How to roast the perfect prime rib for New Year’s Eve dinner

I’ve been making prime rib one way for 21 years.

I made this high heat prime rib recipe again Christmas Eve with a five pound boneless ribeye roast. This works equally well with rib bones or without. The idea is that the high heat sears the outside of the meat and the interior cooks slowly with residual heat from the over over the next few hours.

I cooked it for 30 minutes, turned off the oven and left it in for 1½ hours. That’s when I needed the oven to cook something else. I could have left it in another 30 minutes.

It was perfect medium to medium rare in the middle and medium well on the ends.

Prime ribs are a holiday favorite. You can make one easily at home with this foolproof recipe.

This recipe comes from “The Best American Recipes 2000” by Fran McCullough and Suzanne Hamlin. They rediscovered a long lost recipe for “High-Temperature Rib Roast of Beef.”

The recipe first appeared more than 20 years earlier in an article Craig Claiborne wrote in The New York Times about food professional Ann Serrane.

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A key point to remember is that the roast has to be taken out of the fridge at least 2½ hours before cooking, longer for a bigger roast. The beef needs to reach room temperature before the cooking starts. That’s so it’s actually cooking, not just warming up, once you put it in that hot oven.

The other important point is that your oven should be well-insulated and capable of reaching 500 degrees.

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To make a simple au jus, just warm a can of beef broth into the drippings and warm on the stove in the roast pan. Then drain and skim off the fat.

It’s all perfection.

High-temperature rib roast of beef

2 to 4 rib roast of beef (4-12 pounds)

Boneless ribs also work for this recipe

All-purpose flour

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

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Remove the roast from the refrigerator 2½ to 4 hours before cooking. The longer time is for the largest roast.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Place the roast in a large, shallow roasting pan, fat side up. Sprinkle with a little flour, rubbing into the fat lightly. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Put the roast in the oven and bake according to the time chart below, timing exactly.

When the cooking time is up, turn off the oven. Do not open the door at any time. Leave the roast in the oven until it is lukewarm, about 2 hours.

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If you need to use the oven to cook something else, tent the roast loosely with foil to keep it warm and remove it from the oven.

To make a thin pan gravy, remove the fat from the drippings, leaving any meat pieces in the pan. Stir in ½ to 1 cup beef broth.

Bring to a boil, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen the meat pieces. Simmer for one minute and season to taste. Serve hot.

Roasting Times

Cook at 500 degrees

4½ to 5 pounds: 25 to 30 minutes

8 to 9 pounds: 40 to 45 minutes

11 to 12 pounds: 55 to 60 minutes

This works out to be about 15 minutes per rib, or about 5 minutes cooking time per pound of trimmed, ready-to-cook roast.

If you prefer medium to well-done beef, add 10 minutes to the maximum cooking time for each size roast.