This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy
We celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving last night and this Herb Crusted Prime Rib was definitely the star of the show. It’s coated in a compound butter with plenty of herbs and reverse-seared on my Traeger Grill for 2 hours to develop a delicious wood-fired flavour. To finish, I seared it in a screaming hot cast-iron skillet and basted with plenty of the rendered butter and meat juices. It was insanely delicious and everyone loved it!
How to Reverse Sear
Reverse searing is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Instead of searing the herb crusted prime rib first and finishing it in the oven, you slowly raise the internal temperature of the rib roast in a low-temperature grill or oven (anywhere between 225F and 275F) before searing it over very high heat. You can then finish it over a grill or in a cast-iron skillet to develop a crust.
I’ve explained the process before, but I don’t mind going over it again here with this herb crusted prime rib. I should also mention that this method can be used for everything from your favourite steak, a rack of lamb, thick-cut pork chops, or a whole tenderloin.The practical applications of the reverse-seared technique is actually very far-reaching.
Reverse Sear vs. Sous Vide
In theory, reverse searing works similar to a sous-vide, which entails cooking foods in an oxygen-free environment (usually a vacuum-sealed plastic bag) under a temperature-controlled water bath. The heat of the water is regulated to a precise degree by a circulator. Until recently, sous-vide circulators were very expensive and rarely found in home kitchens. More affordable options are now available, but I have yet to bite the bullet and purchase one for myself.
I often refer to reverse searing as the “Poor Man’s Sous Vide” because it doesn’t require any fancy or expensive equipment. You can reverse-sear in your oven but for the absolute best flavour, I highly recommend a Traeger Grill. It is a total game changer in terms of flavour and easy of use. It’s by far the easiest grill I have ever used – bar none.
Like sous vide, reverse-searing results in a very evenly cooked protein with a fairly hands off approach. You just add it to a low temperature oven and let the heat gradually penetrate. As you can see in the images, the herb rib roast is cooked medium-rare from edge to edge with very minor grey spots (which occur from the searing process).
What You Need to Reverse Sear this Herb Crusted Prime Rib
- Meat Thermometer. Reverse searing this Herb Crusted Prime Rib really won’t work unless you have a meat thermometer. If you’re after the best of the best, this MEATER+ is the one for you.
It’s accurate, lets you to set target internal temperatures, gives you real-time estimated cook times & readings for ambient temperature. It connects to your phone & sends you notifications when your food is ready to come off the grill or out of the oven.
The MEATER app has dozens of pre-set options to choose from so you can simply select “Beef Rib Roast” and the probe automatically calibrates recommended target temperatures. - A Cooling Rack + Sheet Pan Combo: You want air circulating around the meat so that it cooks evenly on all sides. This is easily achieved by placing it on an oven-safe cooling rack set over a sheet pan. Ideally, you want to make sure that the size of the cooling rack corresponds to that of the baking sheet beneath it, like this one.This will help with easy clean up because when your done cooking you can simply fill the baking tray with hot, soapy water and submerge the inverted cooling rack in it to ease off grease and any hardened pieces of meat/fat.
- A Carbon-Steel of Cast-Iron skillet:If you don’t have a grill to sear the meat after it has slowly roasted in the oven, the next best thing is a carbon-steel or cast-iron skillet. I always recommend this Lodge model for cast-iron because it’s inexpensive and really is the best bang-for-your-buck pan you can buy. For carbon-steel, Made In has recently released a great one that I’ve been using for a few months now.
Herb Crusted Prime Rib - Reverse-Seared, Paleo
Ingredients
- 4.5-5 pound prime rib roast, 2 bones
- Kosher salt and freshly-cracked black pepper
- 1/4 cup room temperature butter, or ghee
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage
Instructions
- Pat the rib roast dry with paper towel and generously season all sides with salt and pepper. Set on a sheet pan lined with a wire rack and refrigerate for 4 hours to overnight.
- When ready to cook, remove the rib roast from the fridge and let it stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Pat it dry with paper towel.
- Preheat your Traeger grill or oven to 250F.
- In a bowl, combine the butter or ghee, parsley, rosemary, thyme and sage. Mix until incorporated. Evenly spread the mixture on all sides of the rib roast.
- Transfer the rib roast on the sheet pan and wire rack to the Traeger or bottom rack of your oven and cook until the internal temperature reaches 120F for a medium-rare finish, approximately 2 hours for a 5 pound roast. If using a Traeger, insert the meat probe or MEATER probe into the thickest part of the roast for an accurate temperature reading.
- Preheat a cast-iron skillet over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the rendered butter reserved in the baking sheet and heat until shimmering. Add the rib roast and, using a large spoon, continuously baste with the melted butter until browned, around 60 seconds. Flip and cook an additional 60 seconds while continuing to baste. Repeat on all sides until a crust develops all over and the internal temperature of the roast reaches 135F.
- Transfer to a carving board and let it rest 15 minutes before carving.
Video
About the Author
Hi, i'm Ronny! In 2013, after a lifetime of struggling with my weight and body issues, I rehabilitated my relationship with food, lost over 40 pounds and completely changed my life.
