Standing Rib Roast: low & slow, or hot & fast?


 
D

david blumberg

New member
Hi folks,

I am cooking my traditional SRR when the kids come friday. I have always done the 350 degree smoke, but in looking around this site, and especially the Google, i see a lot of people doing the 200-225 degree cook. I think I am persuaded, and will try that this year. Any comments from those who have tried it both ways? oak or cherry? is there a time/pound chart for the low temp cook?

thanks, and i hope everyone has a very merry...

david
 
Go for it, David. I've never cooked one low-n-slow, but I know some folks claim it's better. Personally, if you got it, I'd use the oak AND the cherry. You want at least some oak, IMHO.
 
David,

Alton Brown's rib roast is the one I make every year for Christmas, and it's essentially low and slow to a temp, then high heat to crust the outside. I make it like he does in an oven, but I don't see why it can't be in a WSM. I'll bet it's great. Look it up if you need the insight. Good luck, and merry Christmas!
 
One benefit of low and slow is that all of the meat can be cooked to the same doneness. If everyone likes medium rare, with low and slow you can do it. At higher temperature, you get medium rare in the middle and medium on the ends.
 
david,

I'm definitely of the low/slow camp. I like the even doneness. I don't even bother to sear like some do.

Oak would be my wood of choice.

Let the roast come up to room temperature for an hour or two. Shoot for a lid temp of around 250 (maybe 225 at the grate?) Time will vary depending on the size of the roast. A small one (I do 2.5 pounders for the wife and I sometimes) will take about 2 hours, or 50 minutes per pound. A little larger one, say 4 to 6 pounds, will take closer to 45 minutes per pound. A big one, in the 11 to 12 pound range will probably take about 30 minutes per pound.

Note these are guestimates, and are based on approximately a 130 degree finish temp.

Have Fun!

JimT
 
I do the higher heat because I don't get the same doneness. With my clan I have those who love the more medium end cuts and those who want medium rare-rare so going high heat is the anser.
 
I'll let my wife cook the standing rib roast in the oven Christmas day however she $%#$ wants to cook it....cause that's what she wants to do.

Merry Christmas, and have fun with the low-n-slow rib roast. Maybe if I'm lucky I can do one in the smoker before I retire.
 
thanks for all the replies...I am lucky in that my wife doesn't like to cook, and she loves and appreciates that I do. Both my kids (grown) also love to cook so we have a great time when we get together.

I love any excuse to fire up the smoker!
 
I have been doing low asnd slow for years...always comes out perfect. But I first sear it on all sides in a very hot cast iron skillet.

Al
 
I've done both and FAR prefer 225 as you get a more consistent temp throughout the roast (no gray edges and red center) and I like the longer cooks (give me more time to drink).

Another tip is to let the roast sit on the counter for a couple of hours prior to cooking.

Enjoy!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dave Russell:
I'll let my wife cook the standing rib roast in the oven Christmas day however she $%#$ wants to cook it....cause that's what she wants to do.

Merry Christmas, and have fun with the low-n-slow rib roast. Maybe if I'm lucky I can do one in the smoker before I retire. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, guess what the wife told me a little while ago. Now she's insisting I smoke it. That's fine with me, but now I got to get a game plan together for a 6.5 pounder. I'd like to stick to the herbed crust w/ bread crumbs (Publix recipe) and do a low-n-slow, then a hot sear on the kettle at the end. Any times and temps to end up medium rare? Is it ok to rest it some before the sear?
 
I read that, but I just put salt & pepper on it (of course I just read some guru said dont salt them cause it draws out the moisture), but at any rate, the temp in the meat is presently 125 degrees, and I will remove it at 133, let it rest, then pop it in the hot oven for a few minutes. Boiling up some yukon golds, steaming some butternut squash I grew last summer, and sauteing some collard greens fresh picked from the garden... I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday!
 
I did mine low and slow (only took a couple hours anyway) on Thanksgiving. It was a four-bone roast. Cooked it to 110F and rested it 20 min. I *did* sear it in the oven for 20 min. But dayam, this is how the oligarchy eats. Yummy!

Had lobster with it (grilled the lobster on the Smoky Joe) and grilled oysters, grilled veggies and oyster stuffing. A surf n turf kinda Thanksgiving. Probably doing it again for New Year's.
 
I did mine at 250 in the smoker, then a 20 minute rest, then a few minutes inside a 500 degree oven, then a shorter rest. Everybody liked it lots.

I do salt and pepper, and apple and cherry wood with wicked good charcoal. Prime grade from Costco.
 
I did mine low and slow, about 225. One piece of hickory 2 cherry. Pulled at 128 degrees rested for 30 mins, then 7 mins in my oven set as high as it goes to brown. I usually do salt pepper garlic powder, but this year I tried it with green pepper instead of black. Came out great. I almost pulled the trigger on the costco prime grade, but since this was my first try at prime rib in the smoker I didn't want to risk a $120 mistake. Maybe next time.
 
If you can get your hands on some I use oak red wine cask staves, gives beef a killer flavor.

Just picked-up another 25 - 30 lb bag of them, killer stuff on beef.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dave Russell:
I'll let my wife cook the standing rib roast in the oven Christmas day however she $%#$ wants to cook it....cause that's what she wants to do.
. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

We argued over that too...lol. Couldn't get it through to her that just because it's in the smoker doesn't mean it will have smoke flavor. I wasn't going to use any wood. So I let her cook it in the oven. I'm not even crazy about Prime Rib. She bought it, seemed like a lot of fat waste. Next year we are just going to go with steaks.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">

I'm definitely of the low/slow camp. I like the even doneness. I don't even bother to sear like some do.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'm with JimT. I've done it both ways and I prefer low and slow. And like JimT, I don't sear at the end. I did mine on the WSM at around 225 - 240 to an internal temp of 125. I had done it once before and pulled it off at 120 but that was a little too rare for me. So next time I did 125 and it was perfect. Low and slow gives you a more even cook so the meat is medium-rare all the way to the edge of the meat. I used cherry wood...never tried it with oak. I might have to give that a try. You can't go wrong either way, but I prefer low and slow.
 
Low and slow. I did my first one on Christmas day, and there was a huge contrast between that one and the ones my wife have done in the oven at 325. The way I look at it is why not cook the WHOLE roast the way you want it, not just the inside. I cooked around 235 after letting it sit out almost two hours, and oak is the best smoke for it, IMHO.

A friend suggested doing a reverse sear at the end right over the charcoal ring, but I wouldn't do it again unless pushing all the charcoal to one side.
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It must've been ok though, as it's about all gone.
 
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