Easy Smoked Prime Rib Rub Recipe

This easy Smoked Prime Rib Rub Recipe is amazing! Making a rub does not have to be complex or complicated; in this case, sometimes less is more. Once you smoke a prime rib, you will not order it in a restaurant again.

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I love smoking my holiday meats, or any meat for that matter! I own a Pit Boss Pro 1100 as my pellet grill.  Now, I picked mine up from Lowes, but Walmart and Amazon carry other Pit Boss options or Pit Boss websites themselves.  Either way, a pellet grill is fantastic for smoking meats and is easy to use. 

Pit Boss Pellet GrillsTraeger Pellet GrillsZ Grills Pellet Grills

Easy Smoked Prime Rib Ingredients:

Butter– This must be room temperature to make it easier to rub the prime rib roast.

Fresh Ground Pink Himalayan Salt

Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Garlic Powder

Snake River Farms Prime Rib:

After trying a Snake River Farms Brisket, I  knew I had to try their Prime Rib! I love to support local businesses, and I love that Snake River Farms is located in Idaho, here in the PNW! You can head on over -> here to learn about their American Wagyu! Then, you can head on over -> HERE and shop their Prime Rib Roasts.

AT WHAT TEMPERATURE DO YOU SMOKE PRIME RIB:

Now, you can smoke at any temperature. I believe that low and slow is the way to go!

If your smoker has a smoke setting, you can allow the prime rib to smoke in the smoker before turning it up. Sometimes, this will cook the meat slowly, reducing the cooking time.

• 225 degrees Fahrenheit for ~40 minutes per pound of meat.
• 275 degrees Fahrenheit for ~20 minutes per pound of meat.

AT WHAT TEMPERATURE IS A PRIME RIB DONE?

Use the time guidelines above for when to start checking the temperature of your meat. Knowing your preference for rareness will help you know what internal temperature to use a digital meat thermometer to cook the meat to. The ends of the prime rib roast will be more done, so take the temperature towards the middle of your roast.

• Rare is at 120 to 125 degrees F. The center will be bright red, with a pinkish color toward the exterior portion.
• Medium Rare is at 130 to 135 degrees F. The center is very pink and will be slightly brown toward the exterior portion. 
• Next, the Medium is at 140 to 145 degrees F. The center is light pink, and the outer portion is brown.
• Medium Well is at 150 to 155 degrees F. The center is not pink and is browner all the way around.
• Well Done is at 160 degrees F. and above, is not pink, and will be a darker brown.

How To Make Easy Prime Rib Rub:

If your Prime Rib Roast came frozen like mine, you must thaw the roast according to food-safe guidelines.

The night before you smoke your Prime Rib remove your roast from the packaging.

Have about one pound of room-temperature butter on hand.

Rub the whole roast down with butter; you may need to microwave a little bit to get the butter soft enough to spread.

After the roast is covered with butter, sprinkle all sides, including the bottom, with garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

Put in an air-tight container and store in the fridge overnight. I used a larger Rubbermaid container to keep mine in.

how to smoke a prime rib:

Remove your meat from the fridge and allow the roast to reach closer to room temperature before throwing it on the smoker.

Get your hopper full of pellets and ready to smoke.  You can use any flavor of pellets, I have been on a Mesquite Pellet kick lately to smoke my meat, but you could use any flavor.

This time, I used a rack in a pan to smoke my Prime Rib. Every time I smoke a Prime Rib, I get grease fires due to how greasy the meat is.  And let’s face it, I am lazy, which saved me from cleaning the smoker again.   I used a baking rack over a large pyrex pan, but be aware the pan will stain from the smoke in the smoker. 

Anchor Hocking Oven Basics 4.8-quart Glass Baking Dish, Rectangular, Set of 1PriorityChef 18/8 Stainless Steel Cooling Rack, Heavy Duty Baking Rack For Oven Cooking,Pyrex Basics 4.8-qt (10″ x 15″) Oblong Baking Dish

 Start your smoker rolling smoke, and I do mine on a setting of P7.

Once your smoker is rolling smoke, set the prime rib either right on the rack of your smoker or move your pan with the Prime Rib Roast to the smoker.

You can let the smoker smoke for as long as possible before increasing the temperature.  I like to do a 1 to 2-hour smoke, but this also depends on the size of the roast. 

Turn your smoker up; I did mine to 200  degrees to smoke low and slow on mine.  You can turn it to a higher temperature to cook it faster or more well done.

Allow smoking until you reach the internal temperature you want. Then, you can wrap the prime rib in pink butcher paper while smoking to help seal in juices. I have tried this once and didn’t notice a difference.   

Remove when the roast reaches the temperature you want and serve! 

