Five salt dinner 2.3 - Salt-Crusted Prime Rib Finale

I had expected the prime rib to take about four hours, based on the weight. However, I was judging doneness based on the internal temperature, rather than time, and three hours into the process it hit 130 degrees - the bottom end of medium rare, for prime rib. (As an aside, this is the first time I have used the thermometer for any large project, and I absolutely loved it. I never had to open the oven, touch the meat, or do anything else that might disturb the cooking, and I could feel comfortable the whole time that I knew exactly what was going on.)

There was definitely a problem, though - carryover heat. The purpose of the salt crust is to absorb the heat of the oven and re-transfer it to the meat in a controlled fashion. And while the salt never got particularly hot (it was warm to the touch out of the oven) it kept cooking that meat for about an hour after I took it out of the oven. I was chewing my fingernails, as I watched the thermometer creep from 130 (when I took it out) all the way up to 150 (when I finally served it.) Part of the problem there is the fact that I had thought it would take about four hours - so I put it in at 3:00, planning on taking it out at 7:00, resting it for a half hour and serving it at 7:30. Instead, I took it out at 6:00, and it sat for an hour and a half.


Oh, also - I totally screwed up the placement of the roast - whenever you're cooking any sort of roast, the fatty part needs to be on top, so the fat can drip down during cooking. I'm not sure HOW I could have worked that out - the roast's shape would have made it really difficult to coat in the salt mixture if I turned it the other direction - but I wasn't thinking when I set this up, and put the fat on the bottom. So, if you do this yourself, don't be dumb like me.

In any case, it came out fine - a bit overdone (I think rare or maybe medium rare are really the only temperatures that do prime rib justice; this was solidly in the medium range, with a pinkish center. (This picture makes it look more overdone than it actually was, though.)

Guess what? It still tasted amazing, though.

But wait! I'm skipping right past the fun part!

Honestly, if you look at the first picture in this post, you'll notice that the crust had fallen apart towards the bottom of the pan - if I had wanted to, I could have just lifted the top crust off of the meat. But this was so much cooler.

Carving was also an issue; I've never cooked a prime rib before, and I wasn't familiar with how the bones are configured. What I had was three ribs off of a cow, connected by a big piece of what one assumes is vertebra, slightly deeper in the meat.

While I was dithering and trying to form a carving plan, my friend Laura stepped up to the plate and started slicing. She worked the knife around the vertebrae, creating opening up a space so that when she parallel to the ribs, she could then pull the whole bony section right off. (It's still sitting in my fridge. When my wife leaves, and I feel like I am safe acting like a caveman, I am going to pick those bones clean.)

All in all, I really liked the salt crust - I would definitely do this again, circumstances permitting. I think the presentation is really cool, the crust does a good job of keeping the meat evenly cooked, traps juices in and really lets the natural flavor of this great cut of meat come out. If I did it again, I would definitely try the crust I suggested in an earlier part of this. Also, I would take it out of the oven at 115 or 120, depending on how well done I wanted it. It was a great centerpiece to a really nice meal... and as a bonus, I've got about two prime rib lunches left over!