Boneless rib roast from my gas grill. Standing bone- rib roasts I saw in the pits at Kreuz Market in Lockhart, TX. This photo is from "Deadhead". He writes that "After recovering from sticker shock I settled for a bottom round roast, 3 pounds for $10." Good idea!

Beef Rib Roast Outdoors

Is there anything more impressive that a big juicy standing beef rib roast? Well it's easy to make outdoors and that I think it tastes better.

Let's start by getting the name right. Chances are that gorgeous hunk-o-meat in the butcher case is not a "prime rib" as a lot of people call it. "USDA Prime" grade meat, with web like threads of fat running through the muscles for added flavor, is an expensive grade that is sold primarily to restaurants. Chances are your grocer's meat is "USDA Choice" grade, not prime grade. You and I call it prime rib because that's what we order in the restaurants. But that's OK. Choice grade is going to make you a pretty darn good dinner. You can order prime meat if you wish, and it's a real treat, but bring a wheelbarrow full of cash. Otherwise ask your butcher for "top choice" which is the best looking most marbled choice roast in the house.

What your grocer has is more properly called a rib roast. It usually comes in two forms, with the ribs still attached, or boneless.

Many people prefer a roast with the ribs attached because gnawing on ribs is fun, because it is a dramatic presentation, and because the curved ribs can act like a built-in roasting rack that the meat can stand on while cooking, hence the name standing rib roast.

I like to get mine with the bone on, and then I remove the ribs so I can season the meat on all sides. The bones get in the way of the rub and prevent browning on almost half the surface. I don't know about you, but I like that brown bits on the outside crust. I leave a bit of meat on the ribs when I cut them off and I save them for another meal. They can be smoke roasted Texas or Chicago style or braised. Another option is to cut the bones off so you can apply the rub to all surfaces and then tie the bones back on with butcher twine. Just cut a length of twine a few inches longer than you need and loop it around the roast between the bones and tie it with a granny knot or square knot. The bone in version makes a more impressive impression.

If you get a roast with ribs on, you should make sure the butcher removes the chine for you. That's the end of the rib that was connected to the spine. Most of the time is has already been removed, but if it hasn't it can be a pain to cut through. Having the butcher do this makes carving easier. Even if you are cooking a boneless roast, I recommend you tie it every inch to hold it together and to help make it round which helps it cook more evenly.

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Mrs. O'Leary's Cow Crust

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Beef Rib Roast Recipe

Makes. A typical rib roast weighs two pounds per bone width depending on the size and age of the steer. Allowing for waste (fat and bone), and shrinkage (about 20%), you should buy 1 pound per person, or 1 bone width for two people. That will be more than enough and guarantee leftovers for superb roast beef sandwiches (most roast beef is made from sirloin, a tougher cut). If you can, get the small end of the rib rack starting with bone 12 and counting backwards from there. If you need four bones, order bones 12 through 9.3 bones wide is about 7 to 8 pounds raw untrimmed, enough for about 10 people after trimming and 20% shrinkage.

Preparation time. 20 minutes to make and apply the dry rub, and 1 to 24 hours to marinate. 2 to 3 hours to come to room temp before cooking.

Cooking time. This will vary significantly depending on a number of variables including thickness of the meat, bone in or bone off, how cold the meat is (I recommend leaving it sit out for 2 to 3 hours to warm up a bit), how well your cooker holds temp, how long you leave the hood open when you check the drip pan, how often you show it to your meighbors, etc. But remember, your grill's thermometer is not reliable and can be off as much as 50°F! You really need a good oven thermometer and meat thermometer. Read my article on thermometers. These cooking time assume you have a good oven thermometer, a god meat thermometer, bone has been removed, and the meat has sat at room temp for 2 to 3 hours before cooking. If you must start at fridge temp, then guestimate cooking time to be about 35 minutes per pound at 325°F.

3 ribs, 7 to 8 pounds: 20 minutes browning over direct heat, then 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours at 325°F
4 ribs, 9 to 10 pounds: 20 minutes browning over direct heat, then 1 1/2 to 2 hours at 325°F
5 ribs, 11 to 13 pounds: 20 minutes browning over direct heat, then 2 to 2 1/2 hours at 325°F
6 ribs, 14 to 16 pounds: 20 minutes browning over direct heat, then 2 3/4 to 3 hours at 325°F
7 ribs, 16 to 18 pounds: 20 minutes browning over direct heat, then 3 to 3 3/4 hours at 325°F

Ingredients
1 beef rib roast, about 3 bones wide, 6-8 pounds before trimming
4 tablespoons Mrs. O'Leary's Cow Crust before mixing with oil
2 medium onions
2 carrots, peeled
1 stalk celery
32 ounces beef broth

Optional. If the price of a rib roast is daunting, a sirloin bottom round will work beautifully.

Optional. Add 1/4 cup dry red wine to the broth.

Serve with. Garlic Mashed Potatoes.

Drink. Big red wine.

