Pre-warming Rib Roast in hot water?

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by Kayelle

It's interesting Andy that the recipe I posted, and the one you posted only varied by 2 minutes for my 9 lb, 4 rib roast with the outcome of Med. Rare. There's just nothing better than a perfectly done foolproof prime rib.

Sounds like an endorsement of the method, doesn't it?

[Kayelle]

You betcha it does!

[Barbara L]

Wouldn't it be better to cook it the traditional way (as others have said) on Christmas and save the experimentation for another, less important, occasion?

[taxlady]

I once decided to try cooking a rib roast. It was a "standing rib roast" and when I opened the package, the bones were only tied on.

I've never been brave enough to make a rib roast, but one of these days, soon, I'm going to try Andy's method.

[Rob Babcock]

Originally Posted by grandhill

I was hoping someone on this site had some experience with this. I am concerned that reducing the oven time by a third will ruin the roast. I am afraid of trying it for the first time on Christmas!

With some caveats and reservations, what you're proposing has some merits. I've cooked sous vide for years, both at home and professionally. What you want to do is very similar. That said, I can tell you from professional and personal experience that a big special occasion dinner is a lousy time to try something new, especially something radically new.

I will now give you the best two words of advice I can possibly think of: Meat. Thermometer. Get a decent thermometer, ideally an electronic probe with a braided steel cable and a temperature alarm, and you will never overcook meat again. Get the probe into the thickest part of the roast and set the alarm for the temp you want and you're good. The main thing to bear in mind is that as the meat sits and rests, heat will equalize meaning it will move the hotter part outside into the cooler part in the middle. We call this carryover cooking, and how much rise you get in internal temp depends on the size of the chunk of meat and the temp you cook it at.

One of the most classic ways that restaurants do rib roast is to heat the oven to 500 degrees, toss the meat in for 30 minutes, then turn the oven off and leave the door shut. The meat is left in the oven for about 6 hours. This might sound crazy but it works. It's not how I do it, but it works.

The nice thing about a prime rib roast is that it's a whole muscle. The vast bulk of the bacteria are on the surface. Kill that with heat and you're pretty good unless you do something really stupid. The best way to do prime rib is at very low temp. You need high heat to get a good sear/crust, but the lower the temp the more evenly it will cook. If you take a cold hunk of meat and cook it in a 400 degree F oven until the middle is, say, 130 you will get a very, very done outside and a pretty rare inside. We call this a "bullseye" and it's not what most people call good eats.

I'd personally suggest a more traditional conservative method for your Xmas dinner. This isn't the meal you wanna risk screwing up. Save the Iron Chef stuff for another day.

[grandhill]

Thanks for all the thoughtful advice. I will save the experimenting for some other time.

[CharlieD]

Originally Posted by taxlady

I once decided to try cooking a rib roast. It was a "standing rib roast" and when I opened the package, the bones were only tied on...

Yeah, tax, it's done on purpose so you would not have to whip out a jig saw after it's cooked before serving.

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by CharlieD

Yeah, tax, it's done on purpose so you would not have to whip out a jig saw after it's cooked before serving.

I don't care for that. All you need is your carving knife (slicer) to remove the roast from the bones.

[jennyema]

Yes you don't cut through the bones

[CharlieD]

Personally if I order a bone in roast I usually have it cut thru the bone, kind of like as if I were to cut into stakes. Then I can serve it like a cut up stake. But a lot of times butchers do cut bones of completely and then tie the meat and bones together. I wonder why?