How to cook Prime Rib for friends

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

mfreel

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Sep 4, 2013
479
51
Omaha, Nebraska
I'm going to smoke a couple of prime ribs for some friends in the next couple days.  I plan on cooking them to a rare temp, around 130-132 and then putting them in the fridge.  They will reheat them the next day or the day after.

Any tips on how to do this right?  Should I bring the temp up a little higher and then just have them reheat?  What temp should they reheat to?  

Any tips would be appreciated.
 
 
I'm going to smoke a couple of prime ribs for some friends in the next couple days.  I plan on cooking them to a rare temp, around 130-132 and then putting them in the fridge.  They will reheat them the next day or the day after.

Any tips on how to do this right?  Should I bring the temp up a little higher and then just have them reheat?  What temp should they reheat to?

Any tips would be appreciated.
Pulling at 130ish will have you closer to mid-rare.  Wouldn't hurt to pull it a little sooner (120ish) and have your friends bring it up to desired temp in a 225-250 degree oven.   Would help immensely if your friends had a temp probe to better gauge the reheat process so that they could slow it down or speed it up as necessary.

As for the temp that they should reheat to, it depends on how they like their Prime Rib cooked.   I like mine to be a bit under mid rare, so I pull it at 127 or so and let it rest for 20 mins.
 
Last edited:
Agreed, pull it at 120˚. It'll coast to probably 125˚-127˚. Rather than heating in the oven, which runs the risk of overcooking the whole thing, they could slice and heat on a grill or in a hot skillet. Or they could use the old restaurant standby of a dip in simmering Au-jus to bring to temp. About a minute will warm it to mid rare, and 2 minutes will satisfy even the most ardent fans of well done meat, while not actually overcooking or drying out the meat.
 
 
Agreed, pull it at 120˚. It'll coast to probably 125˚-127˚. Rather than heating in the oven, which runs the risk of overcooking the whole thing, they could slice and heat on a grill or in a hot skillet. Or they could use the old restaurant standby of a dip in simmering Au-jus to bring to temp. About a minute will warm it to mid rare, and 2 minutes will satisfy even the most ardent fans of well done meat, while not actually overcooking or drying out the meat.
Slicing and heating on a grill/skillet, or steeping in Au Jus will work in a pinch, but both methods change the texture and/or flavor profile of the PR to some degree.   Steeping in Au Jus will bring it up to temp, but you'll lose that remarkable edge to edge color/flavor as the exposed faces of the slices will brown.   Heating on a grill/skillet will also cook the PR up, losing the edge to edge color, and it will also sear the PR giving it a slightly different flavor.

Neither of these are "bad", just distinctly different.   I mean, if I ordered a PR in a restaurant and they sent out a cut that had been grilled, I'd send it back as that isn't what I ordered.    If I had wanted it that way, I'd have asked for it to be done, or I would have just ordered a Ribeye.

FTR, when I cook a PR to just under mid rare, I do use the steeping method for people who want their PR cooked up to medium, mid-well or well.   I also steep in Au Jus when I'm reheating a leftover slice for myself afterwards, but as it's "leftovers" at that point, I accept the sacrifice in taste.

All that said, it's personal preference.  Some people actually prefer to have their PR grilled after it's been roasted and sliced   :)

Also:   If you do steep in Au Jus, make sure that the Au Jus isn't close to boiling.  If it's too hot, the PR will basically par boil, which will also change the texture/flavor profile
 
Last edited:
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky