When you search prime rib roast on YouTube, the first several results are from Food Wishes, Chef Jean-Pierre, Meat Church BBQ, Joshua Weissman, America’s Test kitchen, Alton Brown, Tasty, and How To BBQ Right. Everyone has their unique way of cooking a rib roast, and there are a few standard practices that everyone seems to follow. I researched how to smoke a prime rib on the pellet grill by reviewing what the most famous cooks online were doing and broke it down for you here.
How to Smoke Prime Rib by Food Wishes
Chef John from foodwishes.com is an excellent voice to listen to. I say voice since you rarely see his face. Like the others on the list, if you haven’t watched his videos, I recommend checking out his YouTube channel and/or website.
Chef John uses math to determine how long to cook the roast, but we’ll get into that later. He begins by creating a butter rub made of soft butter, black pepper, and herb de Provence. After rubbing it all over a room-temperature roast, he sprinkles on a generous amount of kosher salt.
Preheat the oven to 500ºF. Now it’s time for you to do the math. With a calculator, start with the weight of the rib roast that you found on the packaging. If you bought it from your butcher, ask them for the weight or weigh it yourself. Multiply that weight by 5. You can round up to the nearest minute, and that’s how long you leave the oven on. For example, if your roast weighs 5.35 pounds, do 5.35×5=26.75. Round up, and you will leave your oven on for 27 minutes after placing the roast in.
After the timer goes off, turn off the oven but don’t open the door. Let the prime rib sit for 2 hours undisturbed. You can slice it right away after pulling it from the oven since it has already rested in the range.
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How to Smoke Prime Rib by Chef Jean-Pierre
Chef Jean-Pierre is a fun French chef to watch. Throughout his videos, he calls you friends and isn’t set to only his recipe. He wants you to make it your own by experimenting with ingredients and doneness that you may prefer better.
He begins by rubbing the roast with salt and pepper before putting it in the fridge for 24 hours. Before cooking, brush it all over with clarified butter, or you can use an oil such as avocado oil if you don’t have clarified butter. Then sprinkle a good amount of herb de Provence around the meat and bones.
Place it in a 250ºF oven and cook until the internal temp of the meat reaches 120ºF, which should take about 3.5 hours. After removing it, let it rest for 45 minutes to an hour. Rub with butter and put it back in the range for 10 minutes, but this time the oven is set to 500°F. This will sear the exterior of the prime rib.
How to Smoke Prime Rib by Meat Church BBQ
Matt Pittman of Meat Church BBQ knows his stuff about smoking food. Not only does he do a fantastic job on this prime rib, but the Brussel sprouts he makes in bacon fat taste incredible.
Matt begins by using W Sauce as a binder which is a reimagining of the classic Worcestershire sauce and then adds black pepper before any other seasoning to ensure it sticks since the pepper makes bark. He then adds his own Holy Cow Beef Rub, which includes salt, pepper, garlic, and paprika. He then rubs on his garlic and herb seasoning mix. You can let it sit overnight or for a couple of hours if you’re short on time.
He smokes the meat with post oak at 250ºF until it reaches an internal temp of 120ºF. Matt bastes the roast with Worcestershire sauce 2-3 times during the cook.
Once ready and removed from the smoker, let it rest before you slice and serve.
How to Smoke Prime Rib by Joshua Weissman
Joshua is a viral chef on YouTube with over 6 million subscribers. Watching many of his videos, I can tell why. His food looks great, he has a friendly personality, and you can replicate his dishes.
He recommends buying wagyu and if not, go with a prime grade rib roast. Buy one with the bone and not boneless. Season well with kosher salt and tie the roast between each bone to help it keep a uniform shape and cook more evenly. I see tying the roast commonly done when you don’t have the bones or slice off the bones and tie them back on, but not with a bone-in roast like Joshua did.
Set it in the fridge for 12-24 hours uncovered. Remove from the refrigerator 2-3 hours before cooking. In a large roasting pan, add two bunches of rosemary, a bundle of thyme, two whole garlic bulbs cut in half, two fresh bay leaves, lemon peel, and then drizzle all of it with olive oil.
