by Doug Scheiding, Rogue Cookers
Prime Rib Roast is a great holiday treat and always makes a show-stopping presentation for guests. This one features smoke, fire, and our All-Purpose Premium Marinade. Choose the bone-in roast to inspire everyone to snap a photo or two.
225 °F
4 1/2 hours
12-18-pound 7-bone Prime Rib Roast (optional bone-in)
Head Country Original Championship Seasoning
Montreal Steak Seasoning
Apple juice, for spritzing
Oak or Hickory wood chunks or pellets, if using a pellet grill
Step 1. Grind the Montreal Steak Seasoning in a coffee grinder, primarily to reduce the size of the salt crystals. 10 pulses should be fine.
Step 2. Get a 12-18-pound prime rib roast, preferably bone-in if possible. This will make it easier to cut and serve the steaks individually. Talk to your butcher and get his or her help in getting good-quality meat. Preheat your grill to 225 degrees F.
Step 3. Trim as much of the fat cap and silverskin off the top of the roast to expose as much meat as possible, being careful to not trim off the spinalis meat, or rib cap (or what would be the top of a ribeye). On the bone side, trim the excess, but don’t be too concerned with this side.
Step 4. I prefer to cut prime rib roasts into 2 racks, or 3 to 4 bones each. This gives you two additional surfaces for seasoning, and it will help to shorten the cook time. Cut the thicker side of the roast into 3 bones, and the smaller side into 4 bones. This helps to ensure the roasts are about the same weight.
Step 5. Liberally use Head Country Marinade on the two exposed-meat sides. Sprinkle a medium coat of the ground Montreal Steak Seasoning here, then a medium coat of Head Country Original Championship Seasoning. Don’t forget to season each side. Repeat on bottom (bone). Season the top (meat) side last. Make sure to coat all sides of the meat with the marinade, then both rubs.
Step 6. Carefully put the racks, meat side up, on the grill, with the meat side closer to the heat source or fire. You want the meat to be cold when you put on the grill.
Step 7. Spritz the roast with light coat of apple juice every 30 minutes. Use an instant-read thermometer to monitor the temperature. After 2 hours, turn the temperature on your grill to 275 degrees F for a smaller roast, and 325 degrees F for larger roast. You want a total of 4 hours of cooking time for a good outer crust, without having to do a reverse sear.
Step 8. Monitor the internal temperature at the middle of the rack and pull the meat off the grill when it has reached 134 degrees F internally (for medium rare). The outer sides will be a little higher, closer to medium. If you need to hold the roast in the oven at 140 or cooler for an hour, the meat will maintain its heat.
Step 9. Let the roast rest for few minutes while you take pictures, get the plates out, etc. Then, cut and serve immediately. Enjoy!
