Prime rib roast cooking time per pound at 250 degrees

You can order prime rib as bone-in or with the bone removed. This is purely a matter of personal preference. If this is your first time making prime rib, you may want to pick a boneless prime rib roast merely for convenience.

A boneless prime rib roast is easier to form into a round shape which can help the roast cook more evenly. Boneless roasts are also easier to carve.

A bone-in roast has advantages, too. For one, you get the bones -- which you can remove to make soup or a sauce or leave in for people (or pets) to gnaw on after dinner. With the bones left in, the temperature throughout the roast tends to stay more even. Then again, a roast with an oblong shape may not cook evenly.

The rib section consist of ribs 6 through 12. The large end, ribs 6-9 is a little more fattier than the smaller end ribs 9-12 which contain the large rib eye muscle. The naturally tender, rich flavor prime rib is known as the king of roast. Many consider the rib a special occasion roast, only cooking it once or twice a year.

To bring out additional flavor and produce a more buttery texture you can dry age the roast for a few days. Age the beef in the refrigerator by leaving it uncovered on a wire rack over a pan to catch the drippings for at least a day or as long as 3-4 days.

When you are ready to cook the rib roast, trim off any dried pieces after the aging. It is common for a roast to lose 5%-15% of its weight during the aging.

Cooking Instructions
Prime Rib Roast

Prime rib roast can be cooked at different temperatures with different results. We discuss two ways that yield good results. The first way is our favorite, there is a little more work involved and it takes a little longer but its worth it.

The second method is a quicker and easier method which will please most but not quite as juicy from center to outer edge.

Cooking Method 1

Many of the finest restaurants that serve prime rib roast use low temperatures to achieve those great juicy beefy flavors.

In our experience cooking rib roast at higher temperatures of the 350-450 degree range will cause a roast to dry out on the outer parts and shrink anywhere form 3/4 to 1lb or more depending on the size of the roast by the time its done cooking.

A low temperature of 250 degrees will cook the meat evenly through from the center to the outer edge without any drying out, leaving the meat tender and juicy. You might be concerned about the possibility of bacteria and it has been shown that this way of cooking is actually safe but to have piece of mind there is a way to solve this and at the same time give the roast a nice brown surface.

Bacteria grows from the outside and a way to get rid of bacteria is to sear the roast first. Searing the roast will seal in the juices and look very appealing when being served.

1. An hour before cooking, remove the prime rib roast from the refrigerator to bring to room temperature.

2. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees and set the rack to the lower middle position. Take a heavy bottomed roasting pan and set the pan on 1 burner or 2 burners if you have a large pan and set the temperature to medium-high.

Once the pan is hot sear the roast on all sides for 1.5 - 2 minutes per side excluding the bones side. A large heavy skillet can also be used to sear the roast.

4. Cooking prime rib to a temperature of 135-140 degrees (medium-rare) for maximum flavor and tenderness will give you a tender juicy roast or 140-150 degrees (medium) but no more, anything more will begin to dry out the roast. Depending on the size of the roast, cooking times for roast beef will take 25-30 minutes per pound, so you must have an instant-read thermometer to make sure you don't overcook.

Remove roast from oven and tent with foil. Let it rest at least 15- 20 minutes to allow the juices to redistribute themselves evenly throughout the roast. When cooking at 250 degrees the roast will only rise another 2 degrees or so during the resting time. Cut crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices. Arrange slices on platter and serve.

Below is a cooking chart for beef roast. Remember you should always use an instant-read thermometer to check the doneness of a roast. In method A because a temperature of 250 degrees is used the temperature will only rise about 2-4 degrees during resting time.

Cooking Method 2

The second method is a non-risky way to cook a prime rib roast, it will give you a tender, juicy roast that won’t embarrass you.

1. An hour before cooking, remove the roast from the refrigerator to bring it to room temperature.

2. Preheat oven to 450°F. Season with salt and pepper, place meat fat side up on rack in roasting pan. Roast meat 15 minutes.

3. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F and a roast cooking time about 15-18 minutes per pound is a guideline.

Cook rib until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of meat registers 135-140°F (medium-rare), which will give you maximum flavor and tenderness or 140-150°F (medium) but no more, anything more will begin to dry out the roast.

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