I'll never order Prime Rib at a restaurant again!!!

[BLACKJACK]

About 15 years ago I was introduced to good Prime Rib, I used to volunteer at the Douglas (NW of Rochester) pheasant banquet, they served prime rib, I think it came from some place over by Oronoco, it was hot, juicy, too die for. Ever since, whenever I order prime rib, I've been disappointed. Invariably you get a luke warm fatty chunk of beef that looks and tastes like it came off a big beef roast, was cut an inch thick, and then micro-waved.

This weekend we went to a fancy restaurant in Brainerd, I like to order something different, something I don’t have at home, so the chicken and walleye were out, so with the fond memories of good prime rib, I tried it again. Same story, asked the waitress about it, “its great”, ordered it medium, and it came back luke warm, not hot, not real tender, very fatty, the only reason it was moist was the because of the juice they poured over it. Never again will I order prime rib at a restaurant, I’ll order a steak, something that I know they’ll be grilling fresh and hot.

Done with my venting. Guess I’ll have to get over my apprehension about doing my own prime rib at home, hate to ruin an $80 chunk of meat, but if I want good juicy, hot prime rib, I’ll have to do it at home.

[Ballyhoo]

I'm with you on ordering at a restuarant. I have been about 40% good, 60% bad in my lifetime. Even the DU and deer hunters banquets have been questionable.

[JacobMHD]

I'll bet the difference between the prime rib you liked and the rest is that the meat for the banquet comes out of the cooker and is plated right away. At the restaurants the prime rib is precooked and then reheated to the requested temp at the time of the order. Since the prime rib at the restaurant is precooked to rare to med-rare, it doesn't take much heat to go past medium and thus the cold cut of meat. I'd be curious to know the temp of the meat at the time it was served to you.

[chaffmj]

Cook it at home it is always better. I have cooked them at home , work and up north. It is an easy cook when done right. I use a weber and bank the coals on the side. This is an old pic of one I cooked at work. I started it at 8:30 and we were eating by 11:30.

[waskawood]

BJ. I see you are from Willmar. Take a drive up to Glenwood and stop at Minnewaska meats. Erick will season you a prime rib and put it in a cooking bag. Take it home and make the best prime rib you ever had.

[ducker]

Waskawood, I thought I gave you the best prime rib recipe you ever had. Wow, thanks buddy!! No sunnies for you.

[BLACKJACK]

I'll bet the difference between the prime rib you liked and the rest is that the meat for the banquet comes out of the cooker and is plated right away. At the restaurants the prime rib is precooked and then reheated to the requested temp at the time of the order. Since the prime rib at the restaurant is precooked to rare to med-rare, it doesn't take much heat to go past medium and thus the cold cut of meat. I'd be curious to know the temp of the meat at the time it was served to you.

That would explain why I've been disappointed in prime rib ever since my experience at those banquets.

[BLACKJACK]

Cook it at home it is always better. I have cooked them at home , work and up north. It is an easy cook when done right. I use a weber and bank the coals on the side. This is an old pic of one I cooked at work. I started it at 8:30 and we were eating by 11:30.

That makes my mouth water chaffmj!!!! How about some more info on how you cook it, I have a big Weber!!

[BLACKJACK]

BJ. I see you are from Willmar. Take a drive up to Glenwood and stop at Minnewaska meats. Erick will season you a prime rib and put it in a cooking bag. Take it home and make the best prime rib you ever had.

Waska, thanks for the tip, I'll keep that in mind, I usually make a run up to fish sunnies on Minnewaska a couple times a summmer, I'll go find that meat market. I've come to the conclusion that if I want good prime rib I'm going to have to cook my own.

[chaffmj]

Blackjack,

I have the 22" weber and I bank the coals off both sides all the way to the top of the grill leaving room for the rib down the center. If you have seen the coal holders then you should know what I mean. I don't have them so I just bank them. I season the rib the day before (I use Montreal steak seasoning, garlic garlic and I use a knife to bury garlic cloves into the meat) you should use what you like. I put the prime rib in a pan and set it on the grill. The temp is usually around 450 or so when you put it on because the coals are at their peak but don't worry they will die down and you are not going to burn it. 3 or 4 times during the process I will take the drippings from the pan and baste the meat with it. I have cooked enough of these so I can tell from the looks of it when it is done but you can use a thermometer to cook it to the temp you like. Beware though that you want to pull it off about 10-20 degrees early because it will keep cooking while you let it rest before slicing. If you use a thermometer pull it at around 120 degrees and then let it rest 10-15 minutes before slicing. This should give you rare in the middle and more done on the ends so everybody gets it the way they like it. I cook them roughly for 3 hours depending upon the outside temperature and how windy it is because these things will have an effect on the inside temp of your weber. I also cook a whole boneless prime rib somewhere between 12-15 lbs so you will have to adjust your time for the size you are cooking. I don't think I left anything out but others can chime in and may have something to add to it. Hope this helps.

[BLACKJACK]

Excellent!!! Thanks chaffmj!!!! Can't wait to find and cook a piece of prime rib!! And I like the Montreal steak seasoning. I've used the banked coals when I do a turkey. I can see where the pan underneath would help keep it moist.

[waskawood]

Waskawood, I thought I gave you the best prime rib recipe you ever had. Wow, thanks buddy!! No sunnies for you.

