Which Wood for Prime Rib?

I'm doing a rib roast (Prime is almost impossible to find) on the Treager and was going to use Mesquite/Hickory but I see a lot of recipes that call for Cherry. Now I'm thinking of using Cherry/Mesquite. Thoughts?

Neither. IMO a prime rib stands on its own. Smoking is for tough cuts with less flavor.

If you must then yes go with a milder wood as suggested.

VoodooMedMan said:

Neither. IMO a prime rib stands on its own. Smoking is for tough cuts with less flavor.

If you must then yes go with a milder wood as suggested.

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I normally do in the oven but wanted to try it on the smoker. I'll cook it at 450 for an hour then turn in down to 250. I'm thinking I'll take it off early and wrap it.
Thanks for the suggestion :thumbsup

it doesnt really matter what pellets you use, its all about the prep and how long you cook it. I cook about 6 a year on my Treager ( for the past 20 years)

Use an injectable marinade ( rosemary garlic is our favorite) the day before you cook it. I use the traeger rub and yellow mustard for the crust but Montreal
Steak seasoning works too, I made my own marinade today with red wine, water, chopped onions, rosemary, fresh crushed garlic, bubbas rub , a small amount of olive oil and let it simmer for about 15 min,, Strained it and Wa La! My own marinade... Up Here the Cajun Injector marinade was pretty easy to find until this year... Some cooks stick an knife in the roast and put fresh garlic in the hole so, to each his ( or her) own..

We have found that taking them off the grill under 120 degrees ( rare) internal temp works best, they keep cooking when they cool so its hit and miss to a perfect, red in the middle , cut. If people like them well, put some Au Jus in a big fry pan, drop the rare piece in for just a few minutes to finish it off. Everyones happy that way, you get the rare, they get their well,,, DONE!

You really cant go wrong with a smoker treager style grill.. Cherry, oak, apple, mesquite.. Most people cant tell the difference because the meat tastes so good.

Peach/Pecan = Yum Yum!!

I just did one a few weeks ago. Did a basic prime rib rub. Very beefy and savory rub. Smoked it at 275 for slightly more than an hour per pound. I did cherry/hickory wood. Went very light on hickory. Basically 80% cherry, 20 % hickory. I pulled it at 135. No need to wrap. It was seriously awesome. You haven't had prime rib till you've had it smoked. It was like taking a already fantastic thing and making it better. It's a different taste but still generally the same. I did mine on my UDS so I had more of a charcoal taste than you will on the traeger. Do it and don't second guess it. This page can kinda help you for what to do. One thing I would do differently is put it in one of the disposable metal pans for the last 2 hours to save some of the juice, do not cover though. Make a separate au jus and add some of that juice from the pan.

http://howtobbqright.com/blog/?p=1235

Thanks for all the ideas! Some support my plan to inject it with beef broth, garlic, onion and beer. I'm going to rub it with olive oil and Kirkland's Steak Rub (which I've found good for just about everything) and put it on the smoker at 450 for an hour and then 225-250 until 120 degrees and then take it off and wrap it. I don't think I can ruin it

Buy a choice if you can, select will not be the same

Ibeplumbing said:

Buy a choice if you can, select will not be the same

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Yes, I have a choice on order. Wanted to get a prime but hard to come by and very $$$.

I was going to smoke a small 3 LB rib roast tonight for dinner but it is raining. They are on sale at Ralphs for $5,77 LB

NicPaus said:

I was going to smoke a small 3 LB rib roast tonight for dinner but it is raining. They are on sale at Ralphs for $5,77 LB

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My GF has one on order, I think about $5.50 for a 7 bone. The primes were in the $16 range, that's a bit much for a 7 bone when we're all gonna be a bit looped by the time we eat it anyways

I do one of these a couple times a year, Choice tastes just as good when prepared this way.

I've done both a dry and wet rub, and have found the best is just salt, pepper, and garlic. Smoke it at 275 till 120 on the internal thermometer then pull it and let it rest for a good bit. We like the fruit woods in our house, but alder isn't to bad either.

