Recipe #9 Slow Roasting a Prime Rib of Beef

Ordering and preparing the roast

In order to serve an incredible tasting roast beef, you need to find a butcher who specializes in aging quality beef. From the butcher, you will need to order about a 1/2 pound of beef per person. A 3 - 4 lb prime rib rib roast will feed about 6 adults. Kern usually lets the butcher know at least a week ahead of time before he wants to cook the roast.

The night before you intend to cook the beef, prepare a mixture of chopped fresh thyme, garlic and rosemary (approximately 1/2 cup). Begin by rubbing the roast with olive oil and then with the herb and garlic mixture. Cover in saran wrap and refridgerate overnight.

The next day, let the roast come to room temperature - should take approximately 2 hours. Sprinkle the roast with coarse sea salt (approx 1 tsp). Sear the roast in a heavy bottom pan lightly coated in olive oil. This step will seal in the flavour and prevent shrinkage.

Transfer the roast to a shallow broiler pan, rib side down. The ribs make a good roasting rack. Add some shallots to the bottom of the pan and then place the uncovered roast onto the lower rack of a pre-heated 200 F degree oven for approximately 4 hours (about 1 hour per lb). When we had our cottage up North we sometimes cooked the prime rib in our wood cookstove. If you have access to one, use it - the food in a wood fired cookstove is the absolute best!

Check the internal temperature during the last hour and baste with the drippings from the bottom of the pan.

To check the internal temperature of the beef, use an instant registering thermometer inserted into the middle of the roast (keep the end of the thermometer away from the bone) For medium (pink throughout) Kern will take the roast out of the oven when the internal temperature reaches 140 degrees F (60 C). For medium rare you can take the roast out when the temperature reaches 125 to 130 F (51 to 54 C).

This is very important! Once the internal temperature has reached the desired temperature let the roast rest in a warm location (top or beside the stove) for about 30 minutes tented in tin foil. Resting the beef will allow the the juices to redistribute. Your perfect prime rib roast is now ready to slice like butter and the taste is incredible!