How to store leftover Prime Rib

Either tightly wrap the leftover prime rib or store it in an air-tight container. The leftover prime rib meat is good for up to 5 days in the fridge. You can also seal it with a food saver and store it in the freezer for three to six months.

Storing leftovers properly requires the right tools! My preferred storage method is if the leftovers can be sealed in a food saver. If not, then an air-tight container or Ziploc bag for the fridge is the way I go. The air-tight container and a freezer Ziploc bag are the next best bet for freezing the leftovers. I also use a food scale to measure portions into serving sizes.

Freezable storage ContainersFood SealerFreezer BagsFood Scale

What To Serve With Prime Rib:

I love to Smoke Side Dishes! You can check out my favorite Smoked Side Dishes -> here! Below are my favorites to serve with Prime Rib. You can serve anything with it.

• Smoked Baked Potatoes 
• Smoked Loaded Cheesy Potatoes
• Smoked Loaded Baked Beans 
• Cheesy Potatoes
• Smoked Sweet Potato Casserole

Pellet Smoker Recipes To check out

Looking for more smoker recipes?? Be sure to check out Smoker Recipes. The post contains smoker recipes from ham to macaroni and cheese to Prime Rib! See it -> here.

• Dutch Oven In The Smoker Recipes
• Special Occasion And Holiday Recipes
• Smoked Side Dishes
• Smoked Deli Salads

Easy Smoked Prime Rib Rub Recipe

Guy Who Grills

This Easy Smoked Prime Rib Rub Recipe is a simple recipe that will make your Rib Roast amazing! This is perfect for holiday dinners! Just use butter, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to add the perfect flavor! Smoke low and slow on a pellet grill to add more flavor to your meat as well!

4.85 from 45 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 hours hrs

Course Entree

Cuisine BBQ

Servings 20 Servings

Calories 523 kcal

Equipment

• Pellet Grill
• Meat thermometer
• Baking Rack
• Baking dish

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 Pound Butter
• Fresh Ground Pink Himalayan Salt
• Fresh Ground Black Pepper
• Garlic Powder
• 6.5 Pounds Prime Rib

Instructions

 

HOW TO MAKE EASY PRIME RIB RUB:

• If your Prime Rib Roast came frozen as mine did, you will need to thaw the roast according to food-safe guidelines.
• The night before you smoke your Prime Rib remove your roast from the packaging.
• Have about one pound of room temperature butter on hand.
• Rub the whole roast down with butter, and you may need to microwave a little bit to get the butter soft enough to spread.
• After the roast is covered with butter, sprinkle all sides, including the bottom, with garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
• Put in an air-tight container and store in the fridge overnight.

HOW TO SMOKE A PRIME RIB:

• Remove your meat from the fridge and allow the roast to reach closer to room temperature before throwing it on the smoker.
• Get your hopper full of pellets and ready to smoke. 
• This time, I used a rack in a pan to smoke my Prime Rib, it contained all the grease so a less grill fire risk.
• Start your smoker rolling smoke, and I do mine on a setting of P7.
• Once your smoker is rolling smoke, set the prime rib either right on the rack of your smoker or move your pan with the Prime Rib Roast to the smoker.
• You can let the smoker smoke for as long as you want before turning up the temperature.  I like to do a 1 to 2-hour smoke, but this also depends on the size of the roast.
• Turn your smoker up; I did mine to 200  degrees to smoke low and slow on mine.  You can turn it to a higher temperature if you want to cook it faster or more well done.
• Allow to smoke until you reach the internal temperature you want. Then, you can wrap the prime rib in pink butcher paper while smoking to help seal in juices. I have tried this once and didn’t notice a difference.
• Remove when the roast reaches temperature and serve!

AT WHAT TEMPERATURE DO YOU SMOKE A PRIME RIB:

• Cooking your prime rib roast at 225 degrees makes the cooking time about 40 minutes per lb.
• Cooking your prime rib roast 275 degrees makes the cooking time about 20 minutes per lb for the rib roast.

AT WHAT TEMPERATURE IS A PRIME RIB DONE?

• Rare is at 120 to 125 degrees F. The center will be bright red, with pinkish color toward the exterior portion.

  Medium Rare is at 130 to 135 degrees F. The center is very pink and will be slightly brown toward the exterior portion.

  Next, medium is at140 to 145 degrees F. – the center is light pink, the outer portion is brown.

  Medium Well is at 150 to 155 degrees F. The center is not pink and is browner all the way around.

  Well Done is at 160 degrees F. and above and also is not pink and will be a darker brown.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 523kcalCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 21gFat: 40gSaturated Fat: 17gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 89mgSodium: 231mgPotassium: 336mgFiber: 0.3gSugar: 10gCalcium: 59mgIron: 3mg

Keyword easy prime rib rub, smoked prime rib

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