7 Bone Prime Rib

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idunlash

Newbie
Original poster
Dec 22, 2015
6
11
I'm looking to smoke my first prime rib on Christmas eve. Since we are having so many people over I opted for a full 7 bone roast (19 lbs.). My concern is that due to its size it's going to take too long to cook the center to rare and I'll end up over cooking the ends. Would it make more sense to cut the roast in half and cook two smaller ones, or am I over thinking it?
 
Actually your roast will probably be so long that the center will never see any heat from the ends.

The only reason I would cut a piece of meat in half is either if it didn't fit in the pit, or I have a know gathering which prefers the end cuts. And then I would still think on it.

7 bone is a load a beef, take your time, low and slow, and don't forget the resting its huge in a good prime rib.
 
I agree with Foam.  Cooking it low and slow gives you uniform doneness without the bullseye effect of hotter cooking methods.  The length of it isn't nearly as important to the cooking time as the thickness and prime rib is usually about the same thickness all the way across.  The only parts that won't be uniform are the absolute edges that are directly exposed to the heat.  Check out @Bearcarver  step by step on prime rib and it will guarantee you a good cook!  @Chef JimmyJ  has a lot of great prime rib knowledge as well!
 
I am going to be doing the same thing. I have about 13-14 people coming over for Christmas dinner. So I picked up the entire standing rib roast to cook. Now, I am looking at a 23lb chunk of cow that cost me about $170.00. I will be going low and slow. And I agree that since it is uniform in thickness that there should not be a problem with heat variance. However, I will be running a FOUR probe system just to make sure!!!!

I intend to use my iGrill in the meat and then my trusty Maverick 2 places in the box. So, we can compare our notes in a few days.

I intend to keep a good record of the process.

JB
 
I also would not cut it...But I would cut the chine bone off at least....as it is big on there and adds no extra flavor...and cooks more even..and I usually have the bigger ones cut almost thru for bone removal and then retied(So much easier to cut and serve}...if you cut pieces with bone on they are Big pieces and to big for plate...and like others on here say its enjoyable to knaw the bones later.....
 
I'd remove the bones completely as they really don't serve any purpose.  They won't make it taste better.  In fact, they will prevent you from seasoning the bottom of the loin and will block smoke penetration as well.

As for the size, the length of a PR is completely irrelevant in most cases.  heat travels from the outside in, so the thickness of the PR is what determines the cook time.  A roast that is 7 inches long and 5 inches thick will take the same amount of time to cook at a given temp as a roast that is 18 inches long and 5 inches thick.

All that said, if lots of people were coming over, I might be tempted to split the roast in two so that I could take one to mid rare and the other to medium+, depending on the tastes of the crowd.  If you know that quite a few prefer their meat done a bit more, this would be an easy solution.
 
I appreciate the Intel. My gut was telling me that the uniform thickness would be the controlling factor, but after dropping a couple of hundred bucks on meat I got a little paranoid. I'm cooking on a PBC, which turns out is only about 18" across ... a like an amateur I bought a 19" long hunk of meat. Luckily the revised headcount is now only 11 so I trimmed off about 4" from the end and cut them into steaks for future use. The 15" roast I'm left with should fit just fine with a little over 1.5" of clearance for smoke on either end, with plenty more than that on either side (lengthwise).

I took @Worktogthr's advice and reviewed the notes from @Bearcarver. This inspired me to use Worcestershire sauce instead of olive oil as the base. She is marinating in the fridge now with a good coat of Worcestershire, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and PLENTY of fresh chopped garlic. I also stuck a half dozen sprigs of fresh rosemary between the rib bones and the roast.

I'll be lighting the coals in four hours boys ... thanks for the advice!
 
I am going to be doing the same thing. I have about 13-14 people coming over for Christmas dinner. So I picked up the entire standing rib roast to cook. Now, I am looking at a 23lb chunk of cow that cost me about $170.00. I will be going low and slow. And I agree that since it is uniform in thickness that there should not be a problem with heat variance. However, I will be running a FOUR probe system just to make sure!!!!

I intend to use my iGrill in the meat and then my trusty Maverick 2 places in the box. So, we can compare our notes in a few days.
I intend to keep a good record of the process.

JB

I too was planning on using multiple probes. The plan is one in the center, and one about a quarter of the way from the end just confirm I'm not killing the damn thing by only focusing on the center (which is where I plan on eating from).

Best of luck!!!
 
Watching for the results.
popcorn.gif
 
I don't have quite as big a roast, but I'm cooking mine later today for tonight.  I'm following some of amazingribs.com advice and cut off the bones and the fat cap so I can season it all and get bark on all sides.

http://amazingribs.com/recipes/beef/prime_rib_roast.html

I've followed Bearcarver's advice, made JimmyJ's Au Jus, and incorporated some of seriouseats.com ideas in the past.  Hoping this one is better yet.  My wife was upset when I told her I cut the fat off.  I'll let you know how my guests like it (or don't).  Although it's funny that no one complains when you invite them over for prime rib :)  Pics to follow ... 
 
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Well, here she is boys! 4.5 hours total cook time. Rested 1.5 in a cooler. 5 minutes in the oven @ 500 before carving. Couldn't have turned out any better!

Thanks for all the helpful tips and confidence booster. I can't wait to do another one and start tweaking things.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!
 
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I was worried the temp would get too high in the PBC. I called an audible and only lit half the coal basket allowing it to burn over to the other side during the cook. I also hosed the outside of the PBC off every 30 minutes or so to keep the temp down. From what I can tell the temp stayed down closer to 250 the whole time. Unorthodox but seemed to do the trick.
 

Well, here she is boys! 4.5 hours total cook time. Rested 1.5 in a cooler. 5 minutes in the oven @ 500 before carving. Couldn't have turned out any better!

Thanks for all the helpful tips and confidence booster. I can't wait to do another one and start tweaking things.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!
Awesome -
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