Why Cooking Prime Rib Is So Much Easier Than Cooking a Steak (2024)

FAQs

Is prime rib better than steak? ›

If you compare prime rib vs sirloin, T-bone, or porterhouse steaks, the rib roast often wins. Steak lovers obsess over a tasty ribeye or rib roast cut because they're not only tender, but also deliver the rich steak flavor that steak enthusiasts love.

Prime rib has a large “eye” of meat in the center, which is juicy, tender, and marbled with fat. This eye has a fat-marbled muscle around it, and the whole thing is surrounded by a thick cap of fat. This means that prime rib is tender, juicy, and extremely flavorful because the muscles aren't heavily used.

It can be, but it depends on the way in which the ribeye and prime rib are cut. Rib eye is generally cooked like a steak. That means you can grill it or pan-fry it to your heart's content, and it'll be just as delicious and full of beefy flavour no matter what you do.

Yes, it's a pricier cut of meat, but don't let this deter you. Arm yourself with a meat thermometer (this is imperative) and you'll find that prime rib is more forgiving than you'd expect. The cook time of prime rib depends on its weight and the temperature of your oven or grill—so make sure to follow your recipe.

Since prime ribs and ribeye steaks come from the same primal cut of beef, the difference in their flavors comes from the way they are cooked. Prime ribs are seared and then roasted slowly under low heat, making them more tender, while ribeyes are grilled quickly over high heat, making them more charred.

Overcooking the Prime Rib

That's why prime rib is so expensive: it's a huge piece of extremely good beef. Therefore, it's important not to cook it beyond medium-rare. Going past that temperature means the roast will no longer be tender.

Cooked low and slow in the oven and finished with a blast of heat for the juiciest, most flavorful, evenly cooked prime rib roast. Kenji is the former culinary director for Serious Eats and a current culinary consultant for the site.

Differences in Flavor

Both prime ribs and ribeyes have very pronounced beefy flavors because of their locations along the animal's rib. However, the prime rib is often a bit more flavorful than the ribeye since it contains more fat and the bone.

Prime rib is comparatively expensive because it's a highly desirable, highly delectable cut of meat that's known for being very juicy, flavorful, and tender. It's also a case of supply and demand — prime rib roasts are much more limited in number, while individually cut ribeye steaks are more plentiful.

The Top Contenders: Strip Loin & Sirloin

You can easily recreate nearly identical results of a ribeye with considerably less cost. The Strip Loin Roast already resembles Prime Rib's flavor thanks to its proximity to the ribeye. Additionally, Strip Roast has no large pockets of fat, making it easier to trim.

Can you eat prime rib as a steak? ›

A perfect steak for cooking on the BBQ, grill or oven. Prime rib steak is a delicious and special cut of beef that is perfect for special occasions and fine dining. With its rich flavour and tender texture, it is sure to impress any steak lover.

What's the Best Cut of Prime Rib? The first cut (sometimes labeled the small end or the loin end) comes from the hind of the standing rib roast near the loin. It's more expensive and generally regarded as the best cut because it has less connective tissue than the second cut and therefore is more tender.

To cut the bone-in prime rib roast into steaks, place it on a cutting board with the bone-side down. Use a sharp knife to make a cut along the ribs, angling it slightly outward to follow the shape of the bones. Repeat this process for each steak, adjusting the thickness as desired.

How do restaurants make prime rib so tender? The secret to restaurant-style prime rib is cooking the meat super slow at low temperatures. I recommend cooking prime rib at no higher than 200 degrees F. This cooks the meat very slowly, turning the fat into butter and rendering the proteins juicy and soft.

The length of time to cook prime rib depends on how rare you want the meat. Start by cooking your prime rib at 500°F for 15 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 325° F and cook for 10-12 min per pound for rare, or 13-14 min per pound for medium rare, or 14-15 min per pound for medium well.

You'll cook your room-temperature prime rib at 500 degrees F for exactly that many minutes. (Twenty-seven minutes, in my case.) Then turn off the oven and wait 2 hours without opening the door. When the time's up, remove the prime rib and slice into the most perfectly medium-rare meat you've ever seen.

Place the meat on a hot grill and cook until well browned on both sides, about 5 minutes on the first side and 3 minutes on the second side. Cut 2 lemons in half and cut ends off. Brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the lemons on the grill with the steaks and serve with the steak.

What Is Prime Rib? Prime rib comes from the 6th to the 12th rib section of the rib primal of a beef cow. It is a roast, rather than a steak, meaning you can serve more people from it. The term prime rib refers to the cut of the meat, not the grading.

Prime rib comes out with beautiful edge to edge pink color when cooked at a lower temperature (225°F) for a longer period of time vs cooking at a higher temperature for a shorter length of time. If cooking in an oven, elevate your prime rib on a rack over a sheet pan or a roasting pan.

It's no secret that roasts need to cook slow and slow, but for that killer crust on a prime rib the secret is to hit it with a lot of heat first. Like our other prime rib recipes, this rosemary-rubbed prime rib cooks at 450F for 20 minutes before cooking for another 60 to 90 minutes at 350F.

What is the most important thing to do before roasting a prime rib roast? ›

Rule #7: Season Well, and Season in Advance. For best results, salt your prime rib on all surfaces with kosher salt at least 45 minutes before you start cooking it, and preferably the day before, leaving it in the fridge uncovered overnight. Initially, the salt will draw out some moisture and end up dissolving in it.

Drizzle the meat with ¼ to ½ cup beef broth, stock, or leftover au jus to help steam the meat as it heats. Tightly cover the pan with a lid or foil, then place the pan in the oven for 15 to 30 minutes until the meat is warmed through in the center.

The best grade of meat defined by the USDA is prime, known for being juicy, flavorful and tender. Prime has the highest level of marbling over other quality grades. Only 3% of all meat graded by the USDA makes it to this superior category.

Three ounces of roast prime rib contains 19.2 grams of protein or about a third of the recommended daily amount of protein. Prime rib contains all nine essential amino acids and is high in the essential amino acid threonine, which is important for healthy liver function, and is also high in zinc.

Beef tenderloin is leaner, making it a healthier option for those watching their fat intake. Prime rib, with its higher fat content, offers a richer taste and more calorie-dense profile. In terms of culinary applications, beef tenderloin is often the choice for elegant, refined dishes.

Prime rib is best served rare or medium rare. Once it's overcooked, you can't un-cook it, though you can wait for it to cook a little longer. For a rare roast: 115°F. For medium rare: 120°F.