almost prime rib fail

jdgcrean · October 2012

did a 4-bone prime rib for a 12 person family dinner. plan was to sear direct at ~700 degrees, and slow roast for a few hours at ~225. got the egg fired up, used barberians rub and popped on the grill after a 30 min burn with the egg just over 700 degrees. within a minute, there was smoke billowing out of egg. figured it was a little hot, but when i opened the egg i got a huge flame of fire (not sure what started first - the twine holding the roast together or fat cap - but turned into a serious grease fire). i was able to get the roast off the grill, but not without taking off most of my arm hair! managed to settle down the fire, and popped the roast back raised indirect on for a few hours under 300. beef turned out fantastic in the end, but it was frankly pretty scary having the huge grease fire. definitely learned my lesson on using the egg at a modest distance from the house.

anyone else have this issue with high temperature direct grilling and grease fires?

Cowdogs · October 2012

700 degrees is not necessary to get some good color/sear on a big cut of meat like that. 700 degrees makes more sense for something thin like a skirt steak.

I would do the 225 smoke first, and the sear afterwards. Keep in mind that it much easier to raise your Egg's temp than it is to lower it. Smoke it gently to about 130 internal. Pull it off, and rest until internal temp has dropped back to about 115-120, and then sear the outside at 450-500 until it looks good.

In the event of a fire like that ... I would cap the egg and close the vent, and wait 5 minutes. The egg is pretty much air tight, and the fire will die. Then I would remove the meat, rinse the soot off, and try again.

DonWW · October 2012

No pics - - didn't happen...

Seriously... +1 with CDogs on the high temp. I have done a number of bone on roasts, and I start the egg at about 500-550 and then immediately slow it down to 300-350, depending on the time I have available.

I know there is some discussion about whether to sear at the start or finish, but I have always done it at the beginning. Correlates closely with many other "sear - roast" recipes and strategies. Also helps lock in juices.

SmokeyPitt · October 2012

Glad it all turned out OK. I too have had some scary moments when the fat hits the flame! I think it is the combination of a huge fatty cut and all that fire

. At 700 degrees you have a bowl full of fire, so the flames are gonna be worse.

@Cowdogs gave some great advice...snuffing it out is another option rather than trying to "rescue" the meat.

Even at 500 degrees it is gonna flare up when the fat/grease hits the fire, but with a smaller fire it will be less scary. If you don't want to battle the flames you can always do the high temp portion indirect. You may not get the grill marks, but you can still get a nice crust with the higher temps. If you are gonna sear a rib roast direct then I definitely recommend a couple of pairs of long tongs and some welders gloves

.

Shiff · October 2012

When I cook a rib roast, I do it all indirect. I start it at 500-600 and put in the roast for about 20 minutes. Then I close down the vents so that the temp will drop to around 350 slowly. It seras the outside nicely then roasts the rest of the way until it hits my target temperature.

Bjorg · October 2012

Fully closed or leave a little airflow Shiff?

Shiff · October 2012

I don't completely close down the vents. I set them to where they would be for a 350 indirect cook - daisy wheel open just a crack and the bottom vent about 3/4 inch. I usually cook the roast on a V rack but I'm not sure it makes much of a difference. The V rack helps to hold it a little higher in the dome and keeps it upright.

Skiddymarker · October 2012

Reverse sear, the only way to go with a large chink of meat. Stabilized egg at 225, meat on until internal at 120 or so, then off to a covered rest, open the vents let the egg heat and when at 500 or so, return the meat for a direct sear for looks only. No grease fires and the crust on the fat cap is fantastic...

If you sear first, there is a school of thought that other than salt, you have simply burned and steamed off all your seasonings.

BENTE · October 2012

i know there are several ways to skin a cat. iwhen i first tried standing rib roast i followed the simplest directions i could find and no one is simpler than mad max 8-X . i have never changed the instructions just the seasoning and i have never had a problem. 700 is to high imho. here is a link to how max does it

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/madmaxprimerib.htm

give it a try next time it is hard to mess up

Z_Eggineer · October 2012

Searing first does not "lock-in" anything.

For a big piece of meat, if you smoke/roast slowly first, an added benefit is that some of the fat can be render gradually not leading to increased flare-ups, etc.