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Yet Another Prime Rib for Christmas

stike
stike Posts: 15,597
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
anyone tired of Prime Rib pics yet? I am.

so here's mine.
dry-aged the primal about 40 days. rubbed with olive oil (yes, vidalia1, olive oil!), dusted with pepper, salt, and some minced rosemary and sage.

2010_12_25_Prime-Rib_01.jpg

obligatory on-the-egg photo.

2010_12_25_Prime-Rib_02.jpg

started at 250. after three hours it was still only about 100 in the deepest part. i bumped to 325, 5then 400. i pulled it at 120 internal, and let it rest maybe a half hour. i got out some candles and dimmed the lights, having been told "not to cook it too rare". yeah, right. anyway, the well-doners can fight over the ends.

about an 8.5 pound roast for five adults and a few kids.

2010_12_25_Prime-Rib_03.jpg

no shot of it carved. felt like a weirdo in front of the guests taking this pic all by itself. flash from the kitchen "what's that?" "oh, just jeff taking pictures of the meat...".

here's a shot of the cold leftovers, today.
2010_12_25_Prime-Rib-Leftovers_04.jpg

don't ever worry about the bone-in roast being hard to carve. instead of lopping off two-pound slices (by going between the bones), just slice along the inside of the ribs, paring the bones off in one piece. voila. boneless roast. i sliced out a section between the ribs for myself, along with a monster slice.

not a huge fat cap. but the aging itself gives you a crust that cannot be matched.

for dessert, an english pudding.

2010_12_25-English_Pudding.jpg

154 years to the day, my great great grandfather (as a baby, with the family) was on the sailing ship Palestine, out of Liverpool, still a week out from land (New York) after six weeks of a North Atlantic crossing. Christmas day was the first day in weeks that anyone had an appetite. After the first couple weeks of cooking for themselves from the ship's stores (as all passengers did) they hired the captain's cook to prepare the rest of the meals. For Christmas it was leg of mutton and an english pudding. So i had to give it a try. Not bad. I think i will tweak it next year for the more modern, less, um, 'English' palette. hahaha

last... an experiment. I had hunked the roast from my 7-bone primal. the other piece is still aging. i rubbed the cut-flesh end with cooking oil, and slapped a piece of wax paper over it to keep the cut-end from drying. here's a shot of it TODAY.

2010_12_25_Dry-Age-Continued.jpg

it worked. still soft and red and moist a week later. normally it would be hard and browned. i think i have a new trick in the aging arsenal. no longer do i need to cut it all up and vacuum pack simply because i have cut into it. you saw it here first. :laugh:

bonus tip... i always decry trimming the dry-aged stuff. i need to clarify. i mean not to trim the perimeter of the steak. the ends of the primal WILL get very hard and dry, though, and need to come off. they are quite literally jerky, which is nothing more than dried meat. well. after slicing the overly dry flesh end off the roast, instead of tossing it or cooking it for myself, i flipped it over and discovered that although the interior looked brown, if you slice it thinly, you are rewarded with the finest ruby-red steak tartare you will EVER have. i got about 8 thin slices. fantastic. the densest, beefiest-beef you can imagine. one seminal point often missed with steak tartare... it was originally AGED beef. now it's just thin raw beef. boo hiss. that's mostly water. this was moist still, but condensed more than any other part of the primal. now i throw away even less ;)
ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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Comments

  • vidalia1
    vidalia1 Posts: 7,092
    dry-aged the primal about 40 days. rubbed with olive oil (yes, vidalia1, olive oil!),

    No wonder it was sooo deelicious...Fidel doesn't know anything.... :P :(
  • 2Fategghead
    2Fategghead Posts: 9,624
    Great post Jeff. Some day I will try a prime rib cook. I am working on pizza cooks lately and brining stuff and suffering with t rexing ribeyes and baked potatos. Have a great New Year. Tim
  • Fidel
    Fidel Posts: 10,172
    So did you carve the bones off after the cook and just prior to serving? If so, then why all the twine? What is it holding together?

    If not, then I am an idiot and fail at reading comprehension. Continue with your normally scheduled programming. Are you going to cook the ribs further?

    And if I didn't know better I would think you are being intentionally titillating.

    Superlative cook.
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    to be honest, i twined it because i am used to tying up unaged roasts to help them keep their shape. the roast virtually did not MOVE when i tied it. it is so firm. but i was surprised to see it swell a bit when cooking. i think it would otherwise have a tendency to lose the more compact shape. dunno. maybe little chef will chime in? i always did it to keep the shape so cooking would be more uniform. but i may be imagining it.

    i lopped the ribs off at the tab;e. actually used my great grandfather's knife, now that i think of it. son of my g-g-grandfather, who was the baby on the ship. wasn't trying for any sort of ouija-board seance, i just realized now that was the knife.

    kinda cool.

    thanks for the props. it is after all nothing more than a roast, but it came off pretty good. still a little overdone for my tastes, but i ate from the dead middle of the beast, and everyone got what they wanted/ well at the ends, medium further in, and me alone in the middle, tending rare (or med-rare)
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    it may look 'fancy', but it is maybe the easiest cook on the egg. easier than spatchcock chicken, anyway.

