How To Cook Prime Rib Roast

Sous vide cooking takes away the guessing and gauging of doneness and leaves you with primed meat cooked the way you like it. Sous vide uses a low-heat, extended cooking process, ensuring your roast is tender and succulent. It is ultimately a stress-free way to make your Prime Rib Roast.

The instructions below are for a 5–6 lb Prime Rib Roast. However, Prime Ribs of all sizes can use these instructions. Use the temperatures in the chart to set your sous vide machine to reach your desired degree of doneness.

NOTE: Meat cooked under 130°F should NOT be cooked for longer than 2½ hours at a time due to food safety concerns

Prepare It

• Preheat your water bath: Fill your sous vide container with warm water and set the sous vide device to the appropriate temperature for the desired doneness.
• Rare: 130°F
• Medium-Rare: 132°F
• Medium: 135°F
• Medium-Well: 145°F
• Repackage your roast into a sous vide heat-stable bag. We recommend seasoning your roast with Kansas City Steaks Original Steak Seasoning for an enhanced flavor, prior to cooking in the sous vide. Another option is to add fresh herbs and a Kansas City Steaks Finishing Butter, along with your raw roast, into the heat-stable vacuum seal bag before sealing.

Cook It

• Ensure the water bath has fully reached the desired temperature for cooking before adding in the roast. Place the packaged roast in the water bath and allow it to cook for the recommended time based on your desired degree of doneness.
• Rare: 6 hours
• Medium-Rare: 6 hours
• Medium: 6 hours
• Medium-Well: 6 hours
• Once the roast is finished cooking, remove them from the sous vide and take it out of the packaging.
• We recommend cooking the Prime Rib Roast at a high temperature to achieve a deep, rich sear. Preheat your oven to 475°F.
• Before finishing in the oven, coat your Prime Rib in our Kansas City Steak Finishing Butter for added flavor and an incredible crust.
• Place the rib roast on a baking rack and cook in the oven for 15 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches your desired degree of doneness.
• Remove the rib roast from the oven and allow it to rest for 5 minutes.
• Carve the Prime Rib Roast into slabs and enjoy this heavenly piece of meat!

A wonderfully smoked Prime Rib gives you all those incredible natural smoke flavors. So, fire up your smoker and follow our guide to smoking your next masterpiece. Smoking times will vary greatly depending on the cut of meat, thickness of the cut, quality of smoker, smoke and smoke retention, wind, and more. To reach base doneness, use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature.

These instructions are for a 5–6 lb Prime Rib Roast, accounting for approximately 35 minutes per pound for a rare degree of doneness and 40 minutes per pound for a medium degree of doneness. Account for an additional 15 minutes for high heat searing after smoking and 15–20 minutes to rest the roast after cooking.

Note: Meat cooked under 130°F should not be cooked longer than 2½ hours at a time due to food safety concerns

To begin, fire up your smoker and preheat it to 225°F

• While the smoker is warming up, prepare your roast. Trim off any access fat from the top of the rib. Apply your marinade to the entire rib and/or season liberally with your choice of seasoning.
• Place the roast onto the grates of your smoker, close the lid, and smoke the meat until it reaches your desired doneness.
• Temperatures are as follows:
  • Rare: 115°F
  • Medium-Rare: 125°F
  • Medium: 135°F
  • Medium-Well: 145°F
• Remove the roast from the smoker, put it on a cutting board, cover it with foil, and allow it to rest for 15–20 minutes.
• While the roast is resting, increase the temperature on your smoker to 400°F.
• Once the smoker is up to temperature, return the roast to the smoker and smoke until the internal temperature reaches 5°F below your desired degree of doneness. (To check the degree of doneness, use a meat thermometer and the Measuring Doneness Chart below.) This part can go quickly, so keep a close eye on the temperature.
• Remove your roast from the smoker and wrap it tightly in foil or butcher paper to rest for at least 15 minutes. The temperature of the meat will continue to rise about 5°F during this time (this is called "carryover cooking").
• Resting after smoking is important because the heat of cooking pulls the juices in the meat toward the surface; if you slice into it immediately after cooking, those flavorful juices will end up on your plate, not in your steak. Allowing your roast to rest will give the juices time to sink in throughout the meat, keeping it moist and tasty.
• Lastly, slice, serve and enjoy!

