Easy Smoked Prime Rib Rub Recipe
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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.
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 Lowe’s, 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.
Easy Smoked Prime Rib Ingredients:
- Prime Rib Roast
- 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
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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 f. 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.
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! You can allow it to rest before using a knife to slice into pieces.
Alternate Herbs And Spices For Homemade Rub
- Dried Rosemary or fresh
- Dried Thyme or fresh
- Fresh Garlic
- Kosher Salt
- Onion Powder
Pellet Flavors To Smoke With For Prime Rib
Beef or steak go well several flavors of pellets it comes down to personal choice.
- Apple
- Oak
- Hickory
- Cherry
- Pecan
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 and divide them into serving sizes.
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. You can serve anything with it, one of my go to is horseradish sauce or melted garlic herb butter.
Bread: Cheesy Garlic Pull Apart Bread, Garlic Parmesan Biscuit Pull Part Bread, English Muffin Garlic Cheese Bread, Easy Cheesy Monkey Bread
Sides: Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms, Smoked Baked Potatoes, Caesar Salad, Air Fryer Roasted Potatoes, Classic Smoked Green Bean Casserole, Air Fryer Broccoli, Grilled Loaded Twice Baked Potatoes, Grilled Corn On The Cob, Grilled Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
Smoked Side Dishes: Smoked Baked Potatoes, Smoked Green Bean Casserole, Smoked Sweet Potato Casserole, Smoked Baked Potatoes, Smoked Loaded Cheesy Potatoes, Smoked Deviled Eggs, Smoked Loaded Baked Beans, Creamy Smoked Macaroni And Cheese, Smoked Loaded Cheesy Potatoes
Grilled Side Dishes: Cheesy Grilled Asparagus, Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms, Grilled Loaded Twice Baked Potatoes, Grilled Corn On The Cob, Grilled Zucchini, Grilled Bacon Wrapped Asparagus (see my huge list of the grilled side dishes -> here)
Easy Smoked Prime Rib Rub Recipe
Save this Recipe!
Love this recipe and want it and more in your inbox? Just add your email below and click save to get it delivered right to you!
Ingredients
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.
Thanks so much for the recipe! That looks delicious.
There really is something special about a smoked prime rib. I can’t wait for a special occasion that is worthy of trying your recipe!