It's that time of year where all of the holidays are upon us and everyone goes all out on the family meals. Whether it be turkey or ham or whatever you tend to look forward to,you always want it to turn out just perfect. One protein that is a staple with a lot of families for New Years is Prime Rib. Here are a few things to remember when you pursue that perfect Prime rib.
1. Dry Age it! Most any beef is 10 times better is it has been dry aged. Dry aging is done when the meat is held in a temperature controlled and humidity controlled environment to let it age and let the humidity be pulled out of the meat and redistribute itself through the meat. It also gives the enzymes time to break down and make the meat more tender. You end up with a lot richer nuttier flavored piece of beef. Since it usually takes 21-28 days to dry age beef you may have to buy one that is already aged to make the 2024 deadline. Https://snakeriverfarms.com and https://homelandstores.com are 2 favorites of mine if you are looking for a piece that is ready to cook.
2. Less is more! When you get your vision of that perfect prime rib dancing in your head, don't get carried away. So many want to concoct so many ingredients and put on it that they lose sight of the primary goal. Just let the meat speak for itself. Some softened butter with salt, pepper and garlic stirred in is all you need. Mix the ingredients together and then coat the roast. When you first put it on, start the cook at about 500 degrees to let the seasonings sear to the outside of the roast and then lower your cooking temperature. Those few ingredients will bring out the flavors of the meat but not overpower the meat with some funky blend that you made up in your head.
3. Temperature is important! You cannot cook that perfect roast without controlling the temperature that you are cooking at as well as keeping a close eye on the temperature in the center of the meat. Do not just use one of those cheap manual thermometers with the small glass dial. Get you a good fast reading thermometer that will give you the temp in just 3-4 seconds. You can't make it perfect if you don't have the tools. You can decide what is YOUR perfect temp for doneness but use a good probe to do it. One of my favorites are the probes from https://www.thermoworks.com . They are more expensive than some but so is that $250 roast that you are about to ruin if you don't have one,
Let it rest! You can do all of the above perfectly yet have the worst New Years dinner if you fail to let the meat rest once it has reached the desired temperature. What is resting? Just what it says. Let the meat set and rest once it has reached your desired temperature. Thicker cuts like prime rib should be allowed 10-20 minutes to rest. This allows the muscle fibers the chance to relax and the moisture to redistribute itself throughout the meat. If you begin to slice and serve too soon you could end up with a dry, tough piece of meat that you are ashamed to serve. I hope that these tips help you to achieve that perfect meal. Happy New Years to you and yours!