Cooking Perfect

I got your cooking times from your web site and it was wonderful. I did the roast over the New Year weekend for my husbands birthday, and I was a little hesitant about the cooking time. When I read that you take it out at 120 degrees F. for perfect medium rare, I did as instructed and when cut had a beautiful dark red come from the meat.

I made an Au Jus of cabernet sauvignon wine and onions. I also tried the sour cream dressing for the roast, but preferred the au jus.

Thank you - I would have hated to ruin this fine cut of beef. - The Karelskinds (1/03/10).

Cooked this beautiful piece of beef for New Year's Eve. I have plenty of cooking experience but never cooked a roast of this magnitude and quality before. I found your instructions HUGELY beneficial to the dinner's turnout. IT WAS PERFECT. - Megan Mancini (1/03/10)

The roast was a raving success and your instructions (especially regarding temperature) were spot on! Thank you very much. I calibrated my thermometer with an ice bath and with boiling water and found it was 2 degrees off! Critical for a prime rib. - Robert Henderson (1/03/10)

I have been preparing standing rib roasts for Christmas Dinner and other special occasions and I must say your recipe and instructions are the best. The roast was perfect and my 9 guests applauded me when the bones were taken off and the lovely pieces carved where served. My husband always uses an electric knife which makes nice, clean cuts. Thank you so very much for your informative and accurate article. Happy New Year! - Susan (1/03/10)

2009 Comments from readers:

I just wanted to take a second to thank you for the great cooking tips on your site. We cooked our first prime rib last night and like so many others were nervous about messing up such a fine piece of meat. Yours was the first site that I looked at and the only one that I would even visit as everything was detailed so well that there was no need to look elsewhere. The roast turned out perfectly and it was truly one of the best meals that we have ever enjoyed with friends. It was funny to go back to your site this morning after waking up feeling compelled to write this thank you note. I had never scrolled down far enough to see the other testimonials on the page, but I see that I am in some very good company. Thanks again, and have a Happy New Year! -Dave Popowich, Brampton, Canada (12/31/09)

I just wanted to thank you for posting such flawless instructions. I made my first prime rib for Christmas dinner and it turned out perfectly! I was a bit nervous about it especially since I would have to leave it unattended for an hour while we went to Christmas mass, (I cooked a ham earlier in the day) my thought process was cold ham is fine, but cold prime rib would be awful and re-heating isn't an option. Anyway, it turned out perfectly, the front was medium the center was rare and the end was well done….I couldn't have asked for a better prime rib. Thanks for a perfect Christmas dinner. The only thing was, I was so nervous about making the prime rib, that I followed your recipe and someone else's that was very similar to yours, the only thing that was different that made things easier in the other recipe, was that I cut the bones away from the meat and tied it all together BEFORE it went into the oven. I thought it would make it easier to deal with and it did. Thanks again - Teresa Ruiz (12/28/09)

Cooking Prime Rib Roast on Rotisserie/Barbecue by Brian Blakely:

On Thanksgiving I barbecued two (2) 16-pound Turkeys (on two rotisseries ). I used to do one turkey in the oven and one turkey on the grill. Everyone ate the grill one first, so now I do both on the grill. It also keeps the oven free for other goodies.

18-pound, 7-bone prime rib roast for Christmas. Trim any excess fat and tie up the prime rib roast. Don't leave any more than 1/2-inch of your strings dangling, as they will burn off.

Rub the entire roast with olive oil and then season with a mixture of onion powder, garlic powder, lemon pepper, salt, and pepper; rub over the roast. The olive oil will help to hold the spices on the roast. I place the seasoning on the roast by placing the rotisserie skewer, with the roast on it, over the sink. I then turn the roast as I add the seasoning mixture. This saves a lot of cleanup.

3-burner barbecue grill. Turn on the front and rear burners only to medium heat, around

300 to 325 degrees F. NOTE: You may have to adjust the heat depending on the outside temperature. Place the skewered rib roast on the rotisserie, turn the rotisserie on, and close the lid. The rib roast will baste itself as it cooks and the rotisserie turns.

