Here is a great way to cook a prime rib PERFECTLY…just in time for the holidays! Our family uses this recipe on Christmas Eve. We prep it and place it in the oven so the timing is perfect for us to shut the oven off, leave for Christmas Church and come home to an aroma that makes us drool! If done properly, it’ll be ready to carve the minute you walk back in the door.

Quick list of things you’ll need:

• An appetite for perfectly cooked prime rib
• An oven
• 1 oven safe roasting pan, with rack
• 1 prime rib roast
• Food safe string if the butcher doesn’t tie the roast for you
• 1 8oz tub of whipped butter
• 1 head of garlic
• 1 cup of course ground black pepper
• 1 cup of course ground sea salt or kosher salt
• 1/4 cup of rosemary

First, when purchasing a Prime Rib, consider all of this:

1. Purchase a bone in prime rib roast
2. Have the butcher ‘Chine’ the roast, which is to ask the butcher to mostly cut the bones from the roast for easy separation after cooking. After the butcher chines the roast, he should tie it back together with some string
3. You can feed (2) people per bone in the prime rib roast. In other words, a 3 bone rib roast will feed 6, 4 will feed 8 and so on. A full prime rib roast is usually around 7 bones.
4. If you are feeding a large crowd, estimate that you can feed 14 people per full prime rib roast.

Here’s the roast we picked:

Ingredients for paste and rub (this is for a 4 bone roast…adjust accordingly):

• 1 8oz tub of whipped butter
• 1 head of garlic
• 1 cup of course ground black pepper
• 1 cup of course ground sea salt or kosher salt
• 1/4 cup of rosemary

Prepping and Seasoning the Prime Rib Roast:

Get the meat up to room temp. 6 hours on the counter, loosley wrapped in plastic wrap should do. This is a very critical step. If it’s a larger roast  you might need 7 or 8 hours.

While the roast is coming up to room temperature, you can prepare your paste and seasonings

In an electric chopper or food processor, chop 5 or 6 large cloves of garlic from the garlic head. Once finely chopped, add the butter and whip it all together and set aside

In a large bowl, blend the pepper and salt so it becomes a nice even mixture, then spread out the mixture on a large cooking sheet and set aside.

When the rib roast is up to room temperature, evenly spread the butter and garlic mixture onto the entire roast…almost like you are frosting a cake

Grab your cookie sheet of salt and pepper mixture and take the ‘frosted’ rib roast and roll it around in the mixture until all sides are covered evenly with salt and pepper. A thick coat is what you should have…covering the meat entirely. Then set the roast in a roasting pan, bone side down and cover the top with rosemary.

Cooking Method:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 500 degrees and wait an extra 15 minutes after the pre-heat timer goes off.  You want the oven to be lava hot. Some ovens go all the way up to 550, some 500 and some only to 450. In general, this rule should work, but might need a slight adjustment. My oven goes to 500 degrees.

Step 2: Multiply the weight of the meat times 5 and write down the exact number. This will give you the amount of time to leave it in the oven at 500 degrees for a rare finish. 5 times the weight gives rare. For medium rare, multiply the weight of the meat by 5.5. For medium 6 times. Prime rib cooked anything more than medium is just nonsense!

Step 3: If not already there, put the meat on the rack in the roasting pan, then quickly place it in the oven so all the heat doesn’t escape. Wait one minute, then set your timer for the amount you came up with in step 2. Be exact with this timing!

Step 4: When the timer goes off, shut the oven off and reset your timer for 2 hours BUT DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR UNTIL 2 HOURS ARE UP! (this is where we leave for church) After 2 hours, take the rib roast out of the oven and let rest for 10 minutes. Slice and Serve!

Here’s the finished product:

This method will not produce a lot of extra juices, so if you want au ju, it’ll need to be made separately. I use this: http://www.johnnysfinefoods.com/French-Dip-Concentrate–8oz_p_10.html It’s money.

Also – you get great leftovers if you make enough! I slice mine thin like this so we can have steak and eggs on Christmas morning, then french dip sandwiches for days!

Hope you enjoy – Happy Holidays!!!

Check out this alternate method, made on a Green Mountain Grill:

Printable Instructions Here: Matt Framptons Prime Rib Recipe