I personally follow the Traeger recipe to a T on the prime rib including the injecting and the Traeger prime rib rub and use oak pellets and it comes out unbelievable every time.

outboardrick said:

I normally do in the oven but wanted to try it on the smoker. I'll cook it at 450 for an hour then turn in down to 250. I'm thinking I'll take it off early and wrap it.
Thanks for the suggestion :thumbsup

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You're welcome. It might turn out good I just can't bring myself to do it. Might have to taste someone else's first.

I guess if it's just giving a little smoke around the crust it could be pretty good. I just personally wouldn't want the smoke penetrating too deep. But the outer piece of a prime rib so tender with all the seasonings and crust from the oven is awesome.

The other thing with a milder wood is if it's not enough for you then next time you can go with a strong wood. But if it's too strong then dinner is ruined.

So where is everyone's go to place to purchase PR?

138 said:

So where is everyone's go to place to purchase PR?

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Both choice and prime were on sale at Costco when I was there two days ago looked like they had a good variety of sizes.

I did a 20lb rib eye roast. Wrapped it in 5 lbs of bacon. Between the bacon and roast I put onions and garlic. Smoked it with mesquite and an occasional piece of orange wood. Damn thing was like candy couldn't stop eating it.

All these responses are completely useless without pictures....

I'm using Apple wood on mine. Cherry or pecan would be my next choice[emoji631]

IinsureU said:

All these responses are completely useless without pictures....

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This year ( today)

VoodooMedMan said:

Neither. IMO a prime rib stands on its own. Smoking is for tough cuts with less flavor.

If you must then yes go with a milder wood as suggested.

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There it is.

I used to be a regular customer at Lawrys.
I got a few tips on slow cooking Prime ribs from the employees over the years.

Believe it or not, they use very little, just a slight touch of Lawrys seasoning salt so it compliments the Lawrys Seasoning pepper and kosher salt.
Slow cooking at low temp is the main key to a good roast in their opinions.
They use the short end of the roast, the long ends went to their other restaurant the Tam O Shanter in Atwater.

This was years ago, it may have changed since.

BTW:
We roasted a $11 per lb COSTCO Prime Rib and a $5 per LB Vons and the COSTCO had it all over the Vons.

VoodooMedMan said:

Neither. IMO a prime rib stands on its own. Smoking is for tough cuts with less flavor.

If you must then yes go with a milder wood as suggested.

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I disagree but I cook with real charcoal so I control the amount of smoke.
I like an apple/pecan mix and only in the beginning. The rest of the time is just slow cooked to perfection.

Forensic said:

I disagree but I cook with real charcoal so I control the amount of smoke.
I like an apple/pecan mix and only in the beginning. The rest of the time is just slow cooked to perfection.

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Mild wood and only for a little bit. Makes sense.

Best part of the prime rib is the outside. Even though the outside isn't medium rare it's always soooooo tender and so full of flavor. I'd just hate for it to taste like a chimney and not get any beef flavor.

Now when I do pulled Pork I want the biggest smoke ring possible with a great bark. It gets mixed around after pulling the meat apart and the flavor combo is awesome.

My wife does prime rib at home as her chef does for the restaurant, with the exception the restaurant uses a convection oven. Results are consistent and great. Juicy medium rare to rare every time as people want it to be.

I take the same prime rib and cut into 1.5" to 2" steaks and grill over a very hot charcoal fire getting the charred steak crust with juicy internal rare/med rare results. Can't beat a charcoal/wood grilled ribeye.:thumbsup

I've also done prime rib on the pit to get the smoke ring and bark. Great taste and good way to go. But it's meticulous to get it right every time and more challenging than conventional oven roasting.

Done right, prime rib is great eating in a variety of ways.:thumbsup

I should have reported back sooner but have been having some issues. The roast I did was 22.5 lbs, so I cut it in half and smoked it on the Treager using Mesquite/Cherry blended pellets. I left the large end on for the duration but took the small end off about half way through, wrapped it in foil and finished it in the oven. Pulled them both out at 125 degrees, wrapped them and put them in a cooler for about an hour. Both were perfectly done with only a slight smoke flavor. The one left on the smoker had a slightly better bark but both were very well received. I'll leave the next one on the smoker for the duration. I started them off at 400 degrees for an hour and then reduced them to 255 for the remainder of the cook :thumbsup