The Closed-Oven Method for Cooking a Prime Rib Roast (2024)

FAQs

What's the best temperature to cook a prime rib roast? ›

Brown the roast at 500°F (or as high as your oven will go) for 15 minutes. Lower the oven to 325°F to finish roasting: Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F. Roast in the oven until the thermometer registers 115°F for rare or 120° for medium rare, and 130°F for medium.

You'll cook your room-temperature prime rib at 500 degrees F for exactly that many minutes. (Twenty-seven minutes, in my case.) Then turn off the oven and wait 2 hours without opening the door. When the time's up, remove the prime rib and slice into the most perfectly medium-rare meat you've ever seen.

Leaving prime rib roast uncovered while roasting allows the meat to develop a nice brown crust. You should only cover the roast with aluminum foil if it is becoming too brown.

It's no secret that roasts need to cook slow and slow, but for that killer crust on a prime rib the secret is to hit it with a lot of heat first. Like our other prime rib recipes, this rosemary-rubbed prime rib cooks at 450F for 20 minutes before cooking for another 60 to 90 minutes at 350F.

Start by cooking your prime rib at 500°F for 15 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 325° F and cook for 10-12 min per pound for rare, or 13-14 min per pound for medium rare, or 14-15 min per pound for medium well. A meat thermometer is essential to ensure you cook it perfectly!

How do restaurants make prime rib so tender? The secret to restaurant-style prime rib is cooking the meat super slow at low temperatures. I recommend cooking prime rib at no higher than 200 degrees F. This cooks the meat very slowly, turning the fat into butter and rendering the proteins juicy and soft.

Cooked low and slow in the oven and finished with a blast of heat for the juiciest, most flavorful, evenly cooked prime rib roast. Kenji is the former culinary director for Serious Eats and a current culinary consultant for the site.

Let it sit on the counter for 4 hours before cooking. Bringing the roast to room temperature is especially important here because a cold roast will take much longer to cook.

Placing the oven rack too high up will cause your roast to brown too quickly and burn! After 30 minutes in the oven, add a ½ cup of water to the bottom of the roasting pan. The key is to allow the onions to brown and caramelize while roasting, but not to burn and smoke in the fat.

Cook the Rib

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Place the roast fat side up, bone side down, in a large roasting pan. Cook for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 325°F. This allows the heat to sear the roast, trapping the juicy flavors inside while the rest of the meat cooks.

Should you sear a prime rib roast before cooking? ›

Searing is an important part of roasting a prime rib.

For best results, salt your prime rib on all surfaces with kosher salt at least 45 minutes before you start cooking it, and preferably the day before, leaving it in the fridge uncovered overnight. Initially, the salt will draw out some moisture and end up dissolving in it.

Look for a well-marbled and bone-in Prime Rib roast for the best flavor and tenderness. Bring the Meat to Room Temperature: Remove the Prime Rib from the refrigerator at least 1-2 hours before cooking. Letting it come to room temperature ensures more even cooking.

Heat the oven to 250°F with the rack in the lower middle position. Cook for 4 to 5 hours or until the internal temperature in the thickest part of the roast is 125-130°F for medium-rare prime rib, or 135-140°F for medium. Take out the roast and tent it with foil.

The Benefits of Slow Roasting

First, slow roasting produces a Prime Rib that is tender, juicy, and has evenly cooked meat.

Heat the oven to 250°F with the rack in the lower middle position. Place the seasoned rib roast on a greased roasting rack in a roasting tray. Cook for 4 to 5 hours or until the internal temperature in the thickest part of the roast is 125-130°F for medium-rare prime rib, or 135-140°F for medium.

Then, set your oven to 275°F and cook to your desired doneness, based on the Cooking Times Chart below. For a Bone-In Rib Roast that is medium-rare, roast for 1½–2 hours until a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the roast registers 125°F.

Roast at 225 degrees until internal temperature reaches 110 degrees. Turn off the oven and allow internal temperature to reach 115 for rare, 120 for medium rare. After removing from oven, loosely tent with foil and allow to rest for 30 minutes before carving.