For some reason, I’m only able to buy big chunks of meat at the market. The early birds, early shoppers, might be getting all the smaller packs. Today we have a 12-pound prime rib roast. This roast is about 4 bones. When you speak to your butcher, they will ask you if you want 2, 4, or 8 bone rib. The 4 bones are about 12 pounds. The 8 bones can be in the 20-pound range.
I decided to smoke the prime rib today. When at home, I will smoke meats for an hour and then transfer them to the oven to finish cooking. This saves on wood/fuel. The oven will also give a more consistent temperature. I have smoked roasts with the bone and without the bone. I have not had a successful cook with the bone-in version. The meat near the bone was more on the rare side while the outer sides of the roast were close to well done. They were tasty but well done. Another note, I generally buy bone-in because it is a little bit cheaper and I have family members that enjoy the meat closer to the bone.
If you decide to go boneless, I would truss the roast. This will keep an even cook throughout and makes for a great presentation. After I removed the bone from the roast, I started to tie it up. I also think the truss helps keep in some of the seasonings. I have also kept some rosemary sprigs tied up in the mix.
Oh, make sure you season before trussing. Then place the roast in a bag or wrap it up tight in plastic wrap for 24 hours. At some point, you should weigh it. I was left with 10 pounds of meat after removing the bones.
Calculate how long the roast will take you. In general, the roast will take about 19 minutes a pound. Take the time you want to eat, minus 10 minutes of meat resting, minus, the cooking time, minus taking the meat out of the fridge to help reduce the temperature (about 1 hour).
Beef Temperatures
| Rare | 120 to 125 degrees F | 49 to 51 degrees C |
| Medium Rare | 130 to 135 degrees F | 55 to 57 degrees C |
| Medium | 140 to 145 degrees F | 60 to 63 degrees C |
| Medium Well | 150 to 155 degrees F | 65 to 69 degrees C |
Let’s just jump to the recipe.
Ingredients
10 pounds prime rib roast – boneless
½ cup salt
¼ cup pepper
¼ cup garlic powder
¼ cup paprika
¼ cup sugar
A dash of cumin
Method
- Season the meat.
- Truss it.
- Refrigerate it for 24 hours.
- Take out the meat at least 1 hour before cooking.
- Set your grill to 500 degrees and make sure it’s running for about 15 minutes.
- Put our roast on the grill, fat side up, and close the lid.
- Cook at 500 degrees for 30 minutes.
- Drop the temperature to 275 degrees.
- Now every hour, visit the roast and temp it. Baste it if you want but I don’t think that’s necessary.
- Take it out at 10 degrees lower than where you want your roast. For example, if you want a medium-rare cook, take it out at 120 degrees. After pulling it out, place a foil tent on top of it.
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- Bone removed
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- See how uneven it is
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- Starting to tie
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- More string
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- Started the other end
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- Ready for fridge
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- See how it looks even all the way down
TIPS
For my 10 pounders, the total cook time was 3 hours and 15 minutes. This brought the roast to about 116 degrees. It continued to cook and brought it to a nice medium-rare.
I forgot the bones. Season the bones and put them on the grill since it’s on. I guarantee that you’ll love the result at the end.