He goes into two methods for cooking a prime rib. First, sear, then cook. He doesn’t recommend this option since you don’t get an even cook, so we are only going with the second method.
Reverse Sear
Make a mixture of 2 rosemary sprigs finely chopped, three large cloves of garlic finely chopped, heaping tablespoon of whole-grain mustard, and olive oil. Rub it all over the roast.
Put the prime rib in a 250ºF oven until it reaches an internal temperature of 118FºF. Let it rest from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours. After it’s well-rested, place it in a 500ºF oven and cook for 10-15 minutes to brown the exterior.
How to Smoke Prime Rib by America’s Test kitchen
I like America’s Test Kitchen on YouTube because they do a great job reviewing products and explaining why behind specific picks or recipes. In this case, they help you get started with what type of rib roast to buy. From your butcher, order a first cut prime rib. If you do, your slices of the prime rib will have a larger area in the middle of your meat. This area is the most coveted part of the prime rib that everyone enjoys because it’s the most tender and juicy part. See the picture below to compare.
Trim some of the fat but leave 1/4 inch. Then crosscut a pattern across the fat to allow your seasoning to penetrate. This is the only time I’ve seen this cross-cut method on a prime rib.
Season well with kosher salt before placing in the fridge for at least 24 hours and up to 4 days.
When ready to cook, place the roast on a v-rack inside a roasting pan and grind fresh black pepper over the meat. Set the oven to 250ºF and cook for 2.5-3 hours, or until the internal temp reaches 120FºF.
After removing it from the oven, rest it for an hour. Now place the roast on a hot cast iron pan to sear all sides.
How to Smoke Prime Rib by Alton Brown
Alton Brown is a master and long-running television chef. Well known for his show Good Eats, I love watching him for his scientific take on cooking. A lot of research mixed with trial and error goes into his recipes and methods.
Alton begins by wrapping the roast in cheesecloth and leaving it in the fridge for a week. During this week, the roast lost 3oz of weight due to evaporation. Alton says this will intensify the flavor and give you a much better char.
Rub it with oil and then kosher salt and ground black pepper. Start the prime rib off in a cold oven. After the meat is in the range, set it to 250ºF and cook until the internal temp reaches 118FºF, about 3 hours. He doesn’t tell you how long to rest the meat, but it’s safe to say he rests it for at least 30 minutes. Now put it back in a 500ºF oven for 15 minutes to sear.
How to Smoke Prime Rib by Tasty
I like Tasty for their quick recipe videos. I don’t make many of them, but they explain the steps, making their videos easy to follow.
They recommend using a bone-in prime rib and asking the butcher to cut off the bone and then tie it back on. Also, they highly suggest buying USDA prime grade over choice as long as you can find it.
Blot the roast dry, and then season with kosher salt and ground black pepper the night before. Place it in a rimmed baking dish and let it sit in your fridge, uncovered, overnight.
Bring out the roast and place it on a rack inside a baking pan and allow it to come to room temperature. Start cooking it in a 450ºF oven for 30 minutes and then lower the oven’s temp to 325ºF and cook for about another 11-12 minutes per pound of the weight of the roast. Remove once the internal temp reaches 120ºF. Cover with foil and rest for 30 minutes.
How to Smoke Prime Rib by How To BBQ Right
Malcolm Reed is a BBQ master you should be watching if you love to smoke food.
He begins by trimming some of a boneless rib roast before tieing it with butcher twine. This helps the large meat keep a uniform shape during cooking.
Malcolm rubs the roast with olive oil and then sprinkles it with his seasoning blend, Killer Hogs AP, including salt, black pepper, and garlic. He then adds his hot pepper rub. After adding both rubs, he makes his herb mixture to rub all over the meat.
Smoke at 275-300ºF using some hickory wood. He removed it from the smoker when the internal temperature reached 124FºF, but he was shooting for 120ºF. Rest it loosely covered with foil for at least 15-20 minutes, but it can rest in a cooler for 2 hours.