3 hours (sooner for smaller roasts). Cook until rib roast reaches an internal temperature of

120 to 125 degrees F. Remove from barbecue, cover with aluminum foil, and let sit (rest) approximately

15 to 20 minutes. Barbecue until the center reached about 120 to 125 degrees F. in the center.

Hints:

Don't keep opening the cover of the grill. You will lose heat every time you open it.

Check to make sure the rotisserie is turning every so often. I put diagonal stripes on my handles so I can see them from inside my house. I had a breaker blow one time and burned the roast.

Don't overcook the rib roast. The end cuts will be well done enough for those who like their meat well done.

I have already thanked my little brother, who is my personal prime rib roast hero, for his help yesterday. Some of his greatest help was sending me a link to your What's Cooking America web siteYesterday I cooked a 7-rib roast (16 1/5 pounds) for 16 family members. It was my first prime rib roast. I truly made every mistake in the book! I am almost embarrassed to list them all. - Sue Brouse (12/28/09)

The first (and I thought catastrophic mistake) was the way I thawed the meat. In my rush to defrost the roast (I thought I had to freeze it because I had bought it a week before the dinner, but if I had read your site first, I would have dry-aged the roast instead) I covered it with cool water - with NO WRAPPING to protect the roast. When it started to defrost, I realized my mistake, but not before i had forever changed the texture and taste of the outer layer. Still mostly frozen I wrapped it to finish the thawing. When ready to roast, I seasoned the outside of the roast to counter the degradation in flavor and texture of the outer layer.

4 p.m. - with guests due to arrive at

6 p.m!! I stopped cooking my roast when it was done (I removed it at 120 degrees).

I followed your instructions for holding the cooked prime rib roast (and I believe this was the only instruction for holding a cooked prime rib that I found) and it worked like a charm. I could tell the outer layer was not perfect, but no one else noticed. The inside was cooked to perfection. Many had seconds and care packages went home with guests. Thank you for helping me save this dinner. Next time, I plan on following your directions from the start.

120 degrees F, expecting that it would later continue to rise. We were surprised by this. After removing the meat, we sat in the kitchen and watched the thermometer continue to rise to the "official" rare level. And when we cut the meat, yes, it was perfectly rare. We used a 7-rib piece of meat, which cost around

280 dollars; it was priced at

18.99/pound. So it was particularly important to get everything right because of the high cost. - Roche Family, New York City (12/26/09)

We bought an 18-pound prime bone in (7 rib bones) rib eye roast for the first time, the largest hunk of beef we've ever cooked. When I came across your recipe, we studied it thoroughly and implemented your instructions. It turned out to be almost perfect!!! Our guests were very impressed, and so were we!

18 pounds of meat to reach room temperature was way off. I removed the roast from the refrigerator at

30 AM on Christmas day, as it was dry aging for 2 days prior in the fridge and it was not frozen before hand. By

30 PM, the internal temperature had risen only

1 degree F. from

34 to 35 degrees. It was evident that we would not reach room temperature, so we cooked it nonetheless. We should have taken it out of the fridge the night before and allowed to sit at room temperature at least overnight. It seems that the required time to reach room temperature, internally, might be

1 hour per pound-in our case,

18 hours! Next time, we'll try

1 hour per pound, and let you know the results. Here are before and after photos for your collection of successes! Thank you very much for helping us make this Christmas Dinner

2009 very memorable! Thanks. - Barkers in West Bloomfield, MI (26 December 2009)

120 degrees F, not

125 degrees as I'd done this year. Still good, but a tad less done would be even better. Wanted to thank you for your lovely gentle philosophy in response to Dianne's crisis. At almost age

60, I've discovered that it's good to relax and laugh at the "crises" life hands us. A gentle laugh solves so many things. - Barb in Denver (12/26/09)

