Originally
posted: 12/01/2002
Last updated:
01/08/2008
Summary
Buy the small end
(ribs 10-12) of a standing rib roast.
Have the butcher tie
the roast, or tie it yourself at each bone.
Leave the bones intact
for better moisture retention and flavor.
Apply Worcestershire
sauce and Montreal Steak Seasoning, refrigerating overnight.
Cook at 325-350°F.
Remove from cooker 5-10°F below the final internal temperature desired.
Cover loosely with
foil and let rest 30 minutes before carving.
A whole standing rib
roast consists of ribs 6-12 of the steer (ribs are numbered from the head
of the animal to the tail) and weighs 14-20 pounds. It is sold in smaller
portions, usually a 3-rib section, which is what I'm cooking here.
The term "standing"
indicates that the rib bones are left intact, and the roast is cooked
standing on its rack of ribs.
Many people say that a
roast cut from ribs 10-12 (closest to the short loin) is best because it
has less fat and is more tender. This roast is called "small end" or
"first cut". Other folks like a roast from ribs 6-8 (closest to the
shoulder), which is slightly less tender, but supposedly has better
flavor. Frankly, it's hard to go wrong with either one!
You can tell the
difference between these two roasts by comparing the length of their
bones. A roast from ribs 6-8 has three short bones, whereas one from ribs
10-12 has three long bones.
USDA Prime grade standing
rib roast--real "prime rib"--is one of the finest quality meats available
and is reserved for the most special occasions. It's an amazing piece of
meat if you can find it and if you can afford it. USDA Choice grade is an excellent alternative that is
readily available at wholesale warehouse stores and meat markets, and is more affordable by several
dollars per pound. In the Prime Rib - Herb
Crusted topic, I splurged on USDA Prime, but for this recipe I used
USDA Choice.
This standing rib roast was
inspired by a recipe described by Mike Scrutchfield on
The BBQ Forum in 1996. It has great flavor and uses only
two simple ingredients that are probably sitting in your pantry right now.
Here are some pictures I
took when I prepared this recipe using the Weber Bullet on January 27,
2002.
As
always...click on any of the pictures to
view a larger image.
Three-Rib, Small-End
Standing Rib Roast
This is a three-rib USDA
Choice standing rib roast cut from the small end (ribs 10-12), weighing 5.8
pounds. The butcher tied the roast for me, so there was no prep required.
When buying a bone-in rib roast, figure
on 1 to 1-1/4 pounds pre-cooked weight per serving.
Buy a roast with the rib bones attached.
They provide better moisture retention and flavor, and act as a natural roasting rack.
Tie the roast at each
bone, as shown in this photo. This prevents the outer layer of meat from pulling away from
the rib eye. Place the roast bone-side down. Cut a length of kitchen
twine, loop it around the roast parallel to the first bone, bringing the
two ends to the top of the roast. Pull snug and tie with whatever kind
of knot you like, then repeat at each bone.
Don't bother cutting
the ribs off and tying them back on before cooking. They're easily
removed once the roast is cooked.
This video
demonstrates how to tie a roast. Click on the video to play.
Seasoning The Roast
This
recipe is simplicity itself and comes from a December 1996 post by Mike
Scrutchfield on The BBQ
Forum. Pat the meat dry with paper towels. Rub the
meat with Worcestershire sauce, then apply a heavy sprinkling of McCormick
Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning. This rub consists of coarse salt, black pepper, dill seed, coriander seed, red pepper, garlic, and other
seasonings. It's available in the spice aisle at most supermarkets.
This photo shows how the
roast looked after the application of Worcestershire sauce and rub.
Wrap tightly in Saran
Wrap and refrigerate overnight. Let sit at room temperature for two hours
before cooking.
Selecting The
Smoke Wood
You don't want to
overpower a standing rib roast with too much
smoke or by using a smoke wood with a flavor that's too strong. I recommend oak, apple, cherry, or a mix of these, and use it
sparingly.
I chose three
medium-sized oak chunks and did not soak them in water prior to use. This
will be enough wood to provide adequate smoke during the relatively short cooking
time.
Firing The Cooker
I used Weber
hardwood charcoal briquettes for this cook. Fire-up a full Weber chimney of
briquettes, spread evenly in the charcoal chamber, then add another
chimney full of unlit briquettes on top of the hot coals.
When all the coals are covered
with ash, assemble the cooker. Put the foil-lined water pan in place, but leave
it empty. Without water, the cooker will run in the 325-350°F range, and the dry
heat will help create a darker exterior on the meat.
Start with all bottom vents at
50% open. Open the top vent fully and leave it that way for the entire cooking
session.
Cooking Process Described
Place the roast on the top
cooking grate, bone-side down. Insert a Polder probe into the
center of the roast to monitor internal temperature during cooking.
Put the lid on the cooker and add
smoke wood to
the coals. The cooker will
start out quite hot, but once the meat is added the temperature will begin
coming down.
Cook at 325-350°F to 5-10° below
the final internal temperature you want to achieve. Residual
heat in the meat will cause the internal temp to rise 5-10°F during a 30
minute rest after cooking.
There's no need to baste or
turn the meat during cooking.
I chose 134°F as the temp at
which I would remove this roast from the cooker. After resting, the final temp
would rise to about 140°F. This is a bit more done than some people prefer for a
rib roast. A final internal temperature of 120-125°F will result in rare meat
with
some medium-rare and medium meat at the ends of the roast.
Estimated cooking time is 20-28 minutes
per pound (this roast took about 20 minutes per pound).
Here's how the cooker and
internal meat temperatures went during the two hour cooking process.
Time
Lid
Temp
Meat
Temp
Vent
1
%
Vent
2
%
Vent
3
%
1:35pm
-
44
50
50
50
1:45pm
389
46
50
50
0
2:00pm
333
50
50
50
50
2:15pm
340
64
50
50
50
2:30pm
338
73
50
50
50
2:45pm
337
89
50
50
50
3:00pm
327
102
50
50
50
3:15pm
325
113
100
50
50
3:30pm
328
129
100
50
50
3:42pm
325
134
100
50
50
Note that the vent percentages
represent the way I set the vents at the time indicated.
Carving And Serving
After two hours of cooking, the
roast reached 134°F. I removed it from
the cooker, covered it loosely with foil, and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Picture 1 shows the roast after the rest.
Remove the butcher's twine and
roll the roast onto its side so the ends of the bones are pointing straight up. Cut
downward close to the bones using a sharp boning knife, or better yet, a good
electric knife. A picture of cutting the bones from a standing rib roast can be found in the Prime Rib - Herb
Crusted article.
Picture 2 shows the rib bones
cut into individual portions.
I used an electric knife to cut perfect
1/2" slices from the now boneless roast. Pictures 3 and 4 show the results.
In my cooking log, I wrote that
the
meat looked dark and rich, not burned. There was a 1/8" smoke ring, and
the meat was very moist throughout. It had a rich aroma and intense flavor. The
smoke flavor was perfect. And of course, the meat was naturally tender, as you'd
expect from a standing rib roast.