A great way to cook a Prime Rib Roast at home is in an Instant Pot. Make a delicious and tender roast with this easy cooking method without worrying about overcooking or drying out your prized cut of Prime Rib. Begin by seasoning the roast with your choice of seasoning; make sure to cover all sides.

The instructions below are for a 3 lb Prime Rib Roast. To cook a larger roast, you might consider having a larger Instant Pot. Or consider cutting a larger Prime Rib (5–6 lbs) in half to fit into a smaller Instant Pot.

• Place the trivet in the Instant Pot, then place the roast on top of the trivet. Add beef cooking stock. Coat the top of the rib roast with one of our Kansas City Steak Finishing Butters for added flavor.
• Lock the lid in place and make sure the vent is in the "sealing" position.
• Choose manual settings and set them on low pressure. Set the timer according to the cooking times based on the desired temperature. They are as follows:
• Rare: Low pressure for 5 minutes
• Medium-Rare: Low pressure for 8 minutes
• Medium: Low pressure for 12 minutes
• Medium-Well: Low pressure for 15 minutes
• Once the timer is done, leave the roast in the pot without opening the lid or unsealing it. The Instant Pot will automatically switch to "keep warm". Let the roast sit for another 30 minutes in the pot.
• Once the 30 minutes is up, open the Instant Pot and place a meat thermometer into the center of the Prime Rib. The temperature should read 120°F for medium-rare. If the temperature is too low, place the lid on again and cook for an additional 5–10 minutes.
• Once your rib roast has reached the desired temperature, remove the rib roast and the trivet from the Instant Pot.
• Set the Instant Pot to the highest sauté setting. Lightly coat the bottom of your pot with high smoke point oil such as avocado oil, canola oil, or grapeseed oil. Add the roast to the Instant Pot and sear on all sides until browned. About 5–10 minutes.
• Check the internal temperature of the roast again to ensure it is cooked to your desired doneness. For medium-rare, a meat thermometer should read 135°F.
• Remove the roast from the pot, wrap it tightly in foil or butcher paper, and allow it to rest for 15 minutes.
• Resting after cooking is essential because the heat pulls the juices in the meat toward the surface; if you slice into it immediately after cooking, those flavorful juices will end up on your plate, not in your roast. Allowing your roast to rest will give the roast juices time to sink back into the meat, keeping it moist.
• Finally, slice against the grain, serve and enjoy!

Using a slow cooker may take approximately 2½ hours or up to 5 hours to cook your Prime Rib, based on the level of doneness you want to achieve. This slow cooker Prime Rib Roast guide will take you step-by-step through making an easy, melt-in-your-mouth, delicious Prime Rib.

The included instructions are for a 5–6 lb Prime Rib Roast; accounts for 35 minutes per pound for a rare degree of doneness and 40 minutes per pound for a medium degree of doneness.

Prepare and Sear It

• Season the roast with your choice of seasoning, making sure to cover all sides.
• Preheat a skillet over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes (this can be done on a grill or in your kitchen). A hot skillet delivers the best sear.
• Lightly coat the bottom of your skillet with high smoke point oil such as avocado oil, canola oil, or grapeseed oil. Add the seasoned roast to the skillet and sear on all sides (about 3–4 minutes on each side).

Cook It

• Transfer the seared roast to the slow cooker, rib side down. For added flavor, rub one of our Kansas City Steak Finishing Butters on the top of the rib roast. Add beef cooking stock or any other seasonings to the slow cooker.
• Cook on the recommended low heat setting for the times listed in the Cooking Times Chart below.
• Begin checking after 3 hours of cooking. We recommend checking the internal temperature of the tenderloin to determine doneness. To check the degree of doneness, use a meat thermometer.
• Final temperatures are as follows:
• Rare: 120°F
• Medium-Rare: 130°F
• Medium: 140°F
• Medium-Well: 150°F
• Remove your roast from the slow cooker when it has reached your desired degree of doneness temperature. The roast will continue to warm an additional 10°F when resting.
• Once removed from the slow cooker, wrap it tightly in foil or butcher paper and allow it to rest for 15–20 minutes.
• Resting after cooking is essential because the heat pulls the juices in the meat toward the surface; if you slice into it immediately after cooking, those flavorful juices will end up on your plate, not in your roast. Allowing your roast to rest will give the juices time to sink back in and throughout the meat, keeping it moist and flavorful.
• Finally, slice against the grain and serve!