Hi everyone. Based largely on the recommendations here I signed up for a Costco membership mainly to buy a rib roast for Christmas. We’ll be hosting dinner with 13-17 adults and maybe 6 kids. So after agonizing over boneless/bone-in, prime/choice, etc., I went with a 17 lb. prime boneless rib roast. I was really torn on bone-in but the guess work as to how much weight would be lost as well as the relative ease of boneless won me over (though now I’m second guessing). Anyway, I’m planning on the reverse sear method. I have a couple of questions.
First, was the Costco boneless a good choice? I mean there are some local butchers with great product, all local, but prices can be absurd. I seem to recall that people here are happy with the Costco product. Price was $10.69/lb. which is really good. Choice was $8.49/lb. Choice strip loins were $4.99, which is great as well and I may grab a couple for cutting steaks. I’m thinking that membership was a good choice.
Second, as for preparation I’m thinking keep it in the bag until about a week or ten days out then put it on a rack in the fridge. Salt a couple days out from roasting, then 250 degrees until… 115, 120… then rest an hour while potatoes and maybe popovers cook before hitting it with 550 degrees until seared.
I’ve never done the reverse sear, so my main thoughts are how long does it take to cook at 250 and can it safely rest for an hour. I’ve read that up to 1.5 is fine but have no experience with this method.
Finally, with this slow method should I expect relatively little drippings for a jus as compared to a conventionally higher heat?
I would have actually considered getting two smaller units rather than one large one. This is especially true if you have a number of people who (bless their hearts) prefer their meat closer to the “well” range as you can start one roast earlier than the second and still have them finish at the same time.
You still have a couple of weeks to let them get some dry aging. If that is not possible or feasible, then buy when you can and leave in the cryovac until ready to prep and cook.
Nothing beats cooking with the bone. But if you want the convenience of boneless serving with the taste of the bone, then next time get bone-in, remove the bone to season and sear, then try the bone section back on for roasting and resting. Simply snip the twine, slice, and serve.
I have had a great deal of luck with Costco meats. You should not have any problems there.
I would expect it to take a few hours to get to your desired temp. Definitely use a remote probe thermometer to monitor during cooking.
Cover loose with foil in a reasonably warm place and it should hold temp for an hour. A smaller roast would not hold quite that long.
You will not get the same amount of drippings. If you are looking to make some jus or other gravy, save any fat trimmings from prepping the roast (you will want to trim any really deep and large fat) and/or get a little tallow from a butcher to render for your drippings.
What do you expect to get from leaving it on a rack in the fridge for 7-10 days that you could get by leaving it for a day or so? Yeah, there will be some moisture loss and tenderization, but it’s going to be negligible.
The good news is if you start dry aging it now you’ll give yourself 18 days which is better than nothing. I buy those exact subprimals from Costco and dry age them and they are always fantastic. As far as cooking I would say you have the right method in mind. I would definitely pull the plug at 110-115 (depending on how long you will rest it for of course) and I would cook at 275 (Maillard reaction) versus 250. As far as time goes don’t rely on it. Get yourself an oven safe probe and leave it in the meat even after you pull it so you can track its carryover cooking. For the searing part a good trick I like to use to get my oven over the 550 it maxes out at is to leave the broiler on for about 30-45 minutes. That should get the oven up to 650-800 depending on your oven of course. A pizza steel or stone in the oven is always a plus as well.
Also, give yourself a pat on the back and a round of applause on your new Costco membership. Well done.
Good advice above. The Costco prime sub’s are usually a huge QPR winner. If you are going to be cooking a lot of beef, get a thermapen or similar, along with an oven-safe probe as Elliot suggests.
One tip with Ribeye roasts and people who like their meat more well done: simply carve a slice, and sear it on both sides in a hot pan and a little butter. They will get the dry texture they crave, while you get to enjoy properly cooked beef
I found a fairly detailed article yesterday at Food Lab where they said that they preferred the results from a very high heat oven sear to a blowtorch. Also they found no flavor improvement from cooking bone-in, but they did find that the meat cooked a bit better when tied on the bone rack.
My plan for dealing with those people, if there are any, is to not. If they don’t want the meat cooked properly there is a vegan nut roast for those who don’t eat meat.
Really though I can only think of one family member who will want meat but not appropriately rare meat (and perhaps one guest) so they can have the end piece(s). And I have seared prime rib off of a roast in a hot pan before for this same family member, so yes that is a good option.
