Standing Rib Roast Cooking Time, Help Please

EGC

Getting ready for Christmas Eve dinner. I have a 7 rib roast coming to dinner, along with some hungry guests, I hope. I was planning on using thirdeye's slow cook method followed by a sear at the end of the cook, as described here:

COOKING METHOD #1 Indirect
Season with at least coarse salt and coarse pepper (or any other rub). An option is to lightly brush with a yellow mustard / Worcestershire slather. This will anchor the seasonings. Set up your cooker (or oven) for barbecue temps of 220° to 250° (grate temp), and cook indirect until the internal temp is 125° (for medium rare). Remove from cooker, wrap in foil and newspaper for insulation, put into a cooler and let rest for about 20 minutes. Expect the temperature of the roast to rise 5 or 6 degrees during resting. If you need to hold the roast longer in the cooler or transport it, just pull a few degrees earlier to compensate for the longer rest time.
TIP: Estimated cooking time on a 4-1/2 pound roast is 25 to 30 minutes per pound, but it is best to use a cable thermometer to monitor the internal temperature. This way you can ramp your pit temp up or down as needed.

Meanwhile, ramp up the cooker or heat oven to 500°. Unwrap, add a little more rub to the roast and return to the cooker (or using a roasting pan & rack, put in the oven) for 8 to 10 minutes until you achieve desired crust. Remove to a cutting board, tent with foil, and rest for 6 to 10 minutes before carving.

Here's the link to the site: http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/1996/03/beef-standing-rib-roast-prime-rib.html

Question one: I think I should set up for an indirect cook, platesetter, drip pan for the initial slow cook. Is this correct?
Question two: Should the sear portion of the cook be direct or indirect?
Question three: From what I can tell, a 7 rib roast will typically run about 16 -18.5 lbs. Should I plan on 30 minutes per pound on this cook? That seems like a really long time for the meat to be on the egg. Any thoughts?

Thanks, and Merry Christmas.

Bordello

Edit

thirdeye

Yes cooking method #1 uses an indirect set up like you described.

Sometimes the end sear is not even needed as the color of your roast is just where you want it. You are not trying to do any real cooking with this step, just a crisp up on the surface. The end sear will work with the same indirect set up, and one reason I like it is that you don't have to deal with removing a hot plate setter and drip pan. That is why you can do the same thing in your oven, I have used both the bake mode and the custom broil mode with good sucess. If you want to go direct, that will work too, just keep a close eye on it, slow roasted meats have a lot of rendered juices on their surface which can flash.

I've never been lucky enough to cook a full 7 bone prime rib...my time estimate was based on something in the 4 pound range which is what I usually cook. Off the top of my head I would think the time per pound would be shorter. My best advice is to watch the probe thermometer and adjust your pit temp accordingly......but I know you are trying to coordinate a sit down time. Hopefully someone else will jump in on this.

N'awlins

For a BONE in (109) prime rib - about 4 1/2 hours at 225 will get you a rare to medium rare prime rib.

EGC

That's a big help, thanks. It is a bone-in, 7 rib chunk o' meat. 4.5 hours sounds much better than a nine hour cook, whew!

thirdeye

I looked through my notes and found details on a 7 pound standing rib roast, and although I made some pit temp adjustments after hour 1 (lowering the pit temp a hair) this one took around 3-1/2 hours.

I also called a chef I know and he confirmed 3-1/2 hours but he uses a 200° oven.

So, between this and the info from N'awlins mentioning 4-1/2 hours you should have a good guesstimate.

After thinking about it, and considering the cross section thickness of an average rib roast, smaller ones like the ones I cook are about as thick as they are long.....once you get past the 5 or 6 pound range, the roast is just getting longer (that cross section is not changing much.) It's not like having a 4 pound cube of meat verses a 7 or a 14 pound cube of meat. One last thing to consider here is the fact that you only get two end cuts if you cook your roast whole, which is fine if you figure that only 2 out of the 15 or 16 people want end cuts.

Please let us know the details of your cook, I would like to add the estimated times to my standing rib roast page.

EGC

I'll try and keep some good notes with some pics along the way. I'll start the cook around 3:00 tomorrow afternoon, so I shouldn't be sloppy hammered, yet.

Thanks for all your help!

DryFly

I'm appalled that you would even consider indulging while that majestic piece of meat is giving its last measure of devotion on your Egg. It borders on criminal negligence. Nothing less than your full attention is required. Go Bama!!