I haven't seen any yet so why would I think that I will see any in the future!!!

[castmaster]

Not certain, but your experience at restaurants may be in part to ordering it medium. I know the restaurants I've found to have the best Prime Rib wont even serve it medium, if you dont want it Med Rare at the most done they ask you to order something else. I've also been to a restaurant or tow that had very low quality "prime rib" that wouldnt serve it any less done than medium and actually recommended it be done medium well.

Cooking prime rib past medium rare ruins it IMO. To keep it tender and moist medium rare is the most I'll have it and prefer it more towards the rare side.

Also, I know that in the past 5 years or so quite a few restaraunts have been substituting choice for prime in their "prime" rib servings. With the cost of beef having gone up many couldnt get customers to pay the increase so they kept prices the same and lowered to choice. IMO they should tell folks thats what they are ordering though.

When cooking my own at home I've found the best thing to do, for oven cooking anyway, is to cook for one hour at 350-375, then turn the oven off for 2 hours, then back on at 350-375 for 20 minutes for med rare, 30 minutes for medium. make sure NOT to open the oven during hte 2 hour off time, and to let the meat rest for 5-10 minutes after taking out of the oven before cutting.

[Mike89]

I do my prime rib on the smoker, it's great every time and ready to eat!

[echo2010]

I just rub mine with sea salt, bread crumbs, garlic and Dijon mustard....

Cant go wrong!

I cant order prime rib OR steaks at restaurants, simply because mine are better

[CAMAN]

You need to go to restaurants that have prime rib only on a certain day of the week, and be there early. Those are the places that cook it that day and it will be fresh and done perfectly. If its a permanent item on the menu you know they cooked it ahead of time and refrigerated it and it will be exactly how you described. Being it takes a couple hours an expensive and large chunk of meat, unless its a busy steakhouse that goes through a couple cows a day, no restaurant that wants to stay in business will cook one up everyday in hopes of selling 1 or 2 plates of it.

[Jim Almquist]

I cant order prime rib OR steaks at restaurants, simply because mine are better

I feel the same way but then again I have never been Manny's steak house

[Ralph Wiggum]

I've been meaning to do one on the Weber for some time now. Unfortunately, my wife is not a fan of prime rib (she likes her beef well done...yuck). Might have to fire it up and have a few friends over soon!

[Finns]

I've been meaning to do one on the Weber for some time now. Unfortunately, my wife is not a fan of prime rib (she likes her beef well done...yuck). Might have to fire it up and have a few friends over soon!

Hello Friend!

[Deitz Dittrich]

I do my prime rib on the smoker, it's great every time and ready to eat!

Mike 89- can you tell how long it took and what temp you cooked it at on the smoker?.. Would love to try that some time.

[BLACKJACK]

I thought when I started this post I'd get more posts defending the restaurants, or saying try the prime rib at 'BillyBobs' Steak House. At least I have a better idea of why restaurants can't provide a good hot chuck of prime rib. And reading some of your posts and looking at that one picture has made me determined to try it on my grill. I have a sirloin tip roast in my freezer that I'm going to practice on, then onto PRIME RIB. One problem I have is my wife doesn't like her meat as rare as I do, been working on her with the venison, she will eat it pink (and juicy!). Guess she gets the end chunk on the prime rib!!

Anybody that has done their own prime rib feel free to chime in on their cooking method for GOOD prime rib.

[Phred52]

BJ, I only cook on charcoal in a kettle grill. I've made a hangar for below the rack that holds a foil pan to catch the drippings, Works well. That way I don't need to bank coal and yet my drippings get to produce smoke. At first I was intimidated by the cost of the chunk of meat, after you get a couple of grillings 'under your belt'(pun intended) You'll get more comfortable with the task. I would STRONGLY recommend investing in an 'insta-read' meat thermometer and follow it. There will be some carry-over cooking (~7-10 degrees) done once the roast is removed from the grill, so plan accordingly. As a rule, I figure ~15 minutes/ lb on hot coals, grill covered. Internal temp should be 140* for Rare, 155* for med., and 165* med. well. As stated earlier, anything over med. rare is, IMO, wasting meat. Phred52

[pikestabber]

A steak guide at a restaurant:

RARE--cool red center

MED. RARE--warm red center

MEDIUM--warm pink center

MED. WELL--warm center, a little pink

WELL DONE--ruined!

[Bear55]

coals, grill covered. Internal temp should be 140* for Rare, 155* for med., and 165* med. well. As stated earlier, anything over med. rare is, IMO, wasting meat. Phred52

I've had very good rare to med-rare prime rib where the internal temp was 120, I would even say you would be ok to take it off and let it rest at 110-115 internal temp. Blackjack I'm sure there are plenty of websites out there where you can confirm the internal temp.

[chaffmj]

Yes don't leave it on past 120 ever. I found it also depends on the length and grith of the chunk you are cooking. I buy them whole in the 13-15 lb range and let that size go to 120 in the middle. Pull it as soon as it hits that, let it rest 10-15 and everybody will be happy.

Next thing you should try BlackJack is tender loins tied together. Get 3 5-6 lbers and tie them up so they are an even diameter from one end to the other,(Osseo meat market does this for me and sells their tender loin for 6.99 lb) again bank the coals and let this go for an hour and a half. You'll like that almost as much as the prime rib.