Reverse Sear Prime Rib (Standing Rib Roast)

Prime rib is the most expensive thing most people cook all year, which is a good reason not to wing it. This prime rib recipe uses the reverse sear: a low oven first, a hard blast of heat at the end. You get pink meat from edge to edge under a dark crust, with far more room for error than the old high heat method.

The knife for this job

Two knives. The Hellfang 5 inch Hand Forged Butcher Knife is a small meat trimming knife. It is short and easy to steer, which is what you want for trimming the fat cap and running along the rib bones to take the roast off. The Mamba 11 inch slicing knife does the slicing. A standing rib roast is wide, and the long straight edge gets through a thick slice in one stroke.

A dull knife does not slice prime rib. It presses the juice out of it and leaves ragged edges on a very expensive roast. Both blades are in The Smokehouse Set.

Choosing the roast

Buy a bone in standing rib roast. Allow about one rib for every two people. A three bone roast weighs roughly 6 to 7 lb (2.7 to 3.2 kg) and feeds 6 to 8. Ask for the loin end, sometimes called the first cut. It has a bigger eye of meat and less fat between the muscles.

Trim and dry brine prime rib

Trim the fat cap

Look at the outside layer of fat. If it is thicker than about a quarter inch (6 mm), shave it down with the Hellfang. Hold the blade nearly flat and take it off in thin passes. Leave a layer on, because that fat bastes the roast and turns into crust. Thick fat in the wrong place just stays soft and chewy.

Take the bones off and tie them back

This step is optional, but it makes carving far easier later. Stand the roast on its bones. With the Hellfang, cut down along the inside of the rib bones, keeping the edge pressed against the bone, until the meat comes away in one piece. The short blade follows the curve of the bones without wandering into the meat. Then sit the meat back on the bones and tie it in place with butcher's twine between each rib. The bones still protect the roast and add flavour while it cooks, and at the table you just cut the string.

Dry brine

Salt the roast all over with about 1 teaspoon of Diamond Crystal kosher salt per pound (450 g), or a little over half that if you use Morton. Set it on a rack over a tray and leave it uncovered in the fridge for 1 to 3 days. A full day makes a real difference. Three days is better. The surface dries out, which helps the crust, and the salt works its way into the meat.

Reverse sear prime rib

The low oven

Take the roast out of the fridge about an hour before cooking. Heat the oven to 225°F (110°C). Season with black pepper, rub on some crushed garlic and chopped rosemary, and set the roast fat side up on a rack over a tray. Put a probe thermometer into the centre of the thickest part, away from bone.

Cook until the centre reads 120°F (49°C) for medium rare, or 115°F (46°C) if you like it rare. For a three bone roast that usually takes 3.5 to 4.5 hours. The time is a guide. The thermometer is the boss, and the old 15 minutes per pound rule was written for a different method altogether.

Rest

Pull the roast out and tent it loosely with foil. Rest it for 30 to 60 minutes while you turn the oven up as hot as it goes, 500°F (260°C) or higher. A low cooked roast barely rises in temperature while it rests, so you can use this time to finish the sides.

The sear

Pull the foil off and put the roast back in the hot oven for 6 to 10 minutes, until the outside is deep brown and crackling. Watch it. You want a crust, not charcoal. After the sear, medium rare lands at about 130 to 135°F (54 to 57°C) in the centre. For the record, the USDA minimum for beef roasts is 145°F (63°C) with a 3 minute rest, so cook it to that if anyone at the table needs it.

Here is the nice part of reverse sear. It does not need another rest. The rest already happened before the sear, so you can carve it straight away while the crust is still crisp.

How to carve prime rib

Off the bones

If you tied the bones back, cut the string and lift the roast off. Done. If you left them on, stand the roast on its bones and use the Hellfang to cut down along the inside of the ribs, keeping the edge tight to the bone. The meat comes away as one boneless roast. Set the rack of bones aside. Cut between them later and hand them to the people who like gnawing on things.

Slice it

Lay the roast cut side down so it is stable. Find the direction of the grain. On prime rib it runs along the length of the roast, so you slice across it in rounds. With the Mamba, slice half an inch to three quarters of an inch (1.5 to 2 cm) thick. Start at the heel and draw the blade back in one long stroke. Do not press down. The weight of the blade and the length of the edge will do it. Sawing at a reverse seared roast smears the pink and tears the crust off the edge, which defeats most of the point.

Serve on warm plates with horseradish cream on the side and any juices from the board poured over the slices.

More reading

If the Mamba is going under the tree this year, our Christmas knife gifts guide has more ideas for the person who does the carving. You can see every short trimming blade in our butcher knives collection.