Smoked Prime Rib Roast
On February 21, 2023 (Updated October 24, 2023)
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Smoked prime rib is always the crowning glory of every holiday table. Slow-smoked for amazing flavor and then flash-roasted for a rich exterior crust, my method for smoked prime rib ensures perfect results every time!
What is a Prime Rib Roast?
A rib roast is a large cut of beef that comes from the primal rib of the cow. The entire cut contains 7 rib bones and a lot of marbled, tender muscle and can weigh up to 30 pounds.
The label “prime” rib roast refers to the fact that this cut comes from a whole primal muscle, not necessarily the grade of the meat. Prime is typically the highest grade available at your butcher or big box warehouse. Most grocery store butchers carry the next grade down, which is Choice, and below that, you will see Select grade beef. These lower grades are still technically “prime rib” and most recipes you’ll see treat them the same.
What Grade Prime Rib Should I Buy?
The grade of beef makes a BIG difference in your final product, with Prime grade having additional marbling which means more flavor, tenderness, and moisture from that rendering fat. It also means a big difference in the final price of your roast. If you’ve got a big budget and are willing to pay the extra cash, go for the Prime grade and treat yourself!
If you purchase a Choice grade roast, you will still have outstanding results, so don’t fret or overthink it. The magic of this recipe is in the method and the final product will still be amazingly delicious and tender. Choice-grade prime rib will still give you a delicious roast and not cost you (as much of) an arm and a leg as Prime grade beef.
I usually stick with Prime and Choice grade beef when I’m cooking a fancy roast like this, but if your budget is on the lower end, a Select grade roast will work just fine, though it may not be as tender or flavorful as the other grades.
How Much Prime Rib Per Person?
When preparing prime rib for a sit-down dinner, plan on 1 pound of prime rib per person.
By planning on 1 pound of uncooked prime rib per person, you’ll ensure you have enough meat after any necessary trimming and volume lost during the cooking process. It will also leave you with enough meat left over for sandwiches the next day.
If this amount seems like a lot for each person, that’s because it is. Prime rib is an indulgence, and you want your guests to feel well-fed when they leave the table. If you have kids you are counting when calculating how much prime rib per person, you can decrease the total amount you buy knowing that children will likely eat a bit less.
Ingredients for Smokes Prime Rib
Here’s what you’ll need to make this smoked prime rib roast. This recipe is very simple.
- 10-pound prime rib roast
- 1/2 cup horseradish mustard
- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- 1 Tablespoon coarse kosher salt
- 1 Tablespoon freshly cracked black pepper
Quick note: Adjust the amount of salt and pepper in this recipe as needed to fully cover the roast on all sides.
How to Smoke a Prime Rib
Now that you have your prime rib roast selected and your ingredients are ready to go, let’s get this beef in the heat! Here’s how to smoke a prime rib.
- Preheat. Fire up your favorite smoker and preheat to 225 degrees F with your favorite hardwood for beef.
- Trim and season. Combine mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic in a small bowl. Slather the entire roast with the mixture then season liberally with salt and pepper.
- Smoke. Place the seasoned roast on the grill grates of the smoker. Close the lid, and smoke until the meat reaches 120 degrees F for Rare, 125 degrees F for Medium Rare, or 130 degrees F for Medium.
- Rest. Remove the roast to a cutting board, cover it with aluminum foil, and rest for 20 minutes. Increase the temperature on your grill to 400 degrees F.
- Sear. As soon as your smoker reaches 400 degrees F, place the prime rib back on the smoker and smoke until the meat reaches your preferred doneness (130 degrees F for Rare, 135 degrees F for Medium Rare, or 140 degrees F for Medium).
- Rest and enjoy. Remove the prime rib from the smoker and allow the meat to rest for around 15 minutes before serving.
How Long to Smoke Prime Rib
It takes approximately 35 minutes per pound to smoke prime rib to Rare doneness with the smoker running steady at 225 degrees F.
If you like your prime rib closer to Medium doneness, plan on 40 minutes per pound at 225 degrees F.