    happy new year to you, too.
    J
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    although, i am sure you can explain the obvious and blatant difference between rubbing a roast with oil and rubbing a steak with oil. right? ;)
    i will say if you remove the 'olive' oil aspect of it, and just say "cooking oil", you can see right away what the logic is behind using it on a roast but not a steak.

    fidel's just even more obnoxious than i am, and doesn't ever have at least the courtesy to explain WHY he's mocking and deriding people. :laugh:
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • NC-CDN
    NC-CDN Posts: 703
    That looks mighty fine. With all of the pics of prime rib on here lately I really want to make some. Wife pulled out some salmon so I may have to wait another day, but I think tomorrow I'll be doing one.
  • FlaPoolman
    FlaPoolman Posts: 11,676
    Very nice,, found one on sale and cooked it up the other day. I was going to rub it with bacon grease but oil just sounded better ;) . With just the two of us I pulled it at 116 so the whole center section was mine :laugh:
    Happy New Year to ya
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,671
    nice looking cook, like the paper trick. now i dont now if i want to cook that aged piece or eat it raw :laugh:
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • NC-CDN
    NC-CDN Posts: 703
    BTW-What wood, if any, did you use to smoke it with? Thanks.
  • Great pics! Yea, I get the same thing from wifey...."Dave is always taking pictures of his meat :unsure: :whistle:" ....she still thinks it's funny....

    Glad the olive oil and wax paper on the end thing is working out. Be sure and post confirming no flavor change once you cook it.

    Finally, that one remaining steak in left over pan....I am going to hot tub (to warm) and blacken one on Saturday after tomorrow night's rib roast cook....

    Dave
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    only a little oak at the outset. not much
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • NC-CDN
    NC-CDN Posts: 703
    stike wrote:
    only a little oak at the outset. not much

    Nice. I take it a mild smoke is best then. I don't have any oak on hand. Our BBQ store (BBQ galore) is gone here in the Raleigh area so I'm left with what I can get in the hardware stores and such. May have to hit a local mill and see what I can find. LOL.

    Did you make au jus?
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,880
    good post Jeff - BTW how much longer do you intend to age that? My best to date has been 45 days, but in the next week or two I'm starting one that I intend to go to 60 days.
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    well... the tartare that i had i cut off came from the end that i sliced off for your piece. you got the first steak off the chuck end.

    the steak was nice and red, and yet the inside of the dried end i had just cut off (the other side of the knife) looked brown. there was no way i sliced it at perfectly at the point where it went instantly from brown to red, so that's what made me look at it a little harder.

    i realized the brown color on the inside was just from looking THROUGH the meat to the outer brown end. so i sliced into it, and found the tartare. hahaha

    i would say, try slicing one side of that steak as thin as you can on one side and eat those slices raw. it isn't like the steak will be any smaller really. :laugh: one side of your steak should be drier than the other. in fact, sit it on the counter with the bone side UP and the bone toward you (meaty side away from you). the end that is drier (closer to the exterior) would be on the left.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    when i say "120" i mean that i told my wife it was 120. i pulled it at 118, thinking it was already too high. my wife used to play along, but now she wants it more medium. sigh :blush:
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    i don't think there should be any flavor change to the oil. the meat fat has no rancidity after six weeks or so, and olive oil (oil in general) should be kept in a "cool dark place". nothing cooler and darker in this house than the fridge. hahaha

    heck. the olive oil i used sits in a cruet on the counter. it shouldn't go bad or produce any off flavors, but i'll let you know if somethin happens
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • Excellent points. And how many cured meats are packaged in olive oil and herbs is another good point.
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    well, i was thinking of that this morning. i have some bacon i need to vacuum pack, and thought i would have to slice the remaining portion of the beef and pack it too. i think i will just let it go and lop off steaks as i need. i can't see needing a steak from it (what with the leftovers) until next week earliest. that'll make for 50 days plus minimum. it's a three-bone roast right now. so that's a few steaks at least.

    i'm encouraged by the wax paper, because it will continue to age around the rest of the roast, and each time i take a steak, it will be new flesh that gets the oil/paper treatment.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    my oak was from twigs that blow down off the oaks in my yard. i can't bring myself to buy wood...

    mild smoke only in this case because i had my sister-in-law's father with us, plus a bunch of kids. i had also given them some home-cured/smoked stuff for christmas, so i didn't want them thinking everything coming out of my kitchen needed to be smoked. i still cringe when folks say "did you cook this on your 'smoker'?" hahaha
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • I've been waiting for this post stike. ;) I love the ancestral connection with the menu and the knife!

    The aged prime rib roast looks delicious from here. :) Curious to see how long you're going to age that other chunk....72 days?

    I've got a 17 lb boneless prime roast in my fridge that's been getting happy for several weeks. I might lop off a roast this Sunday. Can only stand these vicarious experiences so long.

