G Wiv wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:

G Wiv wrote:I just phoned in an order to Joseph’s. Asked if they could vacseal a rib roast. Apologetic but no was their answer.

Yeah, I as mentioned above, this would be very difficult, if not impossible, with a large, bone-in haunch.

=R=

I’ve taken delivery of hundreds* of vacsealed 7-bone rib roasts. Though these were sealed at the processing plant. Not a local butcher.

*not all at the same time.

LOL, yeah, I've seen those, too. Even with the full ribs. But yes, was thinking about at the local shop level.

=R=

Thanks for all the advice gentlemen. And appreciate asking about the cryovac sealing.

I'll find time to swing over there around lunch time on Monday! And hopefully calling it in will help them during what's probably a busy time!

Hi,

Dickering between whole rib roast or a ribeye roast? Are we missing something special if we eat a roast without the bone?

Thanks in advance for the feedback.

Regards,
CAthy2

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

Dickering between whole rib roast or a ribeye roast? Are we missing something special if we eat a roast without the bone?

Thanks in advance for the feedback.

Regards,
CAthy2

Cathy,
Check out the Bones, Salting and Cooking Section of this article:
https://www.seriouseats.com/2014/12/foo ... e-rib.html

Jim-Bob,

Thank you, your link was very relevant to what I was thinking about. Years ago per the suggestion of Cook's Illustrated, I did detach the bone and then tied it back on. You settled the question, I will be doing roast with bones.

BTW - There was another Christmas where I cooked the rib roast on the Weber Smokey Mountain when the creosote lining the walls caught fire. At one point I flipped the beef off onto the ground, an admission that brought great merriment to some people here.

Again, thank you!

Regards,
Cathy2

P.S. Plus it saved me an opportunity to complain about crickets!

Hi,

I bought an almost nine pound piece of rib roast. The fine butcher at Jewel in Lake Forest already cut the bone off and reattached it with butcher string. I discovered this when I returned home.

Since we are a petite Christmas party of four, I cut the roast into a three- and six-pound pieces. The small one went to the freezer for someday in the future. The bigger piece is for Christmas, which has been salted and now air drying in the refrigerator until the big day.

Next year, I think I will buy a rib roast at Thanksgiving, then age it until Christmas.

Regards,
Cathy2

How do you plan to cook your roast C2? We're thinking about buying one--they're on sale starting today--but I am always nervous/anxious about how to cook such a gorgeous piece of meat...

Hints??

Geo

Geo wrote:How do you plan to cook your roast C2? We're thinking about buying one--they're on sale starting today--but I am always nervous/anxious about how to cook such a gorgeous piece of meat...

Hints??

Geo

Hi,

The Kenji's SeriousEats article covers a lot of territory on what to do. I have done reverse sear with success.

Cook's Illustrated is touting an 'easier' method by preheating an oven to 500 degrees. Meat's weight rounded to nearest half-pound multiplied by 3 minutes per pound.

Five pound roast x 3 = 15 minutes in 500 degree oven, then switch off the heat and leave the door closed, do not open for two hours. Remove from oven to rest for 20 minutes and serve. This will be a medium rare beast.

My family and I prefer something between rare and medium rare.

One or the other, though I like trying new methods. It took years to get my family away from turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Roast beef is a whole lot less work.

Regards,
Cathy2

I agree that roast beef is a whole lot less work than turkey. Given the expense involved, even when rib roast is on sale before Christmas, I used to search every year for advice online on how to cook it. I eventually concluded it requires nothing more than salt, an initially very hot oven to crisp the exterior, and then a slow cook at a lower temperature to cook it through evenly without producing a gray band. Stop at ... 135 F? What do you think?

I've coached others, including the most cooking-averse person I know (my brother who only turns his oven on for frozen pizza) on how to do this with good success, and was relieved to see that today on CBS Sunday Morning, Bobby Flay's advice for how to cook a rib roast was essentially the same.

I look for the smallest (2-bone) roasts I can find; if I have to buy a large one, I split it and freeze some; I'd rather get Black Angus choice than regular choice (so, for example, at Mariano's or Sunset rather than Jewel); I try to pick carefully to get a large central muscle and as little fat between the central muscle and the cap as possible; and I don't mind buying a rib roast a week or so in advance of cooking it---even without the plastic removed, I find that beef cuts do just fine in the fridge longer than other types of meat or ground beef. I can see removing the plastic in advance to speed the cooking step of crisping the exterior, but I wouldn't attribute much aging to a week unwrapped in the fridge and I personally wouldn't be shooting for aging, just surface drying.

Katie wrote:I can see removing the plastic in advance to speed the cooking step of crisping the exterior, but I wouldn't attribute much aging to a week unwrapped in the fridge and I personally wouldn't be shooting for aging, just surface drying.

I borrow ideas from Kenji who spends lots of time with side-by-side comparisons using a range of variables.

He suggested unwrapping and salting in advance. Guess what? I will do it.

A few years ago, I served a rib roast at Christmas and New Year's. They were cut from the same cut of beef. The difference was how long they were dry aged in the fridge. My sister noticed a difference in taste between the two roasts. She liked the New Year's over the Christmas, though both were acceptable.

I am sure your family will be happy with your effort as my family will be with mine.

Regards,
Cathy2

Dear Cathy,

I'm not by any means trying to contradict Kenji's research and recommendations. I'm sure he knows best--I mean that sincerely. I'm just saying I'm not personally that interested in trying to dry-age my rib roasts in the fridge. If the surface dries out some and crisps up more quickly, that's all I need. If some aging and flavor enhancement happen too, so much the better.

Hi,

I happen to like to try out ideas to see for myself if I like it or not. A lot of interesting ideas are documented and put on a shelf.

I attended a lecture recently where the Maillard reaction was discussed. Roughly, this reaction was documented in a paper and then quietly sat there.

Wikipedia wrote:In 1912, Louis Camille Maillard published a paper describing the reaction between amino acids and sugars at elevated temperatures.[1] In 1953, chemist John E. Hodge with the U.S. Department of Agriculture established a mechanism for the Maillard reaction.

It was Hodge's paper that brought Maillard's reaction to practical use. The lecturer suggested it should be referred to as the Maillard-Hodge reaction.

I try things out, because I am curious by nature. Sure, I can be dismissive of things out of hand just like anyone else. Maybe quietly go back to check it out later, because I just want to see the outcome for myself.

Regards,
CAthy2

Great story on the Maillard reaction C2--I didn't know that! Good to put in my folder for history of science, alongside the Mendel story: Mendel's model of inheritance was published in 1850s, nobody noticed, Mendel died. Then, suddenly, in 1905, bing! bing! bing! three different scientists picked it up and suddenly Mendel was famous. I'm now going to tell the Maillard story to some other historians of science as yet another example of this phenomenon! Tnx!

Salting. Kenji's done some valuable work on salting. For example, he put me on to salting my eggs at least half an hour before making an ommlette. It *does* make a difference.
And I now give steaks, chops, etc. at least 4 hours of pre-salting before cooking. That makes a noticeable difference, too. And one quite important recipe that uses it is Cook's Charlie the Butcher beef on weck sandwich, which requires at least an overnight salting of the eye of round. Without that salting, the recipe just doesn't work.

I've got a gorgeous boneless rolled chuck roast for Christmas Day--after this discussion today, I'm going to go salt it right now! Tnx C2 and Katie! Happy Holidays to both of you!

Geo