It is key to track the temperature of the meat while it cooks on the smoker so you can remove it when it hits that perfect juicy doneness. I like to use an instant-read meat thermometer to check my temperatures as the meat cooks. You’ll also want to allow at least 30 minutes of rest time and another 15 minutes for the high-heat sear before serving when calculating how long it will take to smoke prime rib from start to finish.
More Prime Rib Recipes
If you’re looking for other delicious prime rib recipes to try out this holiday season, I cannot recommend these more. Both are extremely flavorful and juicy. Click on the links below to head straight to the recipes.
Smoked Prime Rib Recipe
Follow the recipe, and let’s make some really good food! If you loved this recipe, please leave it a 5-star review and sound off in the comments section below!
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This post was originally published in December 2017. We recently updated it with more information and helpful tips. The recipe remains the same.
Smoked Prime Rib
Ingredients
- 1 8-10 pound bone-in prime rib roast
- 1 Tablespoon coarse Kosher salt adjust amount as needed to fully cover the roast
- 1 Tablespoon cracked black pepper adjust the amount as needed to fully cover the roast
Garlic Mustard Slather
- ½ cup Dijon mustard with horseradish
- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 4 cloves garlic minced
Instructions
- Preheat. Fire up the smoker and allow it to preheat to 225 degrees F while you prepare the prime rib.
- Trim the meat. Trim any excess fat from the top of the roast down to 1/4 inch thick.
- Season. In a small bowl combine the mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic. Slather the entire roast with the mustard mixture and season liberally with salt and pepper.
- Smoke. Place the roast on the grill and close the lid. Smoke until the internal temperature of the roast reaches 120 degrees F for Rare or 130 degrees F for Medium. For a rare, bone-in roast, plan on 35 minutes per pound of prime rib.
- Rest. Remove the roast to a cutting board, cover the roast with foil, and allow it to rest for 20 minutes.
- Increase temp in smoker. While the roast is resting, increase the temperature of your grill to 400 degrees F.
- Sear. Once the grill is up to temperature, return the roast to the grill and sear until you reach your desired internal temperature. Pull the roast off at 130 degrees F for rare, 135 degrees F for medium rare, or 140 degrees for medium. This process should go quickly, so keep an eye on your temperature.
- Rest, slice, and serve. Remove your roast to the cutting board and let the meat rest for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Good morning from Japan,
I have a 12 pound rib roast, first time putting it on my pellet grill. Should I separate the bones from the roast (and tie them on) or just get at it like it is? I don’t want to mess this up!
Hi John, you can separate and re-tie if you like, but it isn’t required. I definitely find it easier to slice and serve the roast if it was removed from the bone before cooking, so that is my preference.
I’m not sure if this is smoking blasphemy but has anyone ever used an electric smoker for prime rib? Thanks Jim wright
Hey Jim- Not blasphemy at all! My recipes are designed to be used with whatever type of smoker you’ve got!
My Masterbuilt electric doesn’t go up to 400F for the final sear. Thinking of blasting it at 550F in the oven to crisp up the exterior. Your thoughts on this?
You can definitely finish in the oven! Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t get too dark.
I don’t know if Jim tried this or not, but I just did. Using Masterchef electric smoker and electronic probe thermometer, and a small roast (3.1 lb.)
I smoked with a combination of Hickory and Cherry.
Because my smoker is having issues, I couldn’t get heat above 275 degrees. Smoking time was just over two hours at that temp for a medium rare cook.
I finished the sear on a propane grill. The downside is this moved it more to a medium cook than medium rare, but nobody seemed to really care with all the flavor!
This was an incredible dish. Tender and the seasoning was outstanding.
Thanks for the recommendations!
You must have a Bradley smoker if you can’t get it above 275.
I just bought an electric use masterbuilt grill. I’ve had 4 previous charcoal smokers. The electric is the best ever. Looks like a small refrigerator inside and out. Doesn’t get hot inside. Uses 1 or 2 handfuls of wood chips depending on size of roast. Head the same smoked taste of charcoal smoker or even more taste. I slightly open the top vent. Save money on charcoal and equal if not better flavor. Also use far less wood chips!
Masterbuilt… this thing makes awesome prime rib. And pretty much everything else too. Welcome to the club.
