I was warned against SV’ing prime rib but thought this 1.8lb piece would be too hard to roast to get that perfect medium rare.
This was cooked at 129* for 6 hours after a 48 hour dry brine with salt only and seared on carbon steel with an additional 30 second baste with butter, garlic & herbs.
It looks delicious but was super chewy and felt borderline raw (I thought the sear would bring it up a degree or two).
Any advice were I to try this again? 137? Low and slow roast?
by thisbaddog
26 Comments
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Higher temp to render the fat. There’s a reason why this sub is so fanatical about cooking ribeye to 137.
If it was chewy then ya 129 was probably crux of issue. Lots of fat that needs to render which happens more a little warmer or longer.
129 is too low. There’s no carryover in SV.
48hrs is too long to brine, you wind up with a lunch meat texture.
I don’t SV prime rib but if I did it would be overnight dry brine and 135 for 4-8 hrs.
But I much prefer the oven for prime rib.
Not to be alarming but isn’t under 130 for that long very much in the danger zone.
Also, based on that first picture, you absolutely, 100%, did ❤️it.
Here is some primary research on temps and times: https://www.seriouseats.com/food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-steak. Note that, “Steaks cooked under 130°F should not be cooked longer than two and a half hours at a time, for food-safety reasons.”
I love sous vide, but I’d just reverse sear this. FYI – 129F is too low for this cut sous vide, and you’re in the danger zone with a 6-hour cook at that temp.
I did a 4lb roast. 135 for 6hrs, then broiled 15mins with a butter herb paste and it was out of this world.
Prime rib is perfectly tender without sous vide. There are many ways to cook it right but if you want that edge to edge pink you get from sous vide just pop it in the oven at 200 or even lower of your oven goes lower until internal temp is about 5-8 degrees below where you want to finish. Carry over will bring it the rest of the way while it rests. After the rest sear and serve. It’s basically unfuckupable as long as you have a temp probe.
You did great. But… It’s a shit way to prepare it. Prime rib is the most overrated way to cook this portion of beef. Even your small piece has at least two thick steaks. The flavors comes from marinating and then getting a crust on it. So just make ribeyes, reverse sear and follow that process instead. If you don’t like that, may not be your cut of meat.
For large cuts I very much prefer reverse sear/air sous vide.
For Christmas, I sous vide a 7lb prime rib roast at 138 for 8 hours, then blasted it in the oven at 500 for 10 minutes. It was perfect.
I have done several prime ribs at 133 for 18 to 20 hours, then seared on charcoal chimney with a grate.
After slicing, I poured the juice from the bag over the slices.
I have received nothing but rave reviews and follow up requests for more.
I do not Sous vide prime rib. Slow roast in 230 F oven to an internal temp of 132 F for medium.
Love when people go against good advice then wonder why their food sucks. Find a proven recipe and stick to it. Not that difficult.
137. Your welcome
129 is low for this cut. Also for safety reasons don’t go under 130 for more than 2 hours.
I also think reverse sear edges out sous vide for prime rib. So much of the flavor comes from roasting rosemary/onion/butter on the surface and SV temp doesn’t cook them properly to render the flavor
And at 1.8 lb you’re closer to a classic ribeye.. treat it as such IMO.
134.5 for 24 hours, then finish it how you like. Still perfect medium rare edge to edge but you can cut it with a fork.
I did a 24 hour dry brine and then 137°F for 8 hours on a 4.5 lb one for Christmas and it was perfect. I think the other comments are right, 129°F is just too low for this cut.
Try cooking it.
I really like the over for prime rib. It helps to dry out the outside. Once it’s to temp, pull it out to let it cool down a bit while your oven gets as hot as you can set it to. Then put it back in for a nice crust/sear.
If you are going to do a prime rib at that low of a temperature…you need to cook it for much longer. I just did mine for 36 hours. Minimum of 24 hours. Even a few degrees higher you should still do a long bath. Steaks you can get away with 6-8 hours. I would never do any kind of roast for 6-8.
The fat looks a little underdone so wasn’t melting taste through the roast. I would also suggest putting garlic in the roast itself before bagging and cooking. I cut slits between the fat and meat and shovel slivers of garlic the pockets. I used about 2.5 heads of garlic per roast this year but my family loves garlic, you can probably cut that to 6-8 cloves.
Americas Test Kitchen does a 7 pound roast with 24 hour brine, 6-8 minute sear on all sides, then sous vide for 16-24 hours at 133, then broil. I’ve done it a couple times. It’s excellent.