How To Make Herb Crusted Smoked Prime Rib

By Dru Chai

There's something about serving and eating prime rib that just screams special occasion. Yes, it's expensive, so of course that has a lot to do with it. But it's also the appearance. A steak comes to the table looking like an blackened and burnt meteor rock. But a piece of sliced prime rib looks luxurious, velvety, and even sensual. Pink, juicy, and just begging to be eaten.

Having used my Weber smoker for over 3 years, it never occurred to me to smoke prime rib. Until now. With an early holiday family dinner scheduled, I told everyone that I was in charge of the main course. There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to serve the juiciest, most flavorful, and tender prime rib ever. EVER. Okay, maybe that's stretching it. But it was gonna be damn good.

I started shopping right away to look for beef ribeye roasts and how much they would cost. Costco doesn't have the cheapest prices out there, but I didn't want to drive around all day comparison shopping. Once I decided that Costco was going to be it, I had to decide if I was going to buy USDA Prime or Choice. Since prime is the creme de la creme, it was $18/lb. Choice came in at $11/lb.

On a 7-lb boneless beef ribeye roast, we're talking about a $50 difference between Prime vs. Choice. I inspected several meats and I decided that it just wasn't worth the extra money for Prime. I did some side-by-side direct comparisons, and there is a subtle difference in the marbling. I chose the best looking Choice rib roast with the most amount of fat. Choice is still an excellent cut of meat for prime rib at a reasonable budget. It's technically not quite Prime, prime rib -- but pretty darn close.

I decided to do a semi-herb crust on the prime rib. I say "semi" because it's not quite the thick and heavy paste that you see in many other recipes. After an olive oil rubdown, I covered the meat with a generous portion of Kosher salt, cracked black pepper, minced garlic, garlic powder, and chopped sage (or whatever herb, like rosemary and/or thyme). I left the prime rib in the fridge for a couple days, uncovered, giving it a little bit of a dry-brine and dry-aging effect. The salt will pull in some of the moisture from the meat and hopefully intensify the beef flavor.

The next morning, I gave the prime rib a nice sear on all sides -- a good 2-3 minutes on every side. I was going to use my trusty cast iron skillet, but the prime rib didn't fit. Nonetheless, a standard indoor grill pan did the job. The smell was just intoxicating, and filled my entire house. The sizzling sound was over the top. I was practically drooling at this point. The pre-sear helps the rib roast develop a protective crust. If you sear the meat after the smoking process, there will be an ugly-looking brown colored ring, as I experienced in my smoked tri-tip.

After searing, it was time to fire up the smoker. I decided to add a mix of hickory and pecan wood chunks -- but not too much, since I didn't want the meat to be overpowered by smoke. I kept the smoker at a consistent 250 degrees F. With the help of an internal probe thermometer, the prime rib was done in about 3 hours, reaching an internal temperature of 130 degrees F -- perfect for medium rare. If you want even more rare, then 120-125 will do. If you want well done, just stop reading right now. Just stop.

I wrapped the prime rib in foil and let it rest for about 30 minutes. The temperature will also slightly rise up to 5 degrees at this point. Do not, under any circumstances, cut, slice, or poke the prime rib during this resting period. If you do, all of those precious meat juices will come pouring out.

When it was finally time to slice up the prime rib, it was like slicing through butter with a hot knife. The prime rib was a perfect medium rare and extremely tender. I took the drippings and added some broth to create the au jus. What really differentiated this homemade prime rib from the rest was the smoke flavor. It was just subtle enough and complimented the real star of the show -- the beef.

So if you ever having second thoughts about cooking or smoking prime rib, don't worry. The most important thing you have to do is watch the temperature and make sure you do not overcook. That's it. People will think you slaved all day cooking the prime rib. Slice up the meat and serve the slices to your guests like a boss. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Trip Report - Judging BBQ at World Food Championships '13

By Dru Chai

From a judge and visitor's perspective, the 2013 World Food Championships trumped the inaugural 2012 event by a wide margin. The event was held at the Fremont Street Experience in Downtown Vegas -- a vast improvement over the crowded Strip location last year. There were no grumpy bodyguards shadowing Adam Richman's every move.

