Click to enlarge for the detail).

Sources

1. Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book by Chris Lilly
2. Barbecue Bible by Steven Raichlen
3. Rouxbe Online Cooking School
4. Joy of Cooking by Ethan Becker

Any Rub Glaze

Fall arrived this week.

That changes the types of things I cook, how about you? For me it means more soups and roasts. And on the first evening of Fall, that is what I made, a pork loin roast.

One of the rubs I received in the free sampler pack from McCormicks at the beginning of the summer was their new Grill Mates Applewood Rub.

It was good back then when I made pork chops....

But the "appleness" of it really made me hold onto this one until after summer. I guess that is because I use apple wood for smoke more in the Fall. Not sure why I do that, apples are seasonal but apple wood is available all year.

I rubbed a pork loin roast with the Applewood Rub. After a quick sear of the roast, I set up my grill for an indirect cook. In a half steam pan under the roast rack, I added some sliced carrots, quartered onions and half a head of garlic. I poured about a 1/2 cup of white wine and 1/2 cup of chicken stock over that and sprinkled tarragon over the carrots. I added 4 potatoes wrapped in foil over the hottest spots.

I roasted all of that for about an hour at 350f. The temps rose up a bit on me but I think that was from all the food coming up in temp and the opening of the Egg to glaze the meat let in more air.

While that was going, I made my "any rub glaze". This is the simple "go to" glaze that I use for poultry and pork roasts. I like it because the honey, wine, butter mixture works with just about any rub. This is an easy way to add another complementary layer of flavor.

Any Rub Glaze
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup honey
1-2 tsp of whatever dry rub you are using

Melt the butter in a small sauce pan and blend in the other ingredients.

See? Easy. Then just apply the glaze 2-3 times in the last 30 minutes of cooking.

This was a great dinner, it disappeared quickly. The thin sliced pork was moist and flavorful and the potatoes were perfectly baked. The tarragon carrots tasted wonderful and were good enough for seconds, but I like mine more tender. Honestly, I like my carrots overcooked to where they give a fork no resistance. So for me, next time I'd parboil them for a few minutes before throwing them in the roast pan.

The McCormick's rub is perfect for a pork loin roast. I am wary about any "wood" flavoring from anything other than real smoke, but this rub works. [Standard Disclaimer] You could even do this easy roast in your oven.

I didn't intend for this to be a McCormick's post but that reminds me, they have two new products that I am having a love affair with right now. While shopping two weeks ago, Alexis picked up a bottle each of their Roasted Cumin and Roasted Saigon Cinnamon. Talk about upgrade! Cumin and cinnamon are flavor powerhouses already but these two take it further. I used the cumin in fajitas a few weeks ago and the cinnamon in a rub from Smoke and Spice. Wow, they both sing.

Fire Day Friday
Not that I didn't already take up enough of your time, but my Fire Day Friday post over at Our Krazy Kitchen was Grilled Garlic Chicken with Sherry Butter Sauce.

So how does Fall alter your cooking?
What Fall dishes are you really looking forward to?
What Summer recipes are you sad to see go for the year?

Turkey Injection

We did a quick test run on a turkey breast for Thanksgiving today. I've done a lot of different turkey preparations over the past few years. One even involved brining the turkey for 2 days in a bourbon, pickling spice & maple syrup concoction. They've been good, but one of my favorites is also one of the easiest.

It is simply an injection of equal parts of honey, white wine and butter. Combine over medium heat, let it cool slightly and then inject it in about a dozen spots all around the breast. Sometimes I'll put a spring of fresh rosemary in the injection while it's heating, to infuse the herb's oils into the injection.

Reserve about a 1/2 cup of the mixture to use as a baste once the bird hits 155f in the breast, it'll give you a gorgeous and tasty skin.

The turkey breast was juicy and silky rich in flavor. Not sure if I'm going to do a whole bird or two breasts, because right now our planned guests all prefer white meat.

I have noticed that what I season, brine, or inject the turkey is not as crucial as how I smoke it. It's always juicy and a nice crisp skin as long as I handle business on the smoker. Here's the cooking log for today's cook, it finished early:

We nailed some roasted tarragon carrots w/ brown sugar and rosemary & Parmesan potatoes. We'll be making those for sure.

I also tried a chorizo and rice stuffing. It was very good, but I wouldn't call it "stuffing" as much as a baked rice. I'm going to try tweaking that one again before the big day.

Question: Are you doing a practice cook before Thanksgiving or are you just going to wing it?

Cooking Logs

If you don't count fire, meat, and a grill, one of the most useful tools for improving your BBQ/grilling has to be a cooking log.

Nibble Me This' Cooking Logs

A bbq cooking log allows you to learn from your successes and "less than successes". I first learned about them from a fantastic website called Amazing Ribs and they freely offer a pdf template for a bbq cooking log. I highly recommend theirs if you want to keep a printed copy.

I don't track most of my cooks in this kind of detail but I do try to record enough of them that I can learn. Here is my set of cooking logs. I wish I had done more because these are great learning experiences, from the good and the bad.

I also keep a spiral bound notebook in the kitchen to record more general notes with less detail. I'm more likely to use that then to be disciplined enough to complete a full cooking log. But both are resources that I consult often when preparing to cook something.