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Nothing is better than a perfectly cooked prime rib roast. That buttery perfection that just melts in your mouth, slices with the slightest pressure of a knife, covered in a brown gravy, with a side of your favourite greens, it's culinary heaven.
How to Cook Prime Rib Roast from Start to Finish!
This fool proof method will guarantee you the juiciest, best prime rib roast you’ve ever had! Since I have become emboldened by the fact that I own a meat thermometer, and prime rib roasts are a bit more affordable this time of year (There are not so many tears when I screw it up) I am cooking prime rib more often. You cannot cook prime rib without a meat thermometer. You can’t. This masterpiece depends on a precise temperature, with it being pulled out of the oven at the exact right moment. This can’t be achieved without a thermometer. And to be honest, if you spend $50 on a roast, why on earth wouldn’t you pick up a $15 digital thermometer?
Ingredients Needed for Cooking Prime Rib
- Prime rib roast
- Butter
How to Cook a Prime Rib Roast – Instructions
- Remove your roast from all its packaging and let it sit out for an hour until it’s about room temperature. Never, ever, cook a roast from frozen. The outside will be overdone and the inside will be raw. A complete mess.
- Take the butter and cover not only the ends, but if you don’t have a layer of fat on the top, cover that as well with thick butter. When choosing prime rib, you actually want a good layer of fat on the top. This helps make the roast oh-so tender. This roast didn’t have a layer of fat, it was butchered too close, so I put a layer of butter on top.
- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees at this point.
- Once the roast is covered, place on a wire rack in a pan deep enough to catch the drippings.
- Next we want to sear the roast. Place it in the 450 degree oven for about 20 minutes.
- It should be nicely browned (seared) on the outside now. This helps to seal in all the juices, and to be honest, when I do it this way I hardly have any drippings for gravy. So it really must do something to hold in the juices.
- Now you can turn the oven down to 325 degrees and if you have a thermometer that goes in your oven to monitor the temperature while cooking – Insert it into the roast making sure the end of the probe is in the centre of the meat, or a bit closer to the bone.
- Now place in the 325 degree oven for baking. Below are the guidelines for roasting a prime rib roast. You want to pull the roast out a minimum of 10 degrees BEFORE you hit these temperatures. Once the roast is out, tent it with foil, and let it sit for about 20 minutes. The temperature will rise at least another 10 degrees if you cover it in foil. It also lets the juices set and flow back to the meat. Be sure that you always cook your food to their safe temperature.
Prime Rib Roasting Internal Temperatures
- Blue in the middle– 110 degrees Fahrenheit – when the middle of the roast still “quivers”
- Rare- 120-125 degrees Fahrenheit in the middle
- Medium-rare– 125- 135 degrees Fahrenheit in the middle
- Medium – 135- 140 degrees Fahrenheit in the middle. You usually don’t want it cooked this much as you can lose the tenderness that prime rib is known for.
- Medium Well – 40- 150 degrees Fahrenheit
- Well-done – 155 + degrees Fahrenheit
How long do you cook a prime rib roast per pound?
I would allow 15 minutes per pound for cooking time on your prime rib, but always give yourself some wiggle room when it comes to time and serving your holiday meal.
Here is a little family favourite tip – Try having a slice of Prime rib for breakfast with a couple soft boiled eggs on top. Pure heaven! Now don't be afraid to try making a prime rib roast for your next big dinner, your guests will rave over it and the leftovers are always fantastic!
Happy Low Carbing!
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Cooking the Perfect Prime Rib Roast
- Prep Time
- 15 minutes
- Cook Time
- 3 hours 30 minutes
- Courses
- Main Course, Supper
- Cuisine
- American
- Servings
- 8
- Author
- Karami Urbanoski
Ingredients
- 1 Prime rib roast of choice
- 1 Cup Butter, if there isn't enough fat on the roast
Instructions
- Remove your roast from all its packaging and let it sit out for an hour until it's about room temperature. Let the butter sit out at room temperature as well.
- Take the butter and cover not only the ends, but if you don't have a layer of fat on the top, cover that as well. The roast I made didn't have a layer, it was butchered too close, so I put a layer of butter on top.
- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees to start.
- Once the roast is covered in thick butter, place it on a wire rack in a pan deep enough to catch the drippings.
- Next we want to sear the roast. Place it in the 450 degree oven for about 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, turn down the oven to 325 degrees and insert the oven safe thermometer into the center most part of the roast. Continue to cook it while watching the internal temperature of the roast as it cooks. See the post for the guidelines on roasting a prime rib roast. You want to pull the roast out a minimum of 10 degrees BEFORE you hit the internal temperature you want.
- Once the roast has reached the internal temperature for your preferred doneness, take it out, tent it with foil, and let it sit for about 20 minutes. The temperature will rise at least another 10 degrees if you cover it in foil. It also lets the juices set and flow back into the meat.
- Now it's time to remove the bones. You want to slice along the curve of the bones and remove the meat. Slice it off, then cut as you would normally slice a roast.
- Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- Cook to the temperature you desire. See post for instructions on the different internal cooking temperatures.
- The time on this is for a 15 lb prime rib roast, adjust your cooking time appropriately.
All calories and info are based on a third party calculator and are only an estimate. Actual nutritional info will vary with brands used, your measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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