The perfect Prime-Rib Beef Roast
Tender, juicy meat with an exterior of crisp, golden fat. This is the ultimate prime rib beef roast, the perfect centerpiece for any celebration.
What could be better than serving your guests the most impressive roast, done to perfection, on Christmas? Nothing much really. And as far as impressive cuts of meat go, the prime-rib has it in the bag. There are very few things as “oooh”-inspiring as a glorious standing rib roast (as it’s also known). And then to make it better, I don’t think beef gets much more delicious than this. A prime-rib roast is pretty much just a giant rib-eye steak and if you’ve never had a perfectly done rib-eye, what are you even doing here? Go out right now and experience true deliciousness. Anyway, the prime rib is pretty much that PLUS the intense flavour the bones add as well as a healthy layer of fat on top of the tender, juicy meat. It’s a double whammy of flavour plus real succulence. You can’t go wrong.
Now, many people will tell you to roast a prime-rib to a perfect medium rare but I tend to disagree. Put down your pitchforks, I’ll explain why. Because there is so much fat going on in this cut, I prefer to roast it to that perfect place between medium rare and medium. This allows the fat in the meat to cook through and become perfectly unctuous while the outer layer of fat is allowed to brown to a crisp (note: NOT burn). You are left with an incredibly indulgent roast. Serve this with gravy made from the pan juices, a head or two of roasted garlic and a few of the sides I’ll be sharing with you tomorrow, and you’re golden. This is such a killer celebration meal and one that will be completely welcome on Christmas day.
Ingredients
- 1 x 3kg prime rib roast bones attached
- 2 tablespoons olive oil/butter
- sea salt flakes and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- 2 onions quartered
- 2 head of garlic tops cut off
- 4 carrots roughly chopped
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°c.
- Rub the beef with the olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper, ensuring the meat is seasoned all over.
- Place the vegetables and herbs in a large roasting tray and place the beef on top.
- Cover with foil and place in the oven.
- Roast for 20 minutes at 200°c then turn the heat down to 150°c and roast for 20 minutes per 500g for medium rare beef and 25 per 200°c for medium rare – medium beef. I wouldn’t suggest cooking it for longer than that as that could result in dry, bland meat. I have become a slave to my meat thermometer (which is the most precise way to ensure your meat is done the way you like it) and removed the beef from the oven when the interior temperature reached 55-60°c (around 130-140°F). This along with the 30 minutes resting time allowed for the perfect almost medium interior I was after.
- Remove the foil for the last 30 minutes of cooking for the fat to become beautifully golden brown and crisp.
- Remove the beef from the oven then place on a large plate/board and cover with foil.
- Allow the beef to rest for at least 30 minutes before carving. At this stage you can make the gravy with all the delicious juices left in the roasting pan.
- Carving is easiest when you remove the entire hunk of meat from the bones, which is relatively easy with a sharp knife.
- Carve the meat into thin slices and serve with gravy and side dishes of your choice.
Excellent recipe! Just one star off, because this doesn’t mention the key determiner of whether your prime rib turns out the way it should or not: sitting it on the counter to come to room temperature before cooking! Without that, you get a raw/cold centre with uneven cooking throughout the meat. Learned that the hard way after following a Joy of Cooking version to the ‘t’ and getting the aforementioned result. It’s like having a half-cooked turkey. Since I knew to do that this Christmas, I looked up how long, and depending on the temperature of your kitchen, it’s about 2 hours for a 3-5 pound roast, three hours for a 6-8 pound roast, or longer. Then this recipe is the bomb! Yummmm. Served with gravy, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots, and of course fancy brussell sprouts. Sticky toffee pudding for dessert–nothing fancy, but the that prime rib shines forth in all it’s glory!
At that low an oven heat my potatoes carrots oniona werenot even close to cooked
Hi Ronny. If you take a closer look to the recipe you’ll see the temperature was given in Celsius as I am not American.
This looks amazing! I love rib roast!
Thanks Sabrina! It’s such a beauty, isn’t it?
LOW AND SLOW!!!!! Mmmmmm. I would love to have had this recipe handy on Christmas Day when I discovered my son’s probe thermometer had gone missing. I was able to stumble along without it, and everything turned out delicious. But I had no idea how long to cook in a 200 degree oven.
For those who are uncertain about cooking at so low a temperature, the mean only has to get to 130-140 degrees, so the oven will always be hotter than the mean (and thus it will cook it). AND the meat is pink all the way out to the edges of the roast, unlike meat cooked at higher temperatures, which will be well done on the outside.