It can be stressful to make a prime rib roast to host for the Holidays but the result is well worth the effort!
Cooking a prime rib roast in a wood fired oven
Cooking a prime rib roast might be easier in a regular kitchen oven but the taste you’ll get from cooking your prime rib roast in your Forno Venetzia wood fired oven will be the stuff of legends for the friends & family you’re hosting!
Simply put, the taste of wood smoke and perfect searing brings the prime rib to another level of perfection.
How to season a wood fired prime rib roast?
Because the taste of this prime rib roast is so wonderful as it is, I recommend using just salt and pepper to season it. You want to taste the magic!
If you have other preferred steak spices, those would also do. We recommend, however, to stay away from any seasoning containing sugars. Sugars and fat can burn, fast.
How to achieve a perfect prime rib roast in your Forno Venetzia wood fired oven?
Long cooks in your Forno Venetzia wood fired oven are wonderful. But caution needs to be taken, especially with such a beautiful and large piece of meat. Since the prime rib roast sits high in the oven, it could prove difficult to control the heat refracting from the dome of your oven.
We recommend covering your roast loosely with heavy-duty aluminum foil (don’t worry, it will roast!) throughout the entire cook. We also recommend you turn the pan a quarter turn every 15 minutes for even cooking and keep a close eye on the oven temperature.
Do add small pieces of wood if the temperature gets around 300-320F, but only one piece at a time.
When to use the oven door for your Forno Venetzia oven?
For long slow cooks, it is perfectly ok and recommended to use your oven door. You should, however, never use the door to start your fire or while making high heat cooking (pizzas!). It could warp your door and damage it and could even damage your oven.
What to do with leftover prime rib?
If you are lucky enough to have leftovers, make a French dip sandwich! Some slices of prime rib on a baguette with Dijon mustard, covered with cheese, warmed up for 5 minutes under broiler and served with a dipping cup of warm jus. HEAVEN!
*If you speak french, you can find our recipe for Rôti de côte de boeuf ici.
Wood fired Prime Rib Roast
Ingredients
- 1 Bone-in prime rib roast 6-8 lbs
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 Onion, cut in 1 inch slices
- 2-3 shallots, cut in two, skin on
- 1 celery stalk, cut in two
For the jus
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 cup beef broth
Instructions
- Take the prime rib roast out of the fridge about 2 hours before cooking.
- Start building your fire about an hour before cooking.
- If your roast is not already string tied by your butcher, process to tie it up with kitchen twine. You can decide to keep the bones attached or cut off bones now and tie the bones part back on. We do recommend cooking with the bones on, pre-cut or not. Attached is a good video demonstrating how to prepare a prime rib roast. (On our video, we didn't cut the bones before cooking). Again, your choice.
- Rub the roast all over with either rendered beef fat (suet) or heat resistant oil of your preference. Season generously with salt and pepper.
- Put the shallots halves and onion slices in a heat resistant pan or cast iron pan. Put the roast on top, bones under. Cover loosely with aluminum foil. - Watch video to get a better sense of the overal technique.
- When your Forno Venetzia is at about 475-500F internal temp, move the embers to one side and slide in your pan with the roast.
- Let sear at this heat for about 10-15 minutes. Do not add wood at this stage. When the oven tempeture reaches 400F, you can put the oven door on to keep the heat more stable.
- Using a probe, set your internal temperature at:Med-Rare: 125F *Medium: 145F* Remember that a roast of this size, by nature, will always cook more on the outer slices. You usually can satisfy everyone's taste by setting temp at 125F: outer slices will be more done and inside slices will be Medium-rare. The roast's temperature will continue rising as it is resting, which is why we recommend the 125F temp setting. This should take between 2h and 2h45 for a 6-8 pounds roast. Larger roasts will of course take significantly longer to cook.
- Turn the pan a quarter of a turn every 15 minutes.
- When the oven temperature (from the temperature gauge) shows about 300-315F, add small pieces of dry wood on the embers to keep the temperature somewhat steady. You might have to repeat this process a few times while cooking. Keep the roast covered loosely with the aluminum foil, this will prevent burning the top.
- When internal temp shows 125F, take the roast out, transfer to a pan and keep covered loosely with foil.
- To make the jus, add a cup of red wine to your pan and scrape the bottom. Let it reduce by half, add a cup of beef broth, some fresh herbs if you have, and let simmer for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust. Strain through a fine mesh sieve and keep warm.
- Cut the roast in slices, serve with the jus and count your blessings.
Video