Roasting a Prime Rib on your Primo is a sure fire way to elevate the perenial holiday favorite. Utilizing the benefits of a Primo Grills’s convection cooking versatility, it’s easy to achieve impressive results. You can certainly opt to cook it as a standing rib roast, but we have removed the rib bones and most of the fat. This method promotes even cooking and allows the flavorful crust to be enjoyed on the meat, not on unwanted fat.
Start with any size or grade of Prime Rib Roast. We recommend trimming off most of the fat to encourage the crust forming on meat, not fat. Separate the ribs from the roast. Salt generously and let it rest overnight in the fridge.
Here it is trimmed and after it spent the night in the fridge with some salt.
Prepare the Primo to 225 with the ceramic plates in. If you like you can add small amount of smoking wood- we used a single chunk of hickory wood. Coat the roast (and the ribs) with some flavor to help form a crust. We blended 1/3 cup of olive oil with 6 cloves of garlic, 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, and about a teaspoon each of kosher salt and crushed pepper. After you brush on the oil mixture, give a final light coat of kosher salt and crushed pepper. We cooked the trimmings in a foil pan with some of the oil mixture and small amount of water- you’ll end up with a few bites of high end pot roast. Alternatively you could use the trimming to make an au jus. You could also opt to leave 1/2 of the grill exposed to direct heat without the ceramic plate in. This will allow you to finish the roast’s last 10 degrees over direct heat for more crust. You could also remove the 2nd plate at the end of the cook.
All rubbed and ready to go. You can see the bag of trimmed fat.
Target an internal temp of 125 to 130.
Getting there…
Let it rest for 20 to 30 minutes. Enjoy Primo Prime Rib!
Don’t forget about the ribs- we put them in foil when we pulled off the roast and let them go until they hit 190 or so.
If you do want to do a standing rib roast we would recommend utilizing the Primo’s two zone cooking capabilities. Here we used a 5 rib roast and started it with in-direct heat above a deflector plate. Target 225 to 250 cooking temp.
As the internal temp approaches 100 open the vents and get the direct side hot. Move the roast over direct heat and cook until the internal temp is 125 to 130, flipping often to create a beautiful crust and maintain an even finish.
Did a prime rib for Valentine’s Day; 4.6 lbs with 2 ribs; left ribs attached; rubbed with garlic and pepper; cooked with ceramic plate in place; started with temp at 325, temp reduced to 300 after 30 min, to 250 after 60 min; to 225 after 90 min, back up to 250 for last 30 min.; total cooking time 2 hrs; Thermapen said internal temp was124; after 20 min rest interanl temp read 129; goal was rare to medium rare; meat was actually medium to medium well – I think the Thermapen reads low by at least 10 degrees. It would help if your recipe gave some indication of cooking time.
The size of the cut and the grill temp are two variables that will greatly affect the cooking time- we recommend going by temp vs cooking time. We would recommend keeping the meat probed during the cook to get an approximate internal temp with a Maverick thermometer and then use the Thermapen towards the end of the cook to get a more accurate reading. Here is a calibration guide if you think its off http://www.thermoworks.com/pdf/Thermapen_Original_Calibration_Manual.pdf
Friday I cooked a prime rib on my Primo exactly per your directions. It was 8 pounds, bones removed. Used your rub. Turned out perfect! Held the temperature at 225 the entire time. Ribs were done in 1 hr 20 min. at 193 degrees. Body of meat took 2 hrs 25 min. at 129 degrees. Our dinner guests loved every bit of it. Thank you.
Sounds great! Glad it worked out!
I am going to attempt a 6 rib roast just as described here. Can anyone give me an idea of how long this took to cook at 225 on the Primo XL?
Thanks!!!
JimK
i should have mentioned, including bones its about 18 lbs.
If you trim it as described here it will take around 2 to 2 1/2 hours. With bones I’d budget 3.5.
I did my 1st ever Prime Rib yesterday as per your directions on my Primo. It was 11lbs with the bones, but I had the 4 bones removed by my local butcher and cooked them separate so I’m not really sure what the actual “meat” weight was. Anyways, 2 1/2 hours later, Interior temps reached 130, pulled, wrapped roast, and let stand for 30 minutes…temps climbed to 137. WOW!!! Some of the BEST meat I’ve ever eaten!! The meat was “medium” on the ends and med-rare in the core. Next time, I’ll pull at 125 or so. I wrapped the ribs in foil when I pulled the meat and let them go for another 40 min – when they reached 180. We’ll be eating some very tasty left-overs this week….
Danny and AquaBBQ Team – Thanks for all your help/info here on this blog – we’ve been eating VERY well since the purchase of our Primo. 🙂
Thanks Andy!