400 competitors, 7 categories, and $300k in prize money. That's a lot at stake, for sure. Thousands applied to be a judge, and I was lucky enough to be selected (having a BBQ blog doesn't hurt either). Here's my quick and dirty Vegas trip report:

11/7 - I arrived in Vegas around noon and my first stop for lunch was Monta Ramen. I slurped my bowl of Kuro ramen (with black garlic oil) within a matter of minutes. People barely sat down and I was already out the door. I was really, really hungry.

Kuro ramen has black garlic oil -- perfect to keep the vampires away

After a satisfying lunch, it was time to visit my favorite casino -- The Mirage. It doesn't have that glitz like the newer hotels, but its location and comfy casino keeps me coming back. I played several sessions of double deck blackjack, hit some lucky streaks, and cashed out on top. Next, it was on to the sportsbook. Between college football, NBA, and the Lakers, I sat my ass on a plush leather chair for the next 5 hours. Yes, I was in heaven.

I got my fruit and vitamin C for the day

Having to wake up bright and early the next day for recipe judging, I decided to turn in early. Visions of ramen, blackjack, and the Lakers awesome 1-point win over the Rockets (take that Dwight Coward!) danced in my head as I slept the night away.

11/8 -  I woke up feeling refreshed and headed north on the 15 to downtown Vegas. There was some light traffic but not too bad. When I arrived at Fremont St, it was still bright and early, so I did a walk-through of the entire venue. Kitchen stadium was impressive, with dozens of stoves and ovens lined up row after row.

Smack dab on Fremont St in downtown Vegas

Look at all that exposed wiring... good thing it didn't rain!

After checking in at the judges table around 9am, it was time to judge the recipe category -- both pasta and mac 'n cheese. The group of judges included chefs, B-list food TV personalities, bloggers, and foodies. My six pasta dishes were less than impressive. One dish was overpowered by bleu cheese and another looked like something a 5-yr old could make -- it was just spaghetti with bolognese sauce.

I judged these mac 'n cheese entries --  good thing I like cheese.

The mac 'n cheese entries scored a lot better. One dish had awesome presentation -- huge lobster chunks in a mini skillet. Unfortunately, some of the lobster meat was a bit overcooked and chewy. My favorite was the shrimp mac 'n cheese. The shrimp was perfectly cooked, the pasta was al dente, and the cheese sauce was nice and creamy. I asked other judges if they were going to eat their leftover lobster and shrimp. I know, I have no shame.

After about an hour break, it was time to judge BBQ (preliminary round). The top scoring teams would then move on to compete in the final "World" food round -- given the choice of using different meat and more elaborate presentations.

Just in case anyone forgets.

Behind the judging tent... lots of happy judges eating BBQ.

Unlike KCBS sanctioned BBQ competitions, this one was missing the chicken category -- so just ribs, pork, and brisket. The ribs were the best of the three, by far. Most all of them were sweet, juicy and meaty -- not overcooked. Some ribs even had a slight hint of spice in the background, which was a welcome surprise. Usually competition ribs have a very sweet profile.

Leftover ribs after judging... gone within minutes.

This judge described BBQ like a seasoned CNN reporter.

The pulled pork and brisket weren't impressive at all. Perhaps one decent entry per category. It was a far cry from last year's judging experience, in which everything I had was excellent. After judging was done around 4pm, I was asked by the A&E crew to do a quick interview. Must be the shirt I was wearing, or they wanted some diversity (I'm not an old white guy with a pot belly).

"Uh, do I have anything stuck in my teeth?"

After a long day of judging 12 pasta dishes and 15 BBQ entries, I was more than stuffed and needed a nap. Talk about carb and protein overload! This was a well organized event, and kudos to all those involved. Fremont St is the perfect venue and brought a lot of energy into downtown Vegas. I definitely hope to be back for next year's World Food Championships -- whether as a judge or as a media member.

To view more pictures, check out the album on the Dirty Smoke Facebook page.