Do this
1) Remove the rib bones, leave a bit of meat on them, and set them aside for cooking another day. If there is a fat cap, remove some but not all of it because it melts and bastes the meat and flavors the jus. Trim it to about 1/8" thick and make cross-hatched cuts through the fat down to the meat about 1" apart.

2) Do not pump this flavorful meat with an internal injection as you might a brisket. Flavor only the exterior of the meat with a spice rub or paste like my recipe for Mrs. O'Leary's Cow Crust, a blend of herbs, spices, and oil. The oil dissolves the spices and helps it penetrate the meat's surface and helps with browning and forming a crust. Pat the meat dry with paper towels and pour most of the rub on top of the roast. Spread it around all visible surfaces working it into the meat and down into the cross-hatches in the fat. Turn the roast over and pour the rest on the bottom and work it around. You can cook right away, but if you can let it sit in the fridge for up to 24 hours it will penetrate more. Just put the roast in the drip pan and anything that drips off will be incorporated into the gravy. Do not use Meathead's Memphis Dust or any rub with sugar in it. Lawry's Seasoned Salt is a good choice. It was designed for roasts. Keep the meat in the fridge until 2-3 hours before you are ready to cook. Then take it out and let it come to room temp. Don't worry, this is safe. Any microbes will be killed during cooking. Letting it come to room temp gives the meat a running start on cooking. If you are going to move the mass of meat from 70°F to 125°F it will go a lot faster, and the interior color will be a lot more eventhan if you try to move it from 4F, refrigerator temp. If you must start at fridge temp, then guestimate cooking time to be about 35 minutes per pound at 325°F.

3) Set up your cooker for 2-zone indirect heating and preheat the indirect zone to 325°F. You don't want to cook it so hot that it burns on the outside before it is done on the inside. A good technique is rotisserie, but only if you have a basket rotisserie. Do not use a spear type rotisserie. If you put a rotisserie spear through the center of the meat, the metal rod will get hot and cook the meat in the center of the roast. Bad idea. Cooking times for rotisserie will probably be faster.

4) This roast will be moist, but you will still want a bit of gravy, a.k.a. jus, especially if you make my Garlic Mashed Potatoes. And you should. You will need a drip pan larger than the roast. It will go beneath the meat and hold the fixins for the gravy. In a Weber Smokey Mountain or other bullet smokers, you can use the built-in water pan. Just make sure it is scrubbed clean on the inside. If you can't get it clean use a disposable aluminum pan on the lower shelf. On some grills you may need to use a more sturdy baking or roasting pan and place a wire rack on top. Put the beef broth in the drip pan and add water until it is about 1" deep. Cut the roots off the onions and cut them each into 4 wedges, and add it to the drip pan. Add the peeled carrots chopped into 1" lengths, and the celery stalk, leaves and all, chopped into 1" lengths. Do not put the roast in the pan with the liquid. We are roasting this meat not boiling it.

5) Put the drip pan in the indirect zone and place the meat in the hot zone. Cook the meat for 5 minutes on four sides to brown the exterior. Browning add flavor.

6) Move the meat to a rack on top of the drip pan. If you have a meat thermometer with a probe on a cable, you should insert it now so the tip is dead center. If you don't have a probe you can leave in, you absolutely must have a good instant read meat thermometer to get this meat off properly cooked. Read my Thermometer Buying Guide to learn how they work and which are the best.

If you want a smoke flavor in the background add just a little bit of hardwood to the hot part of the cooker, about 4-6 ounces max. Don't overdo the smoke. During the cook check the temp after 60 minutes and then every 15 minutes. Check the drip pan, keeping at least 1/2" in the pan. Do not let it dry out and burn. There is no need to turn the roast unless you are using an offset cooker that has hotspot. Look at the meat and if one side is getting too dark, rotate or turn the meat. Do not leave the lid open for long or you will lose a lot of heat and extend the cooking time significantly. If you have a problem with your cooker, perhaps the gas runs out or the temp just won't stay at 325°F, you can bring it inside after about an hour and finish it in the oven. By then all the smoke flavor is in the meat.

7) Most rib roasts are served rare to medium rare in the center. People who prefer it more done can have the end cuts or the exterior parts. Take it off at 125°F in the center if you want the meat rare, and 130°F if you want it medium rare. Let it rest 20 minutes before cutting. The temp will rise about 5°F in that 20 minutes, a phenomenon called carryover. In addition, the water pressure inside the muscle cells will go down a bit and less juice will come gushing out when you slice. If you take it off at 125°F it will be rare in the middle and progressively more done as you get closer to the edge. Remove any twine and the bone if you have left it on.

8) Pour the jus through a strainer and taste it. It should be thin and rich. If it is too thin, dump it into a frying pan, turn the heat to high, and reduce it. Taste and add salt if needed, but it shouldn't need it. If you cooked bone on, set the bones aside for people who want to munch them. Slice about 3/4" thick and serve with gravy on the side. Pour any drippings from the cutting board into the gravy.

This page was revised 4/7/2010

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