My name is David Miguel and I am a 1978 graduate of The Culinary Institute of America. My best friend wanted to know what my Christmas roast was going to be this year and we decided a bone in rib roast. Another good friend owns a meat market and provided us each with a USDA Prime Rib Roast. He was a little nervous about this expensive undertaking, so instead of reinventing the wheel,( I am a terribly slow typer) I googled some pointers. I came upon your web site and was very impressed in both the level of accuracy and the amount of detail on your page - what a treat! As Gordon Ramsey would say, "spot on"!!! Thanks and Happy Holidays - David Miguel (12/25/09)

I used your prime rib recipe ... best I've ever made... and I've made plenty in my 71 years. - Vern Miller (12/25/09)

2 rib roast was moist and medium-rare. I cooked it at about 8,000 feet and it took more like

30 minutes a pound, but with the instant-read thermometer it was easy to keep an eye on progress. - Chris Williams

Using Electric Roasting Pan:

I really enjoyed reading your website about buying, preparing and cooking a rib roast. I plan on cooking one on Christmas Day. Here is my question for you. I have a GE Roaster. It's a like a mini oven that sits on your table. I have cooked Thanksgiving turkey in it several times and just plain old baked chicken. They both come out delicious! And the turkey usually cooks in a shorter amount of time than is suggested for regular oven cooking. I want to make my roast in this oven. Do you see any problems with that? It will free up my oven for all the other goodies I plan to make. Thanks so much in advance for your reply. Again, I loved your website and will have to go read everything else on it! - Robin Sherlock (12/23/09)

I have to be honest and tell you that I have never used an electric roaster for cooking anything. If the roaster cooks in a shorter time period, you will have to be careful that it doesn't dry out your prime rib roast. Please, please use a cooking thermometer to check your roast during the cooking process so as to know how fast the temperature is rising. Remove the prime rib from the roaster at 120 degrees F. Let me know how your prime rib turns out using the electric roaster. I'm sure other people will be interested in this technique. I would like to post your findings on my web page. - Linda Stradley

Feedback from Robin (12/26/09):

18 lb roast in my GE oven roaster and it came out spectacular! It fit just perfect! And the roaster has a metal rack with handles that we placed the roast on top of to make it easier to lift that bad boy out when done. I actually bought two digital-read thermometers because when I tested the first thermometer and it didn't reach 212 degrees in boiling water, so I went out and bought the other one. That one worked great! I started checking the roast early on because I was nervous cooking it in the roaster. We took it out at exactly

121 degrees. It was beautiful. I wanted to carve it the way you instruct on the website but I didn't have a great knife and the roast was so big. So my father-in-law just started slicing it up! It was great though! I also made your sour cream horseradish and everyone loved it. And I made your au jus. It was delicious! Oh yeah - just before I was going to start preparing the roast with my seasonings, I realized it wasn't tied up, so I marched it into my grocery store on a cookie sheet wrapped in a huge bag and made them tie it up! Thank you so much for your website!

Cooking Two (2) Prime Rib Roasts:

3 rib, approx

7 lb prime rib roast, to serve

4 adults when I was later notified of

2 additional adults now coming to dinner. I was going to purchase a larger

5 rib roast and keep the other one frozen. But I went with the butcher's suggestion, buying another

7.4 lb (3 ribs) and plan to cook them both at the same time. He said it wouldn't affect the cooking time or end result if I position them bone to bone. What is your suggestion? Half of us like our meat med-rare and the other half like it medium. We do like our slices about 3/4" thick. Please help. - Linda Guillerme (12/21/09)

Cook both prime rib roasts at the same time, but each individual roast must be checked for cooking temperatures. Treat as two (2) roasts not one when cooking them. - Linda Stradley

Feedback from Linda Guillerme (12/26/09):

2 rib roasts came out PERFECT (despite my oven varying its temperature from 300 to 350 degrees. Thank goodness I had a thermometer in it so I could make the adjustments). Because one roast was

7 lbs and the other

7 1/2 lbs, I bought a second digital thermometer to monitor them. Before I knew it, the larger roast was cooked a bit more than the

120 degrees you recommend. The smaller roast was spot on. SO I tented the smaller one and not the other one. When we were ready to carve they were both beautiful. I used a tube of steak rub on the outside which added wonderful flavor to the crisp outer layer. Thank you so much for the rave reviews I got.

