Prime Rib Question

Pigasso

I'm going to cook a prime rib this weekend and am leaning towards using the "Perfect prime rib" recipe found in Cooks Illustrated Dec 95 issue - which I have used before and had great success in a conventional oven. That happened pre-egg of course. The recipe calls for searing the roast in a roasting pan over two burners over high heat and then cooking in the oven at 200 degrees for about 30 minutes per pound. (Yes, that 200 degrees raised my eyebrows too - but it really works!).[p]Should I go ahead and sear in the egg and then shut the egg down to 200 or just sear on the oven? How long would the egg (large) take to cool from sear temp to 200? If I do sear on the egg, how much charcoal should I use in order to accomodate the sear as well as a 4 hour cooking time?[p]And finally - any side dish recommendations?[p]Thank you![p]Oinks to all

mad max beyond eggdome

Pigasso,
i do a lot of prime rib on the egg, always with excellent results. . . here is a link to a recent detailed posting i made. . ..[p]
[ul][li]http://www.biggreenegg.com/archives/2004/messages/158216.htm[/ul]

thirdeye

Pigasso,
Years ago, In "Joy of Cooking", I read about a method called constant dry heat roasting for better grades of beef using 275° as an alternate to the 350° temps used by most cooks. I did not see mention of this method for 10 years years until the Cook's Illustrated article you mentioned came out. I have used 225°-250° on rib roasts with good success. [p]My pre-Egg barbecues did not have the Egg's ability for fire and temprature control, so searing on them, then lowering the temp to 250° was not an option. I'm not sold that searing before cooking at low temps seals in juices, but I agree that it does add outstanding flavor and gives some eye appeal. Based on that, I started searing or crisping at the end of the cook (following resting), by either moving the prime to my gasser running wide open or to the oven @ 500° for just a few minutes. The flavor from a recent searing is more intense and they look great. I posted a couple pic's below on a prime rib thread two or three days ago.

bobbyb

mad max beyond eggdome,[p]Is that a drip pan on the platesetter under your rib roast?
Do you fill it with water? Any way to make ""au jus'??[p]Thanks

mad max beyond eggdome

BobbyB,
its simply an aluminum foil drip pan to keep the fat dripping off the plate setter. .. no water or anything in it. .. [p]i don't believe you can make au jus from the drippings from a rib roast. . .to make au jus (which i believe is really broth), you need to boiling bones. ..now, if you were to take some rib bones and boil them, you'd probably get some nice au jus. .. i'm sure some of the smarter cooks than me will weigh in on that topic (actually, its probably a good question for a 'post' . . "how do you make au jus?". . .[p]to be honest, when it comes to a really good hunk of beef, i don't believe in any kind of sauces (au jus, bernaise, hollandaise, etc). .. but that's just my opinion only. . .

WessB

Pigasso,
Along with the great advise already posted, I will answer one of your questions...To get an egg from searing temps back down to 200° would take a VERY long time unless you live in Alaska or such...Now if you had 2 eggs you could sear on one while the other is purring along at 200°...200° is a challenge to maintain even when sneaking up on it, I personally wouldn`t want to try to drop back down to it and hopefully maintain, especially with a great cut of meat like prime rib....just my opinion tho...HTH[p]Wess

mad max beyond eggdome

WessB,
great point about the two eggs. .. sometimes, i'll set up my small egg direct at 500 degrees, while setting up the large at 325 with grid over plate setter. .. i then throw the roast in the small for 15 minutes to get the sear, and then simply move it to the large to roast. .. its actually a little easier to do the two egg deal than the one. . .

fishlessman

Pigasso,
i saw alton browns technique the other day, 200 degrees until internal hit 118F, then 500 degrees for 5- 10 minutes, done. i think this is more practicle for the egg because it would take a long time to get the temp down but easier to get the temp up. he did rest the meat while he upped the temp and again after searing.

mad max beyond eggdome

fishlessman,
i know a lot of people advocate roast first - sear last. . .but see my post below.. . i have no problem going from 500 back down to 325 in a manner that provides great results. .. can't imagine doing a roast at 200 degrees, but i know enough others have tried it to get good results, so who am i to argue. . .

Rumrunner

mad max beyond eggdome, good response. Same feelings here.

QBabe

Pigasso,[p]That's actually how I do mine usually, though I'm in a minority not doing the 350° temps. I have an old gasser that doesn't get used much, except in these situations. I have a large cast iron dutch oven that I use to do the sear on the old gasser. Once that is done, I transfer the rib roast to my egg that has been stablalized at about 225° and use an indirect setup with platesetter, standard v-rack and roasting pan. Then, just keep an eye on the internal temp and roast it to your desired degree of doneness. [p]It'll do beautifully![p]Now, to side dishes. I've done an incredible pistachio rice that I think would go with prime rib nicely. It's from Cooking Light magazine and has wonderful flavoring.[p]I couldn't find the pistachio oil, but substitutes dark sesame oil instead.[p]Pistachio Rice
From Cooking Light
[p]With a quality pistachio oil, this rice will have an intense flavor even without the chopped nuts. It's excellent with lamb or chicken.[p]2 cups water
1 cup basmati rice
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
2 tablespoons dried currants or golden raisins
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped pistachios
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons pistachio oil
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Fresh parsley sprigs (optional)[p]Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan; add rice and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 18 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice is done. Remove from heat; fluff with fork. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, currants, and next 4 ingredients (currants through pepper). Cover; let stand 5 minutes. Garnish with parsley sprigs, if desired. [p]Yield: 6 servings (serving size: about 1/2 cup)[p]NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 186(29% from fat); FAT 5.9g(sat 0.8g,mono 3.8g,poly 1.3g); PROTEIN 2.4g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 8mg; SODIUM 294mg; FIBER 1.3g; IRON 1.2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 33.1g[p]Another good side dish would be a roasted veggie medley, i.e. carrots, potatoes, parsnips, etc. Cube the vegetables, then toss with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and herbs of your choice (rosemary and parsley are wonderful). Spread out on a baking sheet or jelly roll pan and bake (or egg) at 450° for about 45-50 minutes.[p]Roasted onions are also awesome. Quarter whole vidalia onions, drizzle with olive oil and egg (or bake) them similar to the roasted veggies, but for a shorter period of time, maybe 25 - 30 minutes. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar halfway through the cook and again just before serving.[p]Tonia
:~)