I have a Masterbuilt propane smoker and a Campchef pellet smoker with 4meat probes. The Campchef cooks to perfection but I get better smoke flavor from the masterbuilt. Wood pellets vs wood chunks I would guess.
Title says smoked prime rib. Do You actually put your Camp chef on low smoke, high smoke or set the temp to 225?
I set the temperature to 225.
Thank you and merry Christmas. I’m almost ready to pull the roast then sear it when its ready, soo close , can’t wait to taste this lovely meat
I have a camp chef WW36 which you can set smoke levels 1-10… are you saying I shouldn’t mess around with the smoke level and simply set the 225F temp? (Or maybe implying that’s up to each person)
FYI – This will be just the 2nd time I use my WW36… hence the questions.
It is user preference, but setting it up at 10 will give you temp swings and may alter your timeline a little bit.
How long per pound for boneless?
I would plan 25-30 minutes per pound for a rare roast.
I have cooked 2 boneless ribeye roasts using this recipe I and both took approx 10 minutes per LB. The first one was dry aged which I thought might have been a factor, The last cook was straight out of the packer bag, smoker pegged at 225 with the final temp at 130 – 12 lb roast done in little over 2 hours.
Cook times for many recipes go much faster if you start with the meat near room temperature, which is a good thing. It also goes much quicker if your grill circulates the heat well; like a convection oven vs. a regular oven. I have a Memphis Grills pellet grill and cook times are always shorter than the recipes suggest. Just get a good thermometer and go by temperature!
Question on cutting the bone off before cooking, but tying back on; what is the benefit for doing it this way? Thanks.
It’s mostly about presentation.
One more question…if I’m using the smoke thermometer and the instructions say set grill to 225 degrees what should the inside grill temperature (ambient) read?
225 degrees.
Hello,
I have a 12 lb bone in roasts. Should I expect that it will take 35 minutes per lb for a total of 7 hours?
Hey Trent- I think I already answered your question below. Happy holidays!
I followed your time per pound recommendation on a 16 pound prime rib, smoked at 225 on my Green Mountain Grill. The meat was at 130 degrees around the 5 hour mark, which is almost about 5 hours early. It’s now FTC’d. Seems that it cooked closer to 20 minutes per pound.
Meat temp was verified with 3 different probes and the grill temp sensor was back checked with separate probes. All read the same. I personally use the Weber iGrill.
Look the meat will only take in the smoke for about 3 to 4 hours after that wrap it on foil put it in the oven on 225 and cook it the rest of the way
Why steam it in foil?
Nope
Hello, I have a bone on 12lb Prime Rib. On your calculation of 35 minutes per pound I am expecting the roast to be done around the 7 hour mark. Does that sound about right?
That sounds right! Be sure to plan time for the rest and sear as well.
Thank you, I accidentally submitted twice. Happy Holidays!
Do you have a recipe for the horseradish mustard?
Hey Deborah- I used a store bought horseradish mustard, but if you can’t find any you can mix 1 teaspoon horseradish into brown deli mustard.
I just use a 2 to 1 mixture of mayonnaise and horseraddish
Maybe I missed it, but what wood are you using?
Hi Bob- I used a mix of oak and a little cherry for this recipe.
Yeah what kind of wood are we using to smoke !! I know you use a pellet cooker but I have an offset !!!
You mention a sear box, what are your recommendations on using it to sear instead of grilling at 400 degrees
Hey Phill- I would get your sear box up to around 400-450 degrees F and then sear for a few minutes on all sides.
I replaced my sear box propane hose three times before I finally replaced with a metal mesh clad hose. The all rubber / black hose kept softening and then leaking propane. Heat from the searbox simply convected to propane connectors and melted the original black hose three times. The fourth hose I bought has metal covering and heavier duty connectors, all help to conduct heat around hose instead of directly to the first inch or two. I have use the metal clad hose only for two months and so far no leaks.
I’m bout to smoke it and then sear in a cast iron pan nesseled in a campfire turning until temperature desiredusing the cast iron and camp fire to sear and roast after 🙂
Do you have anything in the cast iron pan, like butter or a thin layer of oil for the sear?
Thanks!
I would use something in the pan for sure!