1 hour

15 minutes when I found out that the gathering is tomorrow night!!! Is there any way this roast can be saved?? I have removed it from the oven and the temperature is around

90 degrees F. on the thermometer. Can I put it in the fridge and finish cooking it tomorrow night? I am in shock and on the verge of tears. As a last ditch attempt to save a roast I am hoping you may be able to respond and help me. -Dianne Fritche (12/19/09)

300 to 325 deg. F.

120 degrees. If the roast reaches the

120 degrees temperature too soon, just turn off you oven and let the roast sit until you need to cut it. I really feel bad for you. Please smile and just laugh at yourself! Tell your guests your story and let them also laugh. It will be ok! Make sure all your other side dishes are great and everyone will love you. - Linda Stradley

Thank you for your reply. I am still in shock. I have to admit I chose to get a new prime rib roast, but I plan on cooking the other one and keeping it for myself. I just will not know if I serve the "old" roast how it will be because I will not know if the guests will be honest about it or just kind. I do not think at any rate it could possibly be as good as correctly done. I will let you know how the one I keep and finish cooking turns out. I am having a difficult time getting my head around all of this and feeling like maybe I can't pull off the meal all over again tonight.

Feedback from Dianne (12/20/09):

I must say, what a difference a day makes. The dinner was executed flawlessly. I do not think that would have happened if I had spent the whole time worrying wondering about how the roast was going to turn out, but everything was great. Including "my" first prime rib roast. It did turn out nicely after all. Linda, I actually (because it was "just" for me) chose to put it back in the oven at 325 degrees F. I set the thermometer in place and watched it as you suggested. It took the full two hours it would have the previous day (total of 3) and still turned out delicious. Not dry or lacking in flavor or over done at all. In fact my family joked that they wonder if the other roast turned out as nicely! So now we know that this strange way of cooking a prime rib roast can work! Not that I'd recommend the "technique" It is way too expensive.

90 degrees on my thermometer, that it was probably much cooler internally. I am not sure what temperature a roast would normally be after about an hour of cooking but the end result possibly turned out so well because it was not in fact

90 degrees. Thank goodness I followed your advise and got another thermometer!

Honestly Linda because you responded, which was such a sweet surprise, you helped pick up my spirits and got me into a better state of mind again. Those are the little surprises in life that help us pick up the pieces and keep on keeping on.

My Mother and I cooked a standing rib roast for Thanksgiving 2009 using your web page as guidance. It came out fantastic. We definitely agree with using a good thermometer. We live at altitude (Albuquerque, New Mexico) and it eliminated the guess work on the cooking time. 120 degrees is 120 degrees at the center of the roast regardless of altitude. It took about ten to twenty minutes more in the oven. Will not waste my time on a Turkey again. Thanks - Matt Kappler (12/01/09)

I can cook - barbecue, brisket, beans, you know, cheap stuff. I've never cooked a whole rib roast before, so when my pastor asked me to cook 110 pounds of prime rib, I turned to your site. I cooked seven (7) boneless prime rib roasts in a convection oven for 2 1/2 hours using the directions you've provided and they turned out great! This was a Hospice fund raiser, so portions were small, 180 portions in all. I was ready to serve on time at 5:30 p.m., but due to other problems serving did not start till 6:30. Most of the meat rose in temperature to medium but that was OK for the deep south and older folks. We mostly don't like rare. A little pink is OK. Anyway, one does want to try to do it right with $600.00 worth of meat. So, thanks for the help. The meat turned out great due to your detailed instructions. A sincere thank you - Les Powell (10/13/09)

lb - 2

Just wanted to say THANKS so much for the wonderful information provided for cooking a Prime Rib Roast. For the first time ever, I fixed one last night going by your instructions and a restaurant couldn't have turned one out any better. I would never have had the nerve to attempt cooking such a expensive, large cut of meat without the step by step instructions. You have a great informative web site. I can't wait to share your website with all my cooking buddies. Keep up the good work. - Terri (3/25/09)

I came upon your site a couple of years ago while looking for a standing rib roast guide. What a treasure! The rib roast is a NO FAIL recipe every time. Fantastic resource! I love the menus and features. Thanks - Bonita (1/14/09)

2007 and 2008 Comments from readers:

10 lb. semi-boneless roast for 13 people. I was very worried that it would not come out to everyone's liking since we had people who like the meat rare, some medium rare, and some even medium. I followed your directions exactly, even though I really wondered about the wisdom of taking the meat out when the internal temp reached

120 degrees. Then I figured I could always roast it a bit more if necessary but I could not make it less done if it was overcooked. After I removed it from the oven, I covered the meat loosely with foil and let it sit on my counter for a half-hour. The temperature did indeed rise to about 125 degrees. The meat was absolutely perfect! The outer part of the roast was between medium and medium rare, then there was a section of medium rare and the center was rare. I cut the meat into sections and had three separate platters, based on doneness. Everyone raved about the meat and there was hardly any leftovers at all. I let the meat come to room temperature before roasting as you suggested and invested in a good digital meat thermometer, which ended up giving me wildly fluctuating readings. In the end, I used my old thermometer that I have had for at least

10 years and it worked well! I made the horseradish sauce and a Madeira-based au jus-type sauce and both were well-received. Thank you so much for your excellent advice. I am so glad I was able to protect my

125 investment! - Denise (12/27/08)

I just wanted you to know that I just made a 15 1/2 lb prime rib roast (7 ribs) for the first time. I followed the instructions on your website and it was PERFECT!! I have never made this before and the instructions, from letting it come to room temperature before cooking, all the way to the carving directions were so helpful. I took it from the oven at 125 degrees and it rose to 140 degrees just while resting - so thank you for the advice about NOT OVERCOOKING. Thank you thank you it was delicious! - Jenny (12/25/08)

I just googled "how to cook a prime rib," as this year is my first one and came across your site. I am so excited because I have your cookbook and I absolutely love it. I use it once a week at least. I am just glad to have your website as a resource now. Thanks so much! - (12/24/08)

65 worth of beef on the line. Being a novice at this and having a few choices on my oven I was a little unclear on whether to bake and/or roast (I think I chose correctly and went with bake). In any event thank you and great web site. Best wishes for the New Year! - Tom (12/26/07)

The instructions were perfect! Christmas was the first time I ever cooked Prime Rib. It was perfect. Thank you so much for all the tips. 120 degrees F. is perfect and the temperature really did rise after it sat on top of the stove. I will use these instructions again- Theresa (12/26/07)

Thank you for the helpful tips in preparing the perfect prime rib. The roast would have been ruined should I had not seen your article regarding what constitutes rare/medium-rare. Happy Holidays! - Marishka (12/23/07)

Thank you for defining rare as rare, not 140 degrees F. rare, which it well done. Even my Taylor meat probe uses the government standards for temperatures. Could anything be more useless or DIS-helpful than defining rare in terms of well done? You're the first person to point out the deception on the government standards, all in the name of safety. What bureaucrat was trying to save ourselves from ourselves on that one? - Earl (12/02/07)

I welcome your photos and comments on cooking your Prime Rib Roast. Contact Linda Stradley

Return to the main web page on cooking the perfect Classic Prime Rib (Standing Rib Roast)

2011 and 2012 Comments from readers:

This is the second time I've referenced your page and followed the instructions to make the perfect prime rib roast. Both times the roast has turned out flawlessly, especially today, when my mother paid for us to have a ten-pound monster of a beast. Everyone "loved" it! You make the process so easy! It really does make an incredible difference when you allow the roast to come to room temperature before it goes into the oven. Ours was done a little early, so I followed your instructions on how to hold it over for a little while (about an hour) and it was still perfectly medium-rare. I received rave reviews, gave you credit where credit was due, and look forward to roasting another one very soon. Thank you a thousand times over and Happy Holidays! - (12/27/12)

Thank you for an amazing step by step tutorial on how to make the perfect prime rib roast. First time cooking this and followed your directions as listed.