    Remind me never to lend you my china for figgy pudding.
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,880
    Nine years ago there was a hot topic on this board about bathing a steak with OO and then letting it rest uncovered in the refrigerator for one week. I recall trying it and it was good. The outcry though from people was unbelievable about it being unsafe, unsanitary and out and out nasty drove the poster off this board!
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
  • Clay Q
    Clay Q Posts: 4,486
    Looks terrific. Hard to beat a first class Prime Rib and to have it aged, that is truly a special and memorable delicacy.

    Wooow, you took a risk of busting the plate with the flaming (rum?) booze. Impressive and I can imagine, delicious!

    I've smoked two mutton shoulders for a traditional Greek dinner, an acquired taste it is. Got the meat shipped up from Chicago, no place around here sells it. I've moved on and I'm sticking with lamb. he he he

    Great cooking Jeff and Happy New Year to you and your family! Enjoy the leftovers of your fantastic dinner. ;)
  • awe inspiring, as always.
    do your relatives have any idea that you are serving them world class meals?

    i sure hope folks are not tired of prime rib pics as i have a small store bought dry aged boneless one to cook this weekend.

    thanks you just cost me another $100+ as i now need to go to costco and pick a primal from what is left of their holiday stock. will cook it during the next big snow storm..

    happy new year
    bill
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    i didn't know you were aging. welcome aboard!

    the connection with the english pudding was kind of serendiptous. a great excuse to try it. i allowed the fruit to go too longin the brandy, though. it was a little "hot" for everyone's tastes. and of course the kids, some teens and preteens included, were all about the eye-rolling and "that's not likt eh pudding they serve in school..." hahaha

    i don't know how old this knife really is. it came thru my dad, and therefore thru his mom and dad, and i am given to understand it was my great grandfather's, but you know how that goes. half the time it's apochryphal.

    but we do have the crossing diary my great great great grandfather kept. it was by all accounts a harrowing trip across. they set sail the 29th of November and landed at New York Jan 2. sick almost the whole way across.

    if you can stand a little more....
    North Atlantic trips were pretty dangerous. In ten years, the same boat would be found abandoned at sea, missing its bowsprit and topforemast, having been bound for Liverpool.  On this trip though, the 2nd of December, their father wrote ominously that the "wind shifted to NW. All preparations made for foul weather, heavy rain. The ship began to roll. "

    January 1st, New Year's Day, 60 miles from Sandy Hook, a day from land. "Roast leg of Pork and Plum Pudding" for New Year's Dinner, "...and ale play an excellent part."  Land is seen from the rigging at 5 o'clock, in the last light of day.
    Morning, January 2nd, 1857, and the family is awake before 6, quickly up on deck "...and to our great delight see the coast for miles.  The most beautiful scenery we can ever behold".

    kinda cool to have that journal.
    in the end it doesn't mean a thing, but if it can give a little meaning to Christmas and New Year's, why not?
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    i think for now we will pass on the mutton. prime rib it is. hahaha

    now, someone needs to explain to me why the flaming brandy would pose any threat to the dish?
    flames are aloft, and can't affect the plate. and the brandy was barely warmed. the pudding i put on it was far hotter than the brandy.

    why is everyone here so given to worrying about what might go wrong instead of just enjoying themselves? :laugh: ;)
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • Beautiful cook, Jeff. Stupid question: Why did you use a plate setter, grate, ceramic dish AND V-rack to cook the roast?
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    i am staggered by the "is it safe" questions that pop up.

    the vast majority of food borne illnessin the past few years has been from produce. and yet no one ever says "i left lettuce in the fridge for three days, is it still ok?"

    all of it is fear-based. people don't question cheese and prosciutto or anything else mainly because they don't understand what it is or how it's made and they just know it's "safe". but if you made proscutto right in front of them, they'd think it was dangerous and fool hardy.

    i don't get it.

    glad to have you among those that prefer rotted beef.

    i forgot to mention to eenie menie that you and i might as well have a 'race'. see who can let their remianing beef rot longer. maybe will call it quits at 72 days? how about 80. around the fridge in 80 days.

    CWM never believed me about my leftover steak. wish he were here to watch us on this round of aging.... that steak was close to 70 something days old, but that was an accident, and wrapped (not drying). still. i ate it. hahaha
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,671
    would rather see the brandy in the eggnog :laugh:
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    if you age a primal, you will be saving money. up here the aged stuff is 20 a pound. i figure my whole primal would be close to $450 retail :laugh:

    my sister in law's father was down for the first time. she said a week later he is still talking about the roast. none of them knew it was in the fridge for a month, though i did say that i "started it at thanksgiving", and waited for the quizzical expression in response. i'd have explained it, but didn't need to. but they did say it tasted much better than they were used to.

    i will say that the flavor in the first inch or so of the beef is where the payoff is. and the fat seam is firmer and not at all mushy or runny. every plate was cleared. there was no left over fat, because the fat becomes entirely palatable. n oone complained of the "too fatty" issue you often here re: the rib eye.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante