1. How to Buy a Prime Rib Roast. You may not realize is that the term “prime rib” has two definitions. It refers to both a particular cut of beef and to a USDA grade of beef. To help you talk the talk at the butcher counter, here’s an in-depth explanation of “prime.”
2. High-end butchers and steakhouses dry-age their own beef: basically a process of slow, controlled dehydration that concentrates the meat’s flavor, making it mellower, yet beefier. The good news is that you can mimic this process at home for dry-aged flavor without the huge price tag. All you need is refrigerator space, cheesecloth, and three to seven days aging time. Learn how to dry-age your own prime rib.
3. There’s no shortage of showstopping prime-rib recipes, but for big holiday meals, we’re especially enamored of the “reverse sear” technique: You roast the meat hours ahead of the final sear, so you can pull the rest of the meal together without worrying about when the meat will be done. Plus, you can do the final sear either in the oven or on the stove top, depending on what’s going on with the rest of the menu. Learn more about how to reverse sear, and check out the recipe for Reverse-Seared Prime Rib, rubbed with a mustard-and-herb butter. Though this recipe uses a boneless prime rib, you can use the same technique for a bone-in roast, by simply upping the time on the initial slow roast (you’re still looking for the meat to come to the same temperature).
4. Drape the dough over the seared roast, covering it completely. After roasting, lift off the crust in one piece, revealing the perfectly cooked meat below.Another unusual method for roasting a prime rib involves draping it in a simple dough of salt, herbs, flour, and egg whites before roasting, which seals in all the juices and infuses the meat with flavor. The result is a tender, perfectly medium-rare roast beef that’s seasoned all the way through. Learn more about the salt-crusting technique here.