I made one small addition by adding some fresh black pepper and rubbed the roast down with some garlic before putting it in the oven.

As you can see I believe I nailed the perfect medium-rare. Everyone enjoyed it, but none more than myself. It really put our Thanksgiving meal over the top. - Tristan, Queens, New York (11/22/12)

Thank you so much for the helpful information on cooking a prime rib - it turned out excellent! This is the first time I ever cooked a prime rib, and my husband could not say enough good things about it. The roast was very tender and juicy. It was pink in the middle just the way we like it. I also made the horseradish sauce with the mayo and sour cream, and it too was really good. I did not have Dijon mustard so used a teaspoon of dry ground mustard and it worked great. This turned out to be a very delicious Easter dinner. I am just happy that I found your instructions they were so easy to follow. I definitely will keep this recipe on file. Donna Carnrite, Willoughby, Ohio (4/09/12)

I wanted to thank you so very much for your valued information and the sharing of it for all of the "home cooks." Thanks to you, my beautiful dinner was a success. Not to mention my New Year's Eve party. What a wonderful gift you have given to all of us. I truly appreciate it and again, thank you from the bottom of my heart...Happy New Year! - Fondly, Sheryl Santoro, (1/10/12)

I have cooked prime rib many times before, but wanted to comment on this web page. It's perfect for the beginner with it's clear, concise, step-by-step instructions as well as skilled cooks (especially those like me who have never been able to successfully manage the popover part of this meal)! The rib roast was a hit during our holiday party. The instructions to omit salting the roast (which is typical ingredient in other prime rib recipes) really made a difference! Great web site and advice. I will pass it on to my fellow foodies! - Dorsey DeMaster, Louisville, KY (12/28/11)

Your prime rib page is absolutely brilliant! You've probably heard this before, but I think it would be incredible to have this in a handy, paged format that could include all of the variations and the droopingly great photographs. It would be great as a PDF or maybe as an app for a tablet, like the iPad. Maybe one of your fans might have the computer skills to pull this off - I'd pay for it in a heartbeat. In the meantime I can't wait for the next occasion to cook this wonderful cut of beef using the incredibly useful instructions that you've been so generous in sharing. Thank you so much! - Harry Marks, Pebble Beach, California (12/27/11)

Cooking Prime Rib in a Roaster Oven:

Question:

My apologies for not writing sooner! Last Christmas my husband brought home a 6-bone, PRIME grade, prime rib roast. None of my recipes told how to deal with such a large roast. Your web site, instructions and pictures helped us make and serve The Best Prime Rib EVER!

My friends are still talking about it and have asked that we make it again this year! We ended up having to hold the meat for almost 1 1/2 hours and thanks to your great instructions, we knew what to do. It still came out a perfect medium-rare! I also think it's the first time we've ever properly carved the prime rib!

Cannot thank you enough for sharing your expertise! - M. Jarratt, Huntington Beach, CA (12/16/11)

20 people over for Pre-Christmas dinner last year and followed your instructions and advice and everything came out PERFECTLY! Just about everyone I invited are self proclaimed ‘foodies', can cook like you read about. I was very nervous about cooking for them. They RAVED about the meat and how fantastic it was. Thank you very much! I couldn't have done it without you! This year, I am having

20 people over again and will be following your advice to the letter, and I'm not one bit worried about how things will turn out. It'll be just as wonderful this year as last year. My biggest issue this year has been finding a Standing Rib Roast big enough. Costco has

18 pound bone-in prime rib - I was looking for a

20lb, but

18lbs will have to do. Thanks so much! You ROCK! - Tricia Majetich, Jeffersonville, Vermont (12/05/11)