QBabe

Oh, yeah, I meant to tell you I usually use oak for my smoking wood on a beef roast like this. I'll let the initial heavy smoke burn off a bit, so you don't have that nasty bitterness that sometimes happens when that initial smoke is going on. Once it's calmed to a nice trickle (usually about the time that the cooker is stabalized), then I put the roast on.[p]Serve with a nice bold red wine like a good Zinfandel.[p]Have fun, and let us know how it turned out and what you served with it...!

fishlessman

mad max beyond eggdome,
just seen the show the other night. as for prime rib, its not my favorite. occasionally trex a 2 bone, but for a roast, give me lamb. trex on the coals direct and then rest, and cook 325 inderect on a raised grill high in the dome.resterants can do a decent prime rib, but they dont do justice to lamb.

Rumrunner

fishlessman, I don't eat steak 'out' at restaurants, cuz mine is better . Went to The Outback the other night and had their rack of lamb, can't remember the name of it, and I must say I was impressed enough that I'll order it again. It was cooked perfect for me, med rare, and the cabernet sauce was excellent. I'm not a sauce fan for meat as a rule, unless it's horseradish, but there's was pretty good. I'll have to see if I can duplicate it, or find a recipe, so I can use it the next time I cook lamb.

tach18k

Pigasso, I myself do prime rib by doing the low and slow till 125, first, then I let the roast rest for about 15 minutes, and then I sear at high temps with the egg going full tilt. Let rest 5 minutes and it done. Medium rare.

fishlessman

Rumrunner,
was it marinated or straight up with spice, after thanksgiving, used jappledogs brine recipe with the soy and ginger on the bird, iwas thinking of doing it with a boneless leg of lamb.one trick ive learned with the lamb is to searh for a light colored one at the market. the dark ones are not as good and too gamey for my liking. left overs are no good so eat it all in one sitting.

thirdeye

Rumrunner,
I stumbled onto this fee download site looking for the fried onion batter recipe, but later found it elsewhere. It has the recipe for O-backs lamb sauce.

[ul][li]recipes[/ul]

Bobby-Q

mad max beyond eggdome,
I can only weigh in with you are correct sir. Au Jus is french for "with juice" but it basically means stock or actually consumme.[p]So make a stock with veal bones and mire poix (carrots, celery onion) and after you cook it down for 12 to 24 hours to make a really rich stock, then you clarify it for several more hours by skimming and forming an egg shell and egg white foam that will even further purify the stock.[p]I always laugh at the places that list a french dip sandwich with Au Jus. I still think the French are corrupt ungrateful SOBs but I can understand where part of their disdain comes from.[p]:)

bobbyb

Bobby-Q,Mad Max,[p]Thanks for your insight..greatly appreciated.
Regards,

Dixie_Flyer

BobbyB,[p]try this for au jus: take any drippings that you get from the roast and add: 1/2 cup of dry red wine and 3 cups of beef stock...then add kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste

Bobby-Q

Rumrunner,
Here ya go.[p]1 1/3 C. cabernet wine
1/4 C. butter
2 1/2 T. flour
1/4 C. fresh parsley
6 C. au jus (The drippings from roasting beef or lamb)
2 T. lamb seasoning
1 T. garlic powder
In a bowl mix 1/3 cup of wine with flour, set aside. Put remaining wine, broth, parsley, lamb seasoning and
garlic powder in saucepan . Bring to a GENTLE boil, then turn heat down and reduce about 4-5 minutes. Stir
in flour mixture. While you are reducing liquid, brown butter in another pan (DON'T JUST MELT BUTTER
BROWN IT, DO NOT BURN ). WHEN YOU HAVE FINISHED REDUCING, ADD BUTTER AND MIX WELL.
By this time your sauce should have a semi-thick look to it. When you are finished cooking this, you should
have 7 cups.[p]A guy I know from culinary school is their executive corporate chef. He e-mailed this to me. For the lamb seasoning he said that is a proprietary mix, but I imagine you could tinker with it. I'd prolly go with 1 TB dizzy dust and 1 TB Tsunami and throw in some rosemary.[p]For the "Au Jus", I'd go with low sodium beef broth and add the drippings from the pan to it.[p]HTH

Rumrunner

Bobby-Q, thanks, appreciate it![p]The one thing in life I regret (well there are many!) is dropping out of the Culinary Institute of America (when it was in New Haven, Ct) to go and kill some "g**ks", ala Alice's Restaurant.