How to cook a perfect medium-rare Prime Rib
A Standing Rib Roast is a Prime Rib that still has at least two of the bones still attached. An expensive (very expensive) cut of beef that none of us can afford to screw up, Haha. The Standing Rib Roast / Prime Rib I’m cooking today is a $120, 3-Rib, 8 ½ pound massive piece of beef that needs to be cooked to a perfect medium-rare. Not as difficult as it may sound, however, there are a few steps that must be followed for a perfect dinner of the beautiful medium-rare rib roast.
No worries, I’ll walk you through the process of cooking the prime rib with a creamy Dijon horseradish sauce and a simple au jus. So here we go, this is how I make a standing rib roast, step by step.
As a child my first culinary education came from Julia Child and Jacques Pepin on Public T.V. As an adult, I attended a culinary school where Chef Jacques is currently the Dean of Special Programs. When it comes to culinary techniques, cooking times, temperatures, or processes, I would bet the farm on what Jacques Pepin says. So that being said, I always use Chef Jacques’s time and temperature for standing rib roast, it’s foolproof.
How you season the standing rib roast is entirely up to you, the sky’s the limit. The crust of the rib roast can be flavored with mustard, horseradish, garlic, and any number of herbs and spices. I keep my beef rib roast fairly simple using a dry brine of salt, black pepper, and fresh rosemary. For perfect medium-rare roast beef, here are the time and temperatures that work perfectly.
Prime Rib Time & Temperature
- Dry Rub: 12-hours before cooking, rub the rib roast with my seasoning mixture. By dry brining the beef, you allow the salt to penetrate deeply into the rib roast, flavoring not just the crust, but deeply into the center of the meat itself.
- Bring to Room Temperature: About 2-hours before roasting, bring the rib roast out of the refrigerator and allow to come up to room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 425°F: Insert a meat thermometer into the standing rib roast, careful not to touch the bones. Place the rib roast bone side down for 30-minute
- Reduce Temperature to 400°F: Baste the rib roast with pan juices, roast until the internal temperature reaches 85°F, approximately 1-hour
- Reduce Temperature to 160°F: Open the oven door to let it cool quickly, close the door and let the rib roast rest uncovered inside the warm oven for 45-60 minutes. Until the internal temperature is 120°F for rare, 125°F for medium-rare.
Dry Brine for a Standing Rib Roast
Why bother with a dry brine? Sodium is hygroscopic, which basically means it absorbs moisture from the surrounding environment. The protein molecules inside the standing rib roast will draw the sodium inside and hold onto the moisture. As sodium does not want to let go of the natural juices inside the beef the result is a juicier more tender and flavorful standing rib roast.
The flavor of the rib roast isn’t altered because you’re not adding anything different, you’re just giving the salt time to do its thing, and it is definitely worth the effort.
Rule of Thumb: For beef and chicken I have a really good rule of thumb that has never let me down. A ratio of 1:1, 1-teaspoon salt per 1-pound of meat.
Rosemary Dijon Horseradish Sauce recipe
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 ½ Cups Sour Cream
- ¼ Cup Prepared Horseradish
- 2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard
- 1 Tablespoon Chopped Fresh Rosemary
- 1 Teaspoon Black Pepper
PROCESS:
-Combine all, refrigerate until service
Dry Rub | Brine: This is an 8 ½ pound standing rib roast, I estimate the bones weigh about 1/2 pound, so I reduce the salt by 1/2 teaspoon.
INGREDIENTS:
- 8 Teaspoons Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Finely Chopped Fresh Rosemary
- 1 Tablespoon Black Pepper
PROCESS:
-12 hours before roasting, add all ingredients to a bowl and rub the roast on all sides, cover and refrigerate.
How to Cook a Standing Rib Roast of Beef
Standing Rib Roast
Equipment
- Oven Safe Meat Thermometer
Ingredients
- 1 3 Bone Rib Roast
- 1 Recipe Dry Rub | Brine *See recipe on Blog
- 1/2 Cup Diced Carrots
- 1/2 Cup Diced Celery
- 1 Teaspoon Garlic Crushed and chopped
- 12 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
- 3 Cups Beef Broth
- 1 Cup Red Wine
Instructions
- Dry Rub: 12-hours before cooking, rub the beef with my seasoning mixture. By dry brining the beef, you allow the salt to penetrate deeply into the roast, flavoring not just the crust, but deeply into the center of the meat itself.
- Bring to Room Temperature: About 2-hours before roasting, bring the roast out of the refrigerator and allow it to come up to room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 425°F: Insert a meat thermometer into the beef, careful not to touch the bones. Place the Standing Rib Roast bone side down for 30-minutes
- Reduce Temperature to 400°F: Baste the beef with pan juices, roast until the internal temperature reaches 85°F, approximately 1-hour
- Reduce Temperature to 160°F: Open the oven door to let it cool quickly, Add the chopped carrots, celery, garlic, and thyme to the pan juices, close the door and let the roast rest uncovered inside the warm oven for 45-60 minutes. Until the internal temperature is 120°F for rare, 125°F for medium-rare.
- Remove the roast from the roasting pan and place on a cutting board and cover with foil, let rest for 15 minutes
Au Jus
- Pour out the grease from the roasting pan and place the roasting pan on the stovetop over high heat
- Add red wine and bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits in the bottom of the pan
- Add the beef broth and bring to a boil, reducing by half, strain the mixture and discard the solids
- Serve warm
Nutrition
A perfect medium-rare prime rib is great for any Holiday or special occasion