I just wanted to let you know that this is the second Thanksgiving in a row that I've done prime rib-following your instructions. First year was perfect but this year, even more perfect because I purchased an aged (28 days) 7 rib prime rib roast from a butcher (last year, I bought it at Costco). Although I was hesitant to pay that much, I figured I'm sure it'll be well worth every dollar! All of my guests were in awe when they saw this and tasted it. I opted to make this rare to medium rare. Even for myself, who is not a steak eater, the meat was so moist and just heavenly! The only think left over where the bones! Sad to say that I have no leftover prime rib to look forward to - but that's okay. I'm happy as a clam that my splurge was worth it indeed!! Thank you for your simple but thorough instructions! BTW, just wanted to share a photo of my 'at a quick glance' of my time management of your process! - M. B. (11/25/11)

Thank you so much for your web site. I have had a great deal of anxiety about cooking for company and much more anxiety about cooking an expensive piece of meat.

After reading your article on preparing and cooking the prime rib (and the extras like Yorkshire Pudding), I dove into the project with confidence. I followed the instructions perfectly - from the buying of the meat, the prep (tying it) and using a good thermometer. The results were amazing. We had one of the best New Year's Day meals we have ever had. At first I thought it was just my opinion that the meal was good, however, the compliments were overwhelming - compliments for taste and presentation too. I will be making this again! Thanks again for your website. - Jay McCall, Las Vegas, NV (1/6/11)

8 people coming over for Christmas dinner. I bought my rib from Costco (USDA Choice), a

22 pound whole prime-rib. I seared it for 20 minutes at

425 degrees then reduced the temp to

325 degrees. I put a meat thermometer about 1/3 of the way to the middle, so if I did error, it would be on the rare side and not the over-cooked side. We live in Tucson, AZ, elevation

3,000 feet, so I didn't know how much that would affect the cooking time. I removed the rib roast from the fridge and let warm to room temp for a full

4 hours

55 degrees vs. actual room temperature of

70 degrees. I cooked the rib for four hours and pulled it when the reading reached exactly

120 degrees F. I let it stand for 30 minutes and the temperature reached

130 degrees before I cut it.

130 for a

22 pound piece of beef, you don't get a second chance. Home Run! - Forever Grateful - Troy, Phoenix, AZ (1/5/2011)

2010 Comments from readers:

Thank you for the excellent information on how to purchase, store, prepare, cook, carve, and serve a prime rib. Thanks to the thoughtful details you have provided, we prepared our first one for Christmas dinner this year (5 ribs) with minimal anxiety. Prior to finding your information we were worried about ruining a costly product and disappointing our guests from Texas who "know their beef". The roast turned out perfectly to our delight and that of our guests. Never again will we wrestle with a Christmas turkey, we are a prime rib family now! With gratitude and best wishes for the New Year. - Stephanie Murphy, La Mesa, California (12/31/10)

Rib Roast - 20

25 people, sushi for hours on end, and even a souffle for my in-laws

I ordered two full roasts from the local meat dept. at the grocery store. One was a little over 16 lbs, one a little under. I had to re-arrange the racks in the oven to make both pans fit but, not before I had to trim off one entire rib (about 1 1/2 inch thick steaks) in order to even fit the roasts in the pans. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about a couple of big rib eye steaks in the freezer! I was concerned about having enough after taking "so much" away. I was also concerned about cooking two at the same time and what effect that may have on cooking time.

1/2 hour at least and after

2 1/2 hours I started checking the temperature every

15 minutes. On the second temperature check, the thermometer read

133 degrees, and I was worried I has missed my mark. The second roast read

140 degrees and I was scared out of my mind at this point. Not only had the temperature risen faster than expected (on both) we were ahead of schedule. I pulled everything out to rest and went to work on the gravy and Au Jus. I really wanted to serve the "perfect" mix of rare to medium slices of meat and, thankfully due to the size (I'm guessing) I was able to get just that.

