Now, for something much more bland, sure.

Tex_77 Be sure to tell your friend not to dare messing with my rib roast like that. I love that fat!

Of course, that doesn’t mean that anyone has to like it, even then. It could be that I just like a touch of bitter.

Sounds like great minds think alike!

I trim off any silver skin a can find, but I leave all the fat (I love the fat). I rub the whole thing down with a little bit of oil–just enough to give it a sheen. You don’t want it dripping. I rub with kosher salt, coarsely ground black pepper, a little garlic powder (or granulated garlic, but I don’t usually have that around), maybe a little onion powder, and some herb (usually rosemary and/or thyme). I use as much salt as I would use when salting a steak, often go pretty heavy with the herb(s), but pretty light with everything else. Sometimes, I’ll make a paste with everything, using just enough oil to hold it all together and adding a little bit of good quality mustard. That mustard can really make it sing, as well as helping develop a nice crust. Yet another alternative (especially when I make that paste) is to use finely minced fresh garlic instead of the garlic powder.

If it’s a standing rib roast (which is my strong preference), I often will remove the bones from the roast (without separating the bones from each other), rub the goodies all around the separated roast, and then tie the bones back on for roasting. That both gets the rub all around the roast and makes things a little bit easier on the back end.

I cook mine at my normal pit temperature (225-250F) to an internal temperature of 120-122F. For wood, I also go primarily with oak (usually red oak), mixing in some pecan and a little bit of mesquite.

Remove, cover loosely with foil, and let it rest completely (even as much as an hour). Once it’s rested completely cooled a bit, I pop it in a screaming hot oven (mine gets up to 555F) to really get that crust done. It usually takes around 10 minutes, but I never go far from the oven. Sometimes I’ll use the broiler (especially if I forget to preheat the oven). The broiler actually makes for a better crust, but not all over (it’s not as even), and there’s a greater riskof taking it too far.

Now, I need to address a pet peeve. While I often see folks refer to any rib roast as “prime rib,” it isn’t really “prime rib” unless you’re working with USDA prime. Otherwise, it’s a “standing rib roast” if it’s on the bone or a “rib eye roast” if it’s off the bone. It’s not prime rib if it’s not prime–it’s just disingenuous marketing.