Best-Ever Prime Rib Roast

By Chef Judi Gallagher –

I adore a classic rib roast. And making the perfect one for a seasonal celebration meal is relatively simple if you follow these chef’s tips for a medium-rare roast.

Here’s the bad part: you will need to clean the oven the next day because if you want a prime rib as juicy and tender and flavorful as the pros prepare at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar or The Beverly Depot in Massachusetts, you need to let the fat get extremely hot. Here’s the good part: your guests will rave and your prime rib will become a legend.

Start with a top quality piece of meat (let a butcher help you) and do this:

1. Season the prime rib the day before cooking to allow the seasonings to marinate in the meat. Allow the meat to rest for two hours at room temperature before you roast it. Rub softened butter on each end of the roast and season all sides with kosher salt (plenty of it), truffle salt and fresh-ground black pepper.

2. Set your at 450-degrees for the first 15 minutes to sear the roast to lock in all on those juices that we know and love. Then dial down the temperature to 350-degrees (don’t open the oven door) for that slow roast effect.

3. invest in a good thermometer to get an exact temperature reading because a couple of degrees make the difference between medium rare and medium well.

4. To ensure that your thermometer is accurate, calibrate it. To do this fill a glass with ice and then with water till right above the ice. Stick your thermometer in the glass and look at the temperature. It should read 32-degrees. If not, adjust the needle on the thermometer to read 32-degrees. See thermometer package on how to adjust.

5. For a medium rare roast the internal temperature of the meat should register 130-degrees. Pull your roast out of the oven at 125-degrees. Cover it with foil and let it rest on the counter for 20 minutes. The meat will continue to cook and then relax, allowing the juices to go toward the center of the roast. Your meat will be tender and juicy. Save the pan drippings. Put them in the refrigerator for a few minutes and let the fat rise to the top and solidify and then just remove the solid fat and you have a grease-free base for au jus for the perfect roast.

I can hear your guests applauding!