How to Cook a Small Prime Rib Roast
Sometimes, you want to get fancy without making a lot of food, such as when the holidays roll around. But one of the hallmarks of holiday feasts is making a lot of food with a lot of leftovers. That can be really overwhelming when you have a small household. Enter my recipe and more importantly the directions for How to Cook a Small Prime Rib.
This prime rib recipe is really easy, four ingredients, including the roast. The magic in how to cook a small prime rib is in the method, because it’s also really easy but the resulting roast is perfect every time.
How to Cook a Small Prime Rib
The method comes straight from James Beard, and it’s one I use every time I roast a Prime Rib. He calls the method Sear First, and basically, you roast the prime rib at 450 for 30 minutes. Then reduce the heat and continue roasting for 12-14 minutes per pound, or until it registers 10-15 degrees below your preferred finishing temperature.
What you need to make this Prime Rib
This rib roast doesn’t require anything special, just a rib roast. Buy the prime rib as directed below for best pricing.
- small rib roast
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- dried rosemary, but you can sub in whatever savory herb you like, thyme is nice with beef too
- roasting pan
Consider serving this roast with a creamy horseradish sauce or a tomato relish for a tangy bite that works perfectly with beef.
How To Get A Great Deal On A Small Prime Rib
I know the prices are always fluctuating but there are three times a year that you can find a great deal on rib roasts. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, those are three solid times a year you can rib roasts on sale.
I buy the biggest roast I can buy. This comes a bit from habit and also from frugal. Once I find the biggest roast, I get all the discounts taken off. If you’re following this method, don’t forget store coupons, digital coupons, and possible dollar off bonuses for the store you shop at. Often times Kroger has great digital coupons so you can really get the prices down quite a bit.
When I get the mega roast home, I get my carving knife out and cut that huge roast down to size. Well, that is if I’m not having company over to have a big feast with us. I cut the roast into at least two small roasts and if I’m lucky 1-2 rib steaks.
If I’m cooking one of the roasts, I set it aside; otherwise, I wrap up the roasts and freeze them. Then we can have a fancy rib roast dinner any time we like! Without breaking our food budget and filling our fridge with leftovers, we can barely eat.
Final Temperatures for Rib Roasts
For rare roast beef, you want an internal temperature of about 115°. This will increase by 10°-15° degrees while resting for a for finished temperature of 130°. For medium rare roast look for an internal temperature 125° to 130° for medium. It will increase to 140°-145° after resting.
Use a digital instant-read digital thermometer to get the easiest, quickest temperature of the roast.
Herbed Prime Rib Roast
Equipment
- Small Roasting Pan
- Digital Thermometer
- Foil for tenting once cooked
Ingredients
- 4 pound Prime Rib Roast anywhere from 3-4 pound will work
- 1 TBSP light olive oil or vegetable oil
- 2 TBSP dry rosemary crumbled
- 1/2 TBSP kosher salt
- 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- pat the rib roast dry, and then rub with the oil
- mix the rosemary, salt and pepper together
- rub the salt mix all over the roast
- cover and let the roast rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight
- 30 minutes before you're ready to put it in the oven pull the roast out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature before putting it in the oven
- preheat the oven 450°
- remove the cover from the roast and put the roast in the oven on the middle rack, right in the middle of the oven, roast for 30 minutes
- after 30 minutes reduce the heat to 375°
- roast for 12-14 minutes per pound until the temperature on a digital thermometer hits 10° below your desired finished temperature
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