There is nothing better than enjoying a flavorful beef roast perfectly seasoned with rosemary and garlic. This perfectly Smoked Prime Rib recipe will easily be the star of your feast.
Discover the secret to a perfectly smoked prime rib roast. Our recipe guarantees juicy, melt-in-your-mouth goodness that will impress your guests.
As the holiday season approaches, it's time to elevate your traditional feast and add some smoky excitement to the table. Imagine sinking your teeth into tender slices of beef that have been infused with rich, smoky flavors from hours of slow smoking. If you want to skip the turkey, go with a succulent beef roast for Thanksgiving or your Christmas dinner party.
Prime Rib Roast - This will be approximately a 6-10 lb bone-in roast. You want to figure on about a pound of beef per person. Once you trim the roast and some of the fat renders, the portion for each guest will be closer to about 12 oz of cooked meat.
Horseradish Mayo - Think of this as our glue for the seasoning. Plus, I love the flavor of horseradish with beef. If you want to make your own homemade horseradish sauce, go for it. I am happy with a quality premade sauce. If you don't like horseradish, just use some mayo or a dijon mustard.
Garlic - I prefer fresh garlic, finely minced. You can also use garlic powder. Garlic powder will give a more even coating of seasoning, but I like the flavor of cooked garlic. Having those little tasty nuggets of garlic is a treat for me.
Rosemary - Fresh rosemary is best; however, dry rosemary is fine. A very rough chop on the rosemary is sufficient. If you don't have rosemary, you can use other herbs. Thyme or Sage would be another great choice. I went with fresh rosemary.
Salt - Kosher salt or a larger coarse salt is my favorite for a big cook. You will want approximately 1 teaspoon of salt per pound of beef. This is all going on the outside of the beef, and some will wash away as the fat melts.
Pepper - Freshly ground black pepper gives a nice earthy spice to this roast.
How to Make Smoked Prime Rib Roast
Step One - After you have removed the prime rib from its packaging, trim off the excess fat. We don't want more than a quarter inch of fat cap. Too much fat will not render enough to allow the smoky flavor to permeate the meat.
Step Two - Cover the beef with the mayo. Combine rosemary, garlic, salt, and black pepper in a small bowl. Then sprinkle over the entire roast to ensure it is thoroughly covered with seasoning.
Step Three - Place the Prime rib, bone side down into your preheated smoker. Be sure to insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the roast to monitor the internal temperature. We are going to smoke this for approximately 3 hours or until the internal temperature is 10 degrees less than our desired finished temperature.
Top Tip
The final temperature for medium-rare is 130°F. If you want your prime rib to be medium, the final temperature will be 140°F. I also recommend using an instant-read probe thermometer to check multiple spots of the roast.
Step Four - Once the internal temperature of the prime rib is 10 degrees less than our desired final temperature, remove it from the smoker. I smoked the beef roast until the internal temperature was 120°F.
Step Five - Reverse Sear. There are a few different ways we can reverse sear; we can crank a conventional oven to 500 degrees F. You can use the broiler, or you can reverse sear it over high heat on a gas grill. We could increase the smoker to 500°F, or you can use a griddle.
I used my Blackstone Griddle to reverse sear the Smoked Prime Rib. Remove the roast from the smoker and place it on the preheated griddle for about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Monitor the internal temperature as you sear it. You want to get a nice crust on the outside of the roast, which will give it great texture and an amazing flavor without overcooking the roast.
I seared the roast on the Blackstone until the internal temperature increased to 125°F. Allowing it to rest will bring the final internal temp up to 130°F for a medium rare doneness.
Step Six - Resting. Remove the ribeye roast from the griddle and let the roast rest on a cutting board under an aluminum foil tent for at least 20 minutes before slicing and serving.
Storage
Store any leftover prime rib in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 day. Thinly sliced prime rib makes the best sandwiches.
Tools
Smoker - Obviously. I like to use my Traeger Pellet Smoker for this cook. You can use whatever smoker you have. The key is to make sure you monitor the internal probe temperature of the meat.
Wood - Whether you are using wood logs, wood chips, or pellets, you have to decide what flavor wood you want to use. I use a combination of cherry and hickory. These give a great combination of smoke flavor to the prime rib. Pecan, mesquite, oak, and apple wood are other good choices.
Meat Thermometer - It is paramount to monitor the internal temperature of the roast. Not just when it is smoking, but also during the reverse sear. With such a large expensive piece of meat, you want to make sure you arrive at your perfect desired doneness.
Spread the horseradish mayo all over the outside of the prime rib roast
Chop the garlic cloves and chop the rosemary leaves. Then spread them all over the roast as well. Season the outside of the roast with salt and pepper.
Place the prime rib roast into your preheated smoker. Smoke at 250℉ for three hours or until the internal temperature reaches 120℉.
Remove prime rib roast from smoker and place on hot griddle to reverse sear. Sear each side for about 2-3 minutes on the hot griddle. Watch the internal temperature. Remove the roast when the internal temperature reaches 125℉.
Allow the prime rib roast to rest for 20 minutes. The internal temperature will increase to about 130℉ for a perfectly cooked medium rare doneness.
Krissy says
We had our holiday dinner early this year due to travel plans and I will NEVER make prime rib another way. So good