Until  last year I hadn’t cooked a prime rib since I was a teenager, when I listened to vinyl and used hot rollers.

Prime rib is not something people make every day or any day and it’s sort of a retro food that most people will never make or only make on Christmas day. 

I can proudly say this is the world’s best prime rib recipe, with the best sour cream horseradish sauce, and will bring raves during any holiday cooking season. One person said “this is the best meal you ever made.”

I’m not sure about that, but it’s indeed testimony that this is a recipe that is just about fail proof, so put all fears of tackling a prime rib away and enjoy this most flavorful cut of meat.

Melt in Your Mouth Prime Rib

As I stared at this somewhat intimidating piece of meat, I fretted over two things.

Tenderness and Overcooking.

 Even the end pieces were melt in your mouth, and you can see it’s perfectly done to a medium rare.

When I saw the words low and slow, I decided upon that roasting direction.

I started with a very hot oven of 450º F degrees for twenty minutes. After that I turned the oven down to 325° degrees for approximately two hours, checking often in the last hour to make sure the temperature of the beef didn’t exceed 130°.

My friend was there early watching me obsess about the temperature. This is one of the most important parts of getting it right, so you must have a quick read thermometer to get it right.

The cooking time is going to vary because not only will size be a factor, but so will the temperature of the meat before you put it in the oven. You want to bring the cold temperature down so the cooking is more even and left the meat out for over two hours.

The Week Before: Prepare the Prime Rib a Week in Advance

But just like in those cool movies, we have to start with the line…The Week Before.

(You know the part where they start in the middle of the story and then back up to the beginning).

The Week Before the Prime Rib Goes in the Oven

Start by Shopping: Websites will tell you to buy the best piece of meat you can find. That’s nice. But what if you could find a reasonably priced standing rib roast. Should you buy it? I did. An 8 pound roast fed 8 people. This may be different for your crowd. You can’t go wrong with more, because left overs mean beef dip sandwiches with sour cream horseradish sauce on crusty rolls.

Seven to 10 days prior to roasting, you want to do your own dry aging. You could purchase an already dry-aged prime rib, and if you do, I want to be your friend. You’re rich. You will be spending anywhere from $200 to $400  for a bone-in roast.

I wasn’t able to do the real dry aging as I only had four days instead of seven, but I still noticed the difference. Of course, this is not the dry aging done from the experts who can control the temperature and humidity. I actually wonder if people who buy that $400 roast are the ones cooking or is it a task left to their private chef. As for me, I’d take that money and go to Kayne Prime, Nashville’s best steakhouse. There is no way I’m cooking anything that costs that much to eat just once.

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Best Prime Rib Recipe Includes the Dry Aging Process:

This article helps to explain why you should consider dry aging your meat and how the meat changes. It also gives you the how, but also gives you complicated information and a method most people won’t apply. This method is the one I used. It calls for a simple dry aging of beef in refrigerator for 7 to 10 days.

Rinse in cold water, pat dry, wrap loosely in cheesecloth layers or in a very clean cotton flour sack cloth (which is what I did). This is a more realistic method for the home cook. The first article proclaims this short method will make no difference, but we thought it did. I’ll leave that up to you.

Roast to the Right Temperature

Whatever you do, do not allow your meat to go above 130 degrees F.  You will have to be diligent in checking this in the last moments. I intended to take the roast out at 125 and within a minute, I missed it. The meat will continue to cook during the resting process. Even those who like medium meat were happy with the medium rare pieces.

My new oven came with a plug-in probe which is priceless. 

Use Beef Bones as Rack

If you plan on making prime rib anytime soon, be on the lookout for some nice long beef ribs on sale. These will serve as your rack and will flavor the juice greatly increasing the deliciousness of the au jus. Roast bones first and use that juice and fat to mix with some beef broth to baste the roast. 

1. Roast bones which will be used for the rack.
2. Set the oven to 450º degrees F.
3. Leave the bone in. It adds flavor.
4. Rub the roast with the seasonings. How much is up to you. I made sure the roast was well covered.
5. Place roast on the pre-roasted bones.  Add two cups of beef broth and a half bottle of red wine to bottom of pan.
6. Cook for twenty minutes. Turn down the heat to 325º F (for a convection oven). Baste with juices every 30 minutes.
7. Cook to medium rare no higher than 130º F. If you have people who don’t like medium rare, keep in mind the ends will be more well done. 
8. Rest for thirty minutes prior to serving. The roast continues to cook and will maintain its juices.
9. Serve with sour cream horseradish sauce.

More Special Red Meat Dishes

• Tenderloin Roast
• Tomahawk Prime Rib (Cowboy Steak)
• Braciole (Italian Stuffed Steak
• Rack of Lamb
• Za’atar Rack of Lamb

Print

How to Make Perfect Prime Rib

How to Roast Prime Rib, Dry Age at Home, Season and Roast to a perfect melt in your mouth medium rare.

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Keyword prime rib

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 2 hours hours

Total Time 2 hours hours 15 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Angela Roberts

Equipment

• cheesecloth
• Meat Thermometer
• carving knife

Ingredients

• six pound bone-in prime rib roast
• 3-4 beef ribs
• 1 tablespoon each freshly chopped rosemary thyme, sage, fennel seeds,
• olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1/2 bottle red wine

Horseradish Sauce

• 1 cup sour cream
• 3 tablespoons prepared horseradish
• 1 dash worcestershire sauce

Instructions

Dry Age Meat

• Dry Age the Meat: Give yourself 7 days, at least 4 days.
• Rinse meat in cold water, pat dry, wrap loosely in cheesecloth layers or in a very clean cotton flour sack cloth (which is what I did).

  Place in refrigerator for 4 to 7 days.

Roast the Meat

• Rub the meat with olive oil and spices. Do not remove the bone. Bone means flavor.
• Leave out on counter for two hours.

Roast Beef Bones

• Heat oven to 400°
• In the meantime, roast several beef bones with garlic cloves. These will serve as the meat rack.
• Save the fat and juice of the bones and add to the beef broth.

Roast Prime Rib

• Turn Oven up to 450 degrees F.
• Place bones in roasting pan. Add wine and beef broth.
• Put meat over the bones. Roast for 30 minutes.
• Reduce the oven to 325° and cook for approximately 90 more minutes. You must use a meat thermometer. Roast to medium rare, 125°, no higher than 130° internal temperature. Even people who like medium will love this. Do not over cook. You can always put individual slices back in the oven.
• Take prime rib out of oven. Allow to sit for 30 minutes before carving.
• Serve with the au jus or with a horseradish cream.

Horseradish Sauce

• Mix ingredients together. Keep refrigerated until use.

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