Prime rib question on behalf of a friend

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No, really! I have a transcriptionist friend who posted this question on another board (a board for medical transcriptionists). I just asked her the weight of her two roasts and am awaiting her reply.

She doesn't have a smoker, so this isn't about the cooking method. /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif Personally, we're doing our prime rib in the WSM and hoping the rain doesn't wash the whole thing away. Anyway, on to her question:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> I have a problem. I went to get a large prime rib today and all they had left were smaller ones, so I had to get two. I am cooking the rib the way that I always have, that being 5 minutes per pound at the highest heat possible (550 on my oven) and then shut down the oven for 6 or 7 hours after that and keep the rib in the oven until ready to serve.

My question is, when cooking 2 of something, do I add the pounds together and time it that way, or do I go off the amount of the largest one? Am I making sense? Somewhere in my feeble brain I am thinking that since it doesn't have the density that one large rib would have, I don't add the pounds together.

Anyone have any idea what I should do?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Many thanks if anyone can help.... I'm curious myself.

Kelly
 
You generally go by the weight of the individual pieces of meat. ie if you have two 6 lb pork butts, you'd figure about 2 hours per pound times 6. If you have a large and a small piece of meat, the smaller one will obviously not take as long as the larger. And always put the larger pieces on the bottom rack as they will take longer.

I hope you aren't thinking of cooking your prime rib at 550 degrees in your WSM???
 
Russ,

Thanks for the quick response. I am absolutely NOT going that high on the WSM.

This person states that using her method, she can't open the oven door even long enough to throw the second roast in (even though that obviously makes the most sense). Remember, she's not using a smoker; she's asking an oven-related question.

This may not be the right place to ask an oven-related question, but I like this person and I value the opinions of the people on this board.

Sorry if I wasn't real clear in my original post; I guess I have a hard time getting past the concept of not having a bullet... /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif She seems determined to use her original method in the oven, without opening the door in the process. Seems to me that she will have one roast that is more well done than the other. She needs a smoker, but in the meantime, can we solve her dilema? /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

Kelly

Okay -- she said the roasts are 4-1/2 pounds and 6-1/2 pounds.... does that help?
 
Kelly,
Nice to hear from you again...where have you been?

I find you have to add some additional cooking time for extra volume of meat. Typically 2 smaller pieces I think will cook a little shorter than a large piece of meat of same weight as the two smaller pieces.

That is because there is a lot more going on than just heat in the oven or smoker. There is absorption of energy as the moisture in the meat changes state - from liquid to vapor (steam). I think with 2 smaller pieces you have more surface area and that has some effect on how the above described physical state changes affect the cooking time.

I didn't find some in my searches on teh web but there may be some rule of thumb or even calculation techniques for determining cooking times for seperate meat pieces...

Regards,
PrestonD
 
Kelly,
The method your friend is talking about can be found here (Easy Prime Rib) and, probably, other places on the Web. I believe the theory behind this method is to quickly seal the outside of the roast, and then, allow the inside to come up to temperature more slowly. We have tried this method but prefer to cook the roast at a lower temperature, allowing it to be closer to the same doneness all the way through. I also believe the roast is more tender, when cooked slowly. One thing that is an absolute must, with either method, is a remote thermometer (Poulder type). It's the only way to keep an eye on the internal temperature of the roast and know when it's ready. I would suggest that your friend insert the probe into the smaller roast, at the beginning of the cook, and move it to the larger one when the former is ready to be removed from the oven.
 
Hey Preston, thanks for asking. I've been here, just trying to stay dry in all our storms up here. Haven't had much opportunity to get the bullet out, poor lonely little thing!

Thanks both of you for the tips... I'll pass them along to my friend. Now it's off to get my lonely WSM out of the garage and get her fired up.

Happy New Year everyone!

Kelly
 
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