We only attempt these big holiday dinners every so often mainly because we don't want to tempt fate after getting a perfect service like this one. The next time I assure you will be sooner and way less intimidating thanks to you! - Nick, Cardiff by the Sea, CA (12/28/2010)

2010. My husband had been the Christmas Chef and the expert Standing Rib/Yorkshire man. He died two years ago and the mantle fell to me. Last year's beef was leathery and disappointing, so I was pretty apprehensive about 2010. There are an overwhelming amount of different ideas for preparing that dinner out there in cyberspace, but your encouraging directions and photos made me bookmark it and make it the 'do or die' recipe for this year. SUCCESS! I followed your directions to the letter and our roast and Yorkshire were splendid. I had made Yorkshire before, mixing the ingredients at room temp; but never put them in the refrigerator before adding to the hot juices. AMAZING! I used a high sided steel pizza pan rather than my popover pans just because it seemed easier.

120 degrees. I was just afraid the center would be too rare, so I let it go to

125 degrees. BIG mistake! Next time your

120 degrees will be the take out time!! At

125 degrees it was barely pink in the middle. It wasn't ruined, in fact it was fine, but those

5 degrees made it just a little less rare than I would have liked. So thank you thank you for your good guidance!! - Carolyn from Garnet Valley, PA (12/10)

3 years now. It has become our Christmas tradition and the one time a year I get to cook red meat medium rare! I've also been eating steak and eggs for breakfast for 3 days now using the leftover prime rib roast! - Deven Wilson (12/28/10)

19 family members. I prepared a 17-pound roast for the first time and thanks to your EXTREMELY helpful website it turned out SUPER DELICIOUS!!! Everyone enjoyed it and I was so pleased.

I also made your recipe for the horseradish sauce and it was great too! Thanks again and Happy New Year to you! - Allison Yates, Tustin, California (12/27/10)

7 days prior to Christmas. I had a 5-rib roast and it came out so perfect. My husband and our neighbor, who joined us for dinner, could not stop eating it. They even finished off the bones!! I've bookmarked your site for future use and I'm sure I'll be visiting again. Thanks again for making our holiday one to remember! - Debbie Yakita, Winter Park, Florida (12/27/10)

I am still delirious from the events of Christmas Day thanks in part to you! I started looking at your prime rib web page about 3 weeks ago. Here is how the Yorkshire Pudding looked right out of the oven and the roasts as well. Everything was delizioso! Have a very Happy New Year - Mary Thomas, Oregon (12/26/10)

Thank you so much for all the helpful info on cooking a standing rib roast. I bought the largest one I have ever cooked and was a little nervous about the time. It was 7 ribs and not cheap! I did not want to overcook it. I did exactly what you said and with my oven probe and your helpful advice, it came out great! Thanks and Happy New Year! - Joanne from Bloomfield, N.J. (12/26/10)

20 relatives. Since we're big eaters I did an

18 pound 7-rib roast and a roast goose. Both turned out delicious, but I know that I couldn't have pulled it off without your awesome website. It told me exactly what to order from the butcher, what I was looking for on my thermometer, and your responses to other people down at the bottom gave me faith that somehow I could pull this whole thing off. I did have trouble getting my oven to stay at a constant temperature, and didn't really get any basting liquid out of the roast itself, but having a thermometer for your meat is really the key. Thank you for this great website, and I've definitely already sent it to my friends and relatives. The pictures were a great help. You really covered all the bases!! Thank you very much and Merry Christmas. - Tiffany, Toledo, Ohio (12/26/10)

37 years and for your readers who have never cooked a rib roast before, they can read your posting and have all the information they need to make a perfect meal. I have cooked rib roast myself for dinner on Christmas for over

20 years. I always have the best cut of meat and my calibrated thermo. Kudos and happy holidays. - Bob Downes, Food Service Professional (12/22/10)

I am Italian, but I loved prime rib from the first time I ate it in Boston. Then I ate it In New York, and when I came back home (in Rome) I wanted to try to make homemade prime rib. I printed off all the images from your site and I went to my butcher. He was soooo curious about what I wanted to do. I was a little afraid he wouldn't understand or couldn't do the cut - instead he did a great job! I invested in a good meat thermometer, and I made my delicious prime rib, with the congratulation of my husband (who eats prime rib everytime he flies to the U.S.) and my guests (it was their first first prime rib). Thank you so much! - Paola, Rome, Italy (12/21/10)