How to Cook Prime Rib

*photo courtesy Cooked by Julie

Prime rib is an amazing cut of beef, and a classic for the holidays. We are lucky enough to have 12 prime rib roasts (also called standing rib roasts) available from Brewer Family Farms this year.

Cooking a prime rib roast is not that hard, but it can be intimidating. So we’ve rounded up a few amazing recipes to use with your local Iowa prime rib!

About your Brewer Family Farms Prime Rib

Your prime rib came from cattle raised at Brewer Family Farms in Dallas Center, Iowa. The Brewer family has been raising cattle and hogs in Dallas County for five generations. The cattle are primarily Limousin, a French breed known for leanness and muscle, which means FLAVOR for you.

The cattle were harvested in Story City, Iowa, and the butcher there has prepared your prime rib for cooking. The bones have been cut off (which makes your prime rib much easier to serve) but they are packaged with the meat, so you can tie them on for cooking if you’d like.

The prime rib roasts are not available for shipping this year, but you can pick them up at the Ankeny Farmer’s Market Pavilions on Saturday, Dec. 19, or at Brewer Family Farms in Dallas Center December 21 - December 23.

Click here to reserve yours before they're gone!

Prime Rib (Standing Rib Roast) Tips

Your Iowa prime rib prepared with one of the recipes below is sure to be a crowd pleaser this Christmas!

Here are a few important tips before we share the recipes:

1. Many people believe that you need to let the roast come to room temperature before cooking. We have found that this is not necessary (and is not recommended for food safety reasons.)
2. Use a meat thermometer. You can not tell when your prime rib is done without it. There should be no guessing with a cut of meat like prime rib.
3. Use a shallow pan so air can circulate freely around the beef.
4. Most prime rib recipes instruct you to start the oven on a high heat and then lower it, in order to brown the outside and get the delicious flavors that appear because of the Maillard Reaction. However, you can also do this in the opposite order! Start the oven on a lower temp and roast to about 120 degrees. Remove the roast and let it rest while the oven heats to 550 degrees. Then, pop the rib roast back in the oven for a few minutes to get that beautiful browned crust.
5. Plan for carry-over cooking. This large cut of meat will actually not carry over much heat, but you should plan for it to rise in temperature approximately 5-10 degrees after removing it from the oven.
6. Let that roast rest! Again, because this is a larger cut of meat, it needs to rest longer. Resting your meat allows juices to redistribute. If you skip this step, the outer edges of your roast will be more dry, and the juices in the middle will run right out of the rib roast when you slice it.

Prime Rib Temperature

While everyone has their own preferences, most people agree that prime rib is best cooked medium rare or medium. For a medium rare roast, remove it when a thermometer inserted into the center reads 120 degrees fahrenheit. For medium doneness, wait until the thermometer reads 135 degrees.

Prime Rib (Standing Rib Roast) Recipes

Alright - let’s get to the good stuff, shall we? Here six great prime rib recipes to try!

• Super Easy Standing Rib Roasts- Amee from Amee’s Savory Dish promises perfect results every time with this recipe! She uses a simple dry rub that looks delicious!
• Prime Rib with Au Jus - from Cooked by Julie, this mouth-watering prime rib recipe features a butter rub and red wine au jus sauce. 
• Herb Crusted Standing Rib Roast - Start with a mustard rub and end with a dijon horseradish sauce for a great prime rib roast from Suburban Soapbox.
• Oven Roasted Prime Rib with Dry Rib Rub- Bake it with Love has a great dry rub recipe, and includes a horseradish sauce and red wine au jus, too!
• Garlic Horseradish Beef Rib Roast - Gwynn from Swirls of Flavor adds horseradish to her prime rib rub for a great flavor! 
• Sous Vide Prime Rib - Jessie-Sierra Ross uses a sous-vide machine to sloooowww cook her roast. How slow? You’ll want to start cooking the day before serving!

Not interested in Prime Rib?

Be sure to check out the other products available from Brewer Family Farms, including The Cattlemen (steak bundle), Porkey's Pick (pork bundle), The Grazing Board and The Pasture Box (charcuterie.)