Free Shipping on orders $75+ (USA only)

Reverse Seared Smoke-Roasted Prime Rib (Ribeye Roast)

Reverse Seared Smoke-Roasted Prime Rib

By Chris Capell

Whether you call it a Ribeye Roast, Standing Ribeye, or Prime Rib, it’s delicious if you build up a nice flavor crust and not overcook it. People almost always appreciate it when it’s served, and there are rarely leftovers.

There are many ways to cook Prime Rib, but we have settled on our favorite method which involves a slow roast and a hard sear at the end to develop that amazing flavor crust. We call it the “Reverse Sear”, and it produces an even color and doneness throughout, a mild smoke flavor (if you so desire) and an intense flavor crust to tie everything together. We cooked a 3-bone, nine-pound roast for this recipe, but boneless is also a great choice and provides more flavor crust than bone-in. Hard to go wrong either way.

If you have a larger roast, you may want to cut it in half before seasoning and cooking. Not only will you have more flavor crust, but you’ll be able to remove one if it is done earlier than the other.

We cooked this roast on the Big Green Egg, but this method can be applied to any grill that can be set up for indirect and direct cooking.

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Prepare cooker for indirect cooking
  2. Stabilize cooker at 275°F (wood chunks optional, we used 2 chunks of oak)
  3. Trim fat and membranes from roast as desired
  4. Apply salt to roast on all sides
  5. Apply Dizzy Pig Cow Lick seasoning to all sides and press in with your palms
  6. Insert probe thermometer into center of roast
  7. Place roast on cooker once the smoke is thin, clean and blue (and smells delicious)
  8. Cook until lowest temperature in roast is 110-115°F – our 9 lb roast took about 2.5 hours
  9. Remove and loosely tent in foil (we pulled ours off at 111°F, and during the 15 minute rest, the temperature rose to 118°F)
  10. Immediately set up cooker for direct cooking
  11. Add charcoal if necessary and get a good hot fire (500°F+)
  12. Sear roast on all sides – your fire should be hot enough to get a lightly charred flavor crust within 3-4 minutes per side
  13. Remove and rest for 10-20 minutes. After grilling and resting our roast for 15 minutes, the internal temperature reached 126°F – a perfect medium rare
  14. Slice and serve

Notes:
***If you want a shorter roasting time, you can cook at 300-325°F. The roast will be a little more done toward the outside, but it will still be delicious. When cooking at higher temperatures, you will want to pull the roast off at a lower internal temperature (like 110°F) because higher temps lead to more carryover cooking during the rest.

***Your ultimate goal when you slice the roast (after the rest) is to have a final internal temperature of 120-130°F for medium rare, or 130-135°F for medium

In This Recipe:

Cow Lick 8oz shaker

Cow Lick Spicy Beef Rub

Buy Now
Raising the Steaks 8oz shaker

Raising the Steaks Montreal-Style Seasoning

Buy Now
8oz shaker bottle of SPG Original

SPG Original

Buy Now
8oz shaker bottle of SPG Herb

SPG Herb

Buy Now

Related Blog Posts:

Dizzy Tips: Browning and Flavor

Dizzy Tips: Browning and Flavor

Humans have been browning food for ages and ages, and for a very good reason.… 

What Else is Cooking?

Peruvian-ish Chicken Stew

Peruvian-ish Chicken Stew

Pulled Pepper Stout Chuck Roast

Pulled Pepper Stout Chuck Roast Sandwich with Guiness White Pepper Sauce

DrBBQ's Smoked Chicken Chili Rellenos with Molé & Ghost Black Beans

DrBBQ’s Smoked Chicken Chili Rellenos with Molé & Ghost Black Beans

Venison Backstrap with Cognac Mushroom Sauce

Venison Backstrap with Cognac Mushroom Sauce Recipe

Step by Step

Did you make this recipe?

If you made this, snap a pic and tag it with @dizzypigbbq. We’d love to see and share your creations!