Conclusion
There are many differences in how professional cooks make a rib roast. After reviewing the most popular and standard practices, I’ve come up with the following conclusions.
- Order a first cut prime rib. This will give you a larger muscle in the center, which is the best part of the roast.
- Ask the butcher to cut the bone off the roast and tie it back on. You want to bone left on to help insulate the meat while giving you a built-in rack for the roast to sit on. Plus, removing the bone yourself after cooking is awkward and unnecessary if you ask the butcher to do it for you.
- Some shave off a bit of the fat while others do not. If you’d like to remove some fat, go ahead. Make sure to leave at least a quarter inch.
- When using a rub, go with your preference, and don’t be afraid to go heavy on the seasoning. It’s a large piece of meat that can handle a lot. Kosher salt and pepper are commonly used as well as garlic.
- I suggest not using a mixture that includes softened butter. This adds unnecessary fat that can overpower the natural meat flavors.
- After seasoning, let your roast sit uncovered in the fridge for at least 24 hours. This allows it to absorb the salt as a dry brine.
- You must use a leave-in probe thermometer. This is non-negotiable. You aren’t cooking this expensive roast for time, except for John at Food Wishes. I’ve seen many others use this math-based time method, and it seems to work as long as you are using a reliable oven.
- Cook the prime rib to medium-rare doneness, and remove it once it reaches an internal temperature of 120ºF.
- Resting the meat for at least 30 minutes is a step you can’t skip even if your guests are hungry and impatient. The resting time will allow the slices to come out much juicer.
- Reverse sear the roast by cooking it low and slow at 250ºF, then allow it to rest before searing the outside by placing it back in a hot 500ºF oven or smoker or using a hot pan.
Simple Smoked Prime Rib on the Pellet Grill
Ingredients
- 1 7 lbs Rib roast prime grade
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 2 tbsp Kosher salt
- 2 tbsp Black pepper freshly grounded
- 3 tbsp Garlic powder
Instructions
- Pick the Roast. If you can, choose USDA Prime. If you can't find it, then go with Choice. Ask your butcher to cut off the bone and tie it back on. Optional if you'd like your butcher to trim some fat before tieing the bones on.
- Apply the Rub. Pour olive oil onto the roast, rubbing it all over. Liberally sprinkle on the kosher salt, black pepper, and garlic powder to cover the entire roast.
- Rest in Fridge. Place the rib roast in a pan or dish and place it inside your refrigerator uncovered for 24 hours.
- Remove from Fridge. 1-2 hours before cooking, remove the roast from the fridge to sit on the kitchen counter. This allows it to get to room temperature.
- Start Smoker. Set your pellet grill or smoker to 250°F. Use hickory, oak, or your preferred wood.
- Begin Smoking. Once the grill is ready, place the rib roast inside, keeping it in a pan. Insert a probe thermometer into the center of the meat.
- Remove and Rest. Once the internal temperature reaches 120°F, remove the roast from the smoker. You can keep it in the same pan or transfer it to another rimmed dish or pan. Loosely cover with tin foil and rest the roast for at least 30 minutes or up to 1.5 hours. After resting, cut the butcher twine and remove bones. You can slice the bones to serve.
- Sear the Meat. After resting, sear the outside of the roast by either placing it back in the smoker or oven set at 500°F for 10-15 minutes. You can also heat a cast-iron skillet with a drizzle of olive oil until it's scorching and place the roast inside. In the pan, turn the meat every couple of minutes, so you sear each side.
- Slice and Serve. After searing, you don't need to let it rest. Slice the rib roast into about ½ inch slices and serve with au jus or horseradish.
Nutrition
Below is a Pinterest friendly photo…. so you can pin it to your favorite Smoking Food Board!!
If you’re curious about what else to smoke check out 9 of the Best Smoked Tri-Tip Recipes!
Check out the same recipe using a delicious Traeger Prime Rib rub here!
Bon Appétit