Prime Rib

By daviddsg

Cooked in the smoker

Ingredients

• 1 bone in prime rib roast

Preparation

Step 1

The old English way of preparing prime rib starts with a roast that’s boned and tied. This allows the bone to add flavor but also allows for easy carving later. Placing the roast on a cookie sheet, I apply the pepper liberally all over the roast, then pour kosher salt on the cookie sheet around it. To the salt, I add enough water to form a paste with the salt, and I cover the whole thing with about 1/2 inch of a salt coating.
The roast, now covered in salt, is allowed to sit for 15-20 minutes to let the salt form a bit of a crust, while the smoker is up to temp at around 225° F. The roast needs to be carefully moved to the smoker so the salt crust stays in place, and the meat is brought to about 120° F internal temperature. The salt may come off here and there while it smokes, but that’s ok.
Once the prime rib is at 120° F, it’s removed and covered with foil and allowed to rest for about 20 minutes. I remove the salt crust and wipe the roast down with a clean cloth. You might think that the prime rib will be too salty… That may be true of the very end pieces, and the salt can be left off the ends if desired. Removing the string with which the roast is tied, the meat can be sliced in whatever thickness desired. When you slice into the roast, you’ll see the advantage of cooking at lower temperatures; the meat will have the same doneness across most of the meat instead of becoming increasingly done from the center out. That means medium rare in almost every bite!
And the saltiness? The very outside edge of the should have a bit of a salty texture that’s really nice. And when served with a sour cream horseradish, your prime rib could become a great holiday tradition