I’m one of those heathens that will eat med. rare, but prefer medium. I love the technique of taking my rare slice and doing the super hot pan sear. It gets it up in temp, but also provides for massive carmelization of surface. Otherwise I prefer a steak to prime rib.
We get the Costco prime cryovac whole roasts most Christmases. The cryovac ones are typically significantly less expensive than the smaller cut roasts. If we’re short in gullets, we just cut off a chunk to freeze and use at a later date. We don’t sweat the bone vs. boneless. I don’t think the bone cooks the roast any more evenly, and think the flavor imparting of the bone is over-stated. We trim up the boneless roast a little and feel like it enables us to get that all around crust. Millard reaction is good.
The biggest disadvantage to cooking a boneless roast is that you don’t get the exquisite pleasure of gnawing the wonderfully marbled meat off the bones. I not infrequently just buy rib bones from the supermarket and roast them to duplicate that experience.
Alton Brown did a Good Eats episode on reverse searing a rib roast that was very good, though he went a little overboard with the flower pot.
Elliot (or anyone else who feels comfortable) could you weigh in on the following:
Dry age days. What is the optimal number of dry age days? 18 sounds ok to you Elliott, but what would the ideal # be for you? On the flip side, is there a minimum number that it would not be worth starting the process for?
Oven process. 275 - is that on Bake or something else? Pull out when probe hits around 110/115, right?
Sear. Do you sear in the oven at the highest heat you can achieve or do you sear in the pan? I think the former, but am not sure. Do you put the probe back in and stop the sear at 120 or some other temp?
I enjoy bone-in roasts, and have frequently done 2-4 rib roasts (though as said, never with the reverse sear), but for a big crowd the ease of boneless seemed worth foregoing the bones.
I can see that. My father would rather knaw on two bones than get a slab of meat. When he doesn’t make it for Christmas and we do a bone-in, we’ll just send all the bones with a family member headed his way.
I want to know if people make Yorkshire pudding with their roast? I think I’ve only done it once but am thinking of doing it this year. It’s such a part of the Lawry’s experience.
Yeah the sooner you get it onto a wire rack over a sheet pan the more time you have. Im not so sure I would recommend this however if you don’t have a dedicated fridge for it as you don’t want to contaminate your meat possibly and you don’t want to stink up your fridge like crazy either. If thats the case I would just dry brine your meat at about 1% of the weight of the meat the night before. Its not a big deal. Costco prime is good both ways. If you do dry age it you will have a bark on the outside that you will want to trim off. Its like jerky and does not make for good eating at all. However you can make a killer sauce by using those scraps.
Brian, good questions.
Optimal number of days is dependent on how funky tasting you like your meat. To me it is 45 days. The minimum amount of days would probably be 21 but with 18 days I would give it a shot. It can only improve it even if not by much.
275 is on bake, and pull out the piece when the probe reads 110-115 depending on how large the piece is and how long you plan to rest it for. The larger the piece the more potential for carryover cooking. Also I like to roast it on a wire rack. Just make sure you coat it with a little oil so the meat doesn’t stick to it.
I sear in the oven at the highest heat I can achieve. A large roast especially like the one Michael is cooking is way to big for the stovetop. I never take the probe out until I’m ready to eat. I use a thermoworks oven safe hi temp probe so its fine even at those really high temps. Just make sure it is not under the broiler. I use the broiler to heat the crap out of the oven then just reset the oven to bake at max temp before i put the meat in. Final temp for me that I like is right between 128-130 for a large roast especially with that much fat content. If you are resting the meat make sure you rest it up to 123-125 before you put it back in the oven. That should give you enough time to keep the broiler on in your oven for about 45 minutes if you get it going as soon as you pull the meat out to rest.
Another thing to note is that if you plan on roasting with more than just salt and pepper you are going to burn the hell out of the herbs. What I like to do is infuse either duck fat, clarified butter, or grapeseed oil with all the herbs and garlic etc in a pan then baste the meat with that. All the taste of the herbs and no burned stuff. You can always give it a rough chop and toss it over the meat afterwards.
What I like to do is infuse either duck fat
You had me at hello and then lost me here. No duck-fat baste on a rib roast. I get it, and my god I seal-clap for just about anything cooked in duck fat… but you’re going to kill the beefy goodness if you baste with duck fat. Haven’t tried grapeseed oil, but like butter, you’re going to have to be careful w/smoke point over 350-400 or it’s going to come out smelling bad.
To each their own I suppose which is why I gave the options. I enjoy the taste of it on a roast or steak as it adds more depth and flavor. Also it has a high smoke point so it has that covered too.
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