TOOLS NEEDED

Knife, large board, mixing bowl, spoon, butcher’s twine, grill, coals/wood/pellets

PREPPING THE PRIME RIB

There are just a few steps to follow to prep the prime rib.

The peel and trim steps are optional and depend on how fancy you want to get, but I highly recommend following the rub and rest technique before grilling your prime rib.

Whether or not you want to remove the silverskin is completely optional. When you eat pork ribs, you pick them up and bite right into the meat. That silverskin can create a tough bite.

With prime rib, however, you eat it with a knife and fork and usually don’t bite right down near the bone.

FRENCHING THE BONES

Some fancy restaurants scrape the meat away from each bone, leaving them connected to the roast. This creates a really pretty presentation with the bones clean and protruding from the big hunk of beautiful meat. My family likes to gnaw on the leftover prime rib bones, so personally, I don’t french them, but if you’d like to try it, you can view a step-by-step demonstration of this technique over at my pork prime rib post.

THE SECRET TRIM

Okay. It’s not really a secret to the world, but there is a nice little special trim you can do to add more flavor to the prime rib. Run your knife between the bones and the meat and continue slicing down until you almost reach the bottom. Make sure not to separate the two. Now, when you add your rub, you can add rub down through that trimmed area. See nice little secret.

If you follow this technique, you may want to use some butcher’s twine to secure the bones back to the roast – especially, if you’re cooking this on a rotisserie. When it comes time to slice your grilled prime rib, you can quickly remove the twine and remove the bones so they’re not in the way. Then, slice the meat into thin or thick slices, depending on what your diners prefer.

RUB + REST

Unlike turkey that gets a wet brine in the fridge, this prime rib gets a dry brine and is left out on the counter. The counter. What? Is that safe? Yep. It sure is, so long as you don’t exceed four hours.

You want to leave it on the counter, so it gradually comes to temp before it hits the grill. If you put the prime rib on the grill at a 40F-degree fridge temp, it’s not going to cook evenly. The center will take longer to warm while the outside overcooks.

I leave it on the counter for 2-3 hours, and while it’s sitting around waiting, I slather it with robust herbs mixed with my Brisket Rub, garlic, olive oil and my signature ingredient – allspice.

While the beef is adjusting to room temperature, it’s breathing in the herbs like an aromatherapy treatment.

THE COOKING PROCESS

We’re going to grill this over indirect heat. Explain how to do that on different grills.

If you want to add wood, I recommend hickory, oak and/or cherry (explain why)

Reverse sear: 250F for about 2 hours for a 6-lb roast - internal temp to 110F.

Sear - crank up to 400F but keep the heat indirect for 30 minutes to 135F.

Let it rest.

TEMPERATURE

Stick your probe in the center. The ends will cook faster/more than the center.

Goal temp: 130-140F for medium rare. Adjust from there.

If some like it well done, slice their piece off and throw it back on the grill.

SLICING

Remove the bones from the backside. Feel free to slice those - some like eating the bones.

Slice the remaining pieces as thin or thick as you like, depending on the other sides.

HORSERADISH DIPPING SAUCE

In a medium bowl, mix together the sour cream, cream, seasoning and lemon juice.

Fold in the horseradish.

